Few people have long-term plans. An even rarer phenomenon is the setting of life priorities and methods of their implementation, time boundaries. Making a life plan can be difficult. This is an important and time-consuming process, but necessary. After all, this is planning the main events of your life: what, how and when will happen, what results it will bring.
Of course, such a plan is not a guarantee that everything will come true. But the very presence of life planning makes it more likely that desired things will happen, and not random ones, influenced by the emotions or decisions of other people.
It is very important to formulate your own vision of what is happening, and not spend your whole life following imposed patterns. Making a plan means clearly thinking through high and inspiring goals for a person for 3 years, 5 years, 10 years or more. An example of the first famous person to build a plan was Benjamin Franklin.
It is much easier to live with dreams, fulfilled and unfulfilled hopes, complain about fate or believe in luck. But this is ineffective. A plan is specific, a leap into the future, made with your own hands. There are only a few people who truly live in the future. After all, it is determined by our actions today.
Why you need a long-term plan
Every person has 24 hours in a day. But everyone uses them differently. What one person can accomplish in this time, another cannot accomplish even in a week. The point is the correct distribution of resources: effort and time. One will view life as a long-term project that requires attention, while the other will simply live for today, thinking little about their future, without making any plans.
Of course, the results obtained will vary. No one wants to be a failure, mired in a routine of meaningless tasks, with zero contribution to the future. Life planning is relevant for those who want to achieve a lot, are ready to work hard and treat this with full responsibility. As they say, success is determined not by high and beautiful initial dreams, but by real results achieved.
Proper structuring is designed to create an optimal to-do list, a general vector of life that will allow you to determine your values. This approach does not at all exclude rest; on the contrary, sometimes it forces you to relax, even if you don’t want to, but there is a need for it. The use of this method develops self-control, promotes self-esteem, gives optimism and composure.
Debunking myths about planning
Life priorities and goals, aspirations and dreams. How can you make a plan and think about proper execution? This may seem absurd to some.
Here are some myths that people associate with planning:
- Systematization breeds boredom
Fundamentally wrong judgment. Life priorities and their arrangement, a clear layout, allow you to make room for bright emotions and more events. This means the disappearance of chaos in actions.
- Limitation of development
If the plan is small, unattractive and with uninteresting or simply not your goals, then this creates boredom. If you colorfully describe everything you want to achieve and look at the allotted time, you realize that there is not much of it. After all, everything requires attention. Therefore, development will occur at double speed!
- The plan cancels creativity
You can make an action plan more than just once. It can be adjusted at least every six months, introducing a new vision of the situation. Also, no one is stopping you from creatively designing it and developing critical thinking with a variety of approaches to implementation.
- Planning kills the enjoyment of the present.
Many people do not know how to enjoy the present at all. If you understand how to properly plan your time, allocate resources, your activities and hobbies, free time will never harm your main goal.
Principles for constructing a plan
A ready-made plan for a year or more helps us, becoming a guide in the dark, when strength leaves us. Then, re-reading the important points, there is a chance to gather yourself and continue, this is a kick to action with your own hands. How to compose the right plan for a year, so that it expands our lives, gives hope and freedom, and does not force us into a certain framework.
How to plan correctly? First of all, life planning begins with making plans for today. And it ends over decades. This is a multi-step process. The entire pyramid is based on your true values. Only from them does the countdown begin.
Basic principles:
- Taking life length into account
Much more benefit will bring a goal achieved within a month with pleasure, rather than through coercion and restrictions, but the result in 2 weeks. A slow pace is safer than sprints.
- Without pain there is no growth
It’s reasonable to push yourself a little harder and accomplish those goals this year that will open up new prospects next year. Missing opportunities due to laziness and being afraid of stress is not for fighters.
- Constant transformation
If at first everything is based on a dream, then after the time during which you took actions to realize it, results appear. New people, ideas, prospects that you never even dreamed of!
- Refusal of extra effort
Moderation is important in everything. Pushing yourself is good, but the approach must be reasonable. It is easier and more effective to run several kilometers every day than to run a whole half marathon once a week.
Step by step instructions
There's nothing better than starting with how to make a plan for the year. This will help you keep your life under control, even during times of change.
So, where to start to make a plan for a year or more:
- Understand what role you are in
There are important and minor aspects of your personality. Everyone plays a certain social role. You can be a student, someone's daughter and mother, and at the same time an artist, a lover, a business manager, a thinker, a mentor, a cheese lover. These are all things that fill your days. It is worth choosing those roles whose implementation is most important to you.
- Decide what you want to be in the future
Choose those roles that you want to develop as much as possible so that they are associated with your personality. At the same time, look at what negative aspects you have, where your energy is spent. Perhaps, if you transfer strength from them to achieving your goals, work will go faster?
- Disassemble your motives
There is a reason why you want to achieve certain goals, how your life priorities were formed. Try to understand what will happen, when you embody them, what emotions will arise. How important are they, and will you want to implement them throughout your life? Personally for yourself, for society or specific people. Honesty with yourself is a guarantee of success.
- Record your findings
Having analyzed your motives, it is easy to create your life goals and objectives in planning the future. Realizing your true values, write a list based on them.
- Distribution of goals by category
This is an important planning stage. It will help you not to lose sight of any important aspect of life. Write down everything you want to achieve in categories such as career/calling, family/society, knowledge/intelligence, health/spirituality.
- Set a time frame
After setting a specific goal, determine the exact date when you want to achieve it. Let’s say, go to Nepal for a week before June 2017, lose 5 kg by spring, develop and submit a geodesy project before the end of the fourth year.
- Building small steps
To move in the right direction, you need to understand how to plan to achieve your goals. The steps you need to take depend on what level you are at in the present. Do you have to start from scratch or do you already have some experience? Develop a clear strategy for achieving each goal in chronological order and prioritization.
- Constantly check the relevance of your life plan
Life does not stand still and neither does man. It's normal that things may change. By periodically reviewing your life planning, you can understand: are you following it or not, are you happy, are there any prerequisites for changing anything in your goals. Don’t be afraid if your life priorities have changed and you want to change something. A plan is important for tracking your successes and achievements, and updating the reasons for failures.
A plan is needed so that a person feels better, is filled with positivity and has his own motivation, moves forward, and does not slow down.
Drawing up a personal life plan for self-development using an example.
Why make a plan
The point of making a plan for the year is to live a happier year than without a plan. The plan must guide us along the way happy life. Support our growth above ourselves. Expand our capabilities and grow our self-image.
The annual plan structures our development and pushes us lightly in the back when we stop. It should contain goals, the achievement of which is significant for us. It is extremely valuable to be effective; the annual plan serves this task.
And “keeping goals in mind” is a slingshot that smoothly turns into a TV remote control.
I've been planning goals for 5 years now. To convince you of the benefits of drawing up a plan and not clutter up the article, it is difficult for me to give not hundreds, but just one strong argument. I heard that everyone wants to “travel and lie under a palm tree.” Without work is a boring fairy tale. So I work and live in palm countries 260 days a year.
The plan must expand our freedom, and not squeeze us into the framework of old and imposed goals. If our lives are constrained: the obligation to earn a living or to work towards other people's goals, then it will be more far-sighted to make a plan to change our lives.
Basic principles of life planning
At the first stage, we make a draft list of goals. It’s convenient to start collecting goals and taking a closer look at them in December. You can test them to see if they suit you; if it’s vocals, go for a trial lesson.
But even before starting to draw up a plan, it is useful to accept the principles so that moving according to the plan will be a joy:
Target Sources
The main source of goals for the year is our personal meaning in life.. If we have compiled it, it will be much easier for us in the future: to determine what is valuable to us in the year and what to discard. Or we will start from the idea of what we want to achieve in 5 years. I give abbreviated examples.
My draft version of the personal meaning of life: figure out “Who am I?” and where I am.
Goals for the year: read books on psychology, philosophy, religion. Expand the “I” – unusual behavior, roles, habits, self-image, travel.
Results of year planning
We don't know what will happen in a year. We can be wrong about our desires. Example – we planned to move to the city center, but went abroad. The plan was not fulfilled - we just changed.
On New Year we make a plan. If it comes true, we will be delighted. And an unfulfilled plan will remain in our head as an unpleasant burden. That's why we're cunning.
The plan for the beginning of the year is taken as 100%. We fill that 25% of free space with new goals. We consider everything based on the original plan, and additional goals are considered as exceeding the plan.
A plan is necessary so that we feel better, so that it fills us with the will to move forward, and does not slow us down. An order of magnitude more will happen in life than is written in the plan. Unplanned meetings with friends, spiritual gatherings, some joyful moments. But they will not be taken into account in the plan. Remember that moving according to plan is part of life, not all of life.
What matters is not the correct plan, but the planning of life itself.
Life goes on as usual, and you have no idea when it will turn its back on you. Why is it important to make plans for the future rather than live for today? What is the point of our actions when we don’t know where we are going? If you feel like a “squirrel in a wheel,” it’s time to get to know your inner world. A monotonous life loses its taste over time, and we strive for more. What should each person try and what values should he listen to? You will find out right now!
How to decide what is most important in life
Why are we in this world? What connects us to each other? How to achieve happiness and, finally, spiritual peace? These questions are needed to understand what is most important in the life of each of us. You go to work, go to university, visit stores every day, read a book, surf social media. networks and everything seems wonderful... but few people think about global things.
Why monotonous life has captured our consciousness and doesn’t want to let you go on the path of development? People complain about routine, blame many factors, rush from one place to another, but cannot stop for a moment and think about the meaning of what is happening. In general, the search for meaning is introspection. We ourselves build the framework in which we find ourselves for a long time. Going beyond the boundaries of the familiar is often associated with a crime against one’s system. Everyone decides for themselves what is most important to them and what can be left out of sight. For some, it is important to be principled and not succumb to outside provocations.
Other people are more driven and ready to merge with the crowd. What is the best way to determine plans for the future? Make a list of values in order of importance! If for someone the first priority is “not to betray a loved one,” then the second will indicate “climb the career ladder no matter what.” Everyone is individual, so we ourselves must search for meaning.
What does a person need? First of all, be sincere with yourself! Under pressure from the environment, public opinion, fashion trends people artificially place themselves in a “problem” situation. The most important thing in life is to learn to move towards your own happiness without disturbing the happiness of others. The most important thing is not to act against your will if you predict the course of events.
Someone complains about constant shortage money, although he has been working for 15 years in a stressful job with a small salary. It is important for someone to find happiness in marriage, but he/she has been looking for his ideal in his own interests for more than 7 years. People deliberately go for pleasure, entertainment, live with the idea of ideals for decades, but do not even want to spend several years on a specific goal.
What is typical is that true desires go against the established habits of the individual. It's hard to go to workouts when you like to sit on the couch with a tablet in your hands. It's hard to do own business, if you are not ready to take risks, try, look for ways to implement. It is difficult to master a foreign language if you are simply lazy.
It turns out that a person needs to be diligent. Plans for the future will never come closer if you waste energy in vain. You cannot think about one thing, talk about it, but act completely differently. To win happiness, you need to destroy all the barriers that block the entire process.
Eat good family but not enough money? You need to appreciate the fact that you have family, and this energy will allow you to either rise in your career or find a decent job with decent pay. Is everything bad in your family and you have no money? It will not be possible to live in prosperity until problems on the personal front are resolved.
One problem leads to another and here it is necessary to eradicate the cause of failure. It is important to understand your true values, which keep you in good shape and give you the strength to live. If you chase imaginary happiness, but neglect the main values, a person will begin to “destroy” and put himself in a remote corner. Imaginary happiness can be money, ideal relationships, career, appearance, when the truth can lie in family, individuality, pleasant work, albeit with a small salary. If you find the main goals that will pull you towards success, you are on the right path.
How to determine your plans for the future
Drawing up a plan is an opportunity to put all things in order. This is especially important when there is a mess in the head, but in reality the person is not “true” to his goals. It's best to plan for many years. Development requires specifics, and self-control is impossible without an accurate schedule.
The plan is a great support for personal growth, regardless of needs, gender, age. Without a clear understanding of his tasks, a person will periodically stop and be distracted by unnecessary things. To avoid a smooth transition from learning English and creating a business project to watching TV, you need to give yourself responsibilities.
The plan expands the worldview. If you are squeezed within your own framework, live by other people's ideas, do not value your freedom - this is the best solution.
Making a list of goals
Take a piece of paper, a pen and write what you want to implement. It’s worth pointing out what you can subconsciously master and start working on it. Such a list will discard everything unnecessary and show what is most important. Here, hardly anyone would write watching TV, visiting McDonald's and mindlessly looking at pictures on the Internet.
Set time frames
Plans for the future love specifics. “I will lose 20 kg in 5 months or I will speak English in 12 months.” Life may be a long thing, but we have foolishly spent years wandering from one place to another... and there are zero results. At a pace, a person does not pay attention to " bad habits", which constantly distracted him from working on himself. You shouldn’t set the unattainable bar “I’ll earn a million in two months.” Why not say “I will earn 20 thousand in two months and save it for business development.”
Don't be afraid of difficulties
Efforts help people reach a higher level. It's like training in the gym - you need to gradually increase the load so that soon you admire your beautiful body. How about the idea of working productively for a week and ordering pizza as a reward on the weekend or going to the movies? The psyche and body together love pleasure, and it is especially pleasant to receive them for merit. Wrote 10 articles in three days - went for a massage. Read a 150-page self-development book and go on a long-awaited shopping spree. Constant growth brings you closer to success.
Create an image and match it
How can you be rich if: firstly, you don’t do anything for it, and secondly, you don’t think like a rich person and don’t look like one. Desire is the paint with which we decorate the canvas of goals. "I will do beautiful body and I’ll walk along the beach, everyone will look at me in admiration” or “I earn decent money, I drive up to the orphanage in a good car and donate things and toys to them.” It is important to scale the idea and start living it, then old life will be left behind.
Things to do in life
What needs to be done in life by a person who does not know how to manage his time meaningfully? Every day we do things that we impose on ourselves or are imposed on us by others. What if you remove “what is fashionable is important to others”, and do something from the heart? Down with prejudices and complexes - we improve karma, grow morally and become a different person from today.
Support someone in difficult times
The most important thing in life is not to become callous and remember that someone now needs your help. You can save a child’s life and give a blood transfusion, or you can donate money for the expensive treatment of a woman with cancer. If you see a person lying on the grass, it is important to approach him, find out if you need help, and call an ambulance. We close ourselves off in our own world, but forget to pay attention to the needs of others. One good deed can give you hope for salvation.
Green your city and love nature
We sit at the computer all day, eat chemical food, look for a new iPhone at a discount... but what about visiting forests, picnics, clean-up days in parks. A great idea to unwind is to buy a few seedlings and plant them in your yard. Why not invite friends on social networks to get together to clean the park and plant flowers? Nature is our home, which we forget about, spread garbage, destroy flora and fauna. We must not forget our origins, because great power is hidden in them.
Learn several foreign languages and travel
It’s cool to understand what a foreigner is talking about and carry on a conversation with him. And it’s even better to visit other countries, experience a sea of unforgettable emotions, and know no boundaries in communication. Polyglots live interesting life, then why not start with English and work your way up to Japanese?
Find a circle of interests
The things you need to do in life are to find “your” people who will share your values and be able to dream. Outside support is needed to find a common solution, to express oneself without oppressing one’s goals. Do you want to fight against testing products on animals? Today there are many clubs that are developing this idea. Do you want to travel for photography? Millions of photographers will definitely support you, and there are many of them in your city.
Make a big surprise for your family
You watch with delight the video when a son gives his father a car or a mother receives the pink convertible of her dreams, like Elvis Presley. A holiday for your family is a holiday in your soul. Carefully select a surprise, prepare for it, feel excitement and pride in your actions. There is nothing better than surprise, happiness from the fact that you invested your efforts.
Try becoming a vegetarian
Excessive consumption of meat has become a problem of the last century. Slaughterhouses are built in places where forests and meadows used to grow. Scientists have proven harmful influence large concentrations of cattle and poultry on the environment. In addition, it is very cruel when whales, millions of cows, and rare breeds of animals die for human purposes. We don’t need much to maintain our diet, and according to statistics, some of the meat simply disappears before reaching the consumer. Eating less meat and focusing on plant-based foods is an interesting experience that will help environment and the fight against cruelty. This is not harmful to health.
Save money for the future
10% of the salary, which gradually grows into a fortune. You should always save and love this business! What you need to do in life is to learn to be careful with your profits. The arrival of money is like a sea wave - before you have time to catch it, it’s already at sea. Will the standard of living change if you live not on 6000, but on 5500? The difference can be put on deposit and gradually reported. Yes, not so much at first, but after a few years the amount will bring confidence in the future. It is important to resist the temptation to spend everything. To do this, we recommend reading the book “The Richest Man in Babylon.”
Plans for the future are the best tool for guaranteed happiness not in a year or two, but now. When you know what you are striving for and confidently move towards the goal - you do not lose heart, you are not touched by those little things that used to constantly distract you. You should never stop if the idea is worth it!
The reason for writing this article was my recent small argument with a friend. It started with her asking me about plans for the future and being very surprised to learn that I... didn’t have any.
Of course, in response to this, I heard a number of arguments about how “you can’t live like that” and that “everything in life should be clearly and clearly outlined.”
She also shared with me that by the age of 33 she will have the position of director of a company, and at most at 40 she plans to relax on the seashore in her own house.
Of course, I sincerely wished her that her plans would come true, but that didn’t make me plan anything. Why? I have a number of arguments for this.
Man proposes, God disposes
I'm not religious, but I believe in God. More than once in my life, I noticed how some Higher Power seemed to guide me, helping me overcome difficulties and find solutions in seemingly hopeless situations.
Therefore, before planning something for the future, I always keep in mind that a person only assumes, but only God knows how everything will actually turn out. 
For atheists and agnostics, I can offer an adapted version: we all, unfortunately or fortunately, are not one hundred percent masters of our destiny and largely depend on circumstances.
Very often these circumstances radically change our plans, so why waste time building a clear chronology of what you will do in a week, month or year? The unexpected always happens more often than expected.
Plans get in the way of life
In addition, when planning, we program ourselves for only one line of development, for only one scenario. own life, which is why we often don’t notice this very life.
Have you ever met people who seem to have achieved everything they dreamed of, built their villas by the age of 50, took leadership positions, started a family and a cat, but still do not feel happy? I have come across more than one such example.
Strictly planning, putting their lives under some kind of schedule, people often do not notice other opportunities that are full of them on their way and which, perhaps, would make them truly happy. While the absence of plans makes people more open to the world around them.
Destroyed plans are another reason for depression
And how much nerve-wracking ruined plans cost! When a person has built his life like a train schedule for too long, what horror does he feel if one of his trains suddenly goes off the rails!
That's exactly what happened to me. I used to plan everything in advance. After graduating from university, I had a clear plan to start my own business, but circumstances were such that everything collapsed at once, like a house of cards.
For a long time I could not cope with the depression and disappointment that overwhelmed me. And after I did it, I just realized that planning is stupid and pointless. You just need to live and enjoy every day, without missing out on the opportunities life provides.
After all, the lack of plans is not carelessness or frivolity, but a reasonable approach. Instead of a field drawn into even squares, I have a wide road on which I expect both unexpected miracles and unpleasant surprises.
Instead of ticked boxes, there are plans and ideas that I will definitely bring to life as soon as a favorable opportunity presents itself. And if I set a Goal for myself, then I will definitely achieve it! :)
What do you think: is the lack of plans for life wisdom or carelessness?
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Every person has certain plans for life. Being in school age, I understand that I can achieve anything I want, the main thing is to set a goal and go towards it, overcoming difficulties.
My future plans
If we talk about skills, like any man, I would like to learn how to drive a car or a motorcycle. For general development, I would master a musical instrument, for example, a guitar. An interesting activity for me now is solving charades; I would like to improve my skills and become a real professional in this matter.
As for purchases, it seems to me that it is difficult to do without your own home or vehicle. For this reason, I set the goal of acquiring movable and immovable valuable property. I want to take my family on trips, this will make them friendlier and stronger. Personally, I want to see medieval castles and incredible landscapes with my own eyes. After school I plan to go to college and get an interesting profession. Today I like programming. The specialty is very promising; if you get a good position, you can achieve your goals.
My plans also include starting a family. Of course, I will move away from my parents, arrange my personal life, and my wife and I will have at least two children. Perhaps we will get a cat or a dog. We will live in a spacious apartment, but we would also like a country cottage where our family could spend time on weekends and on vacation.
How can I be useful to society?
I understand that the country cannot live without the participation of its citizens in solving important matters. Social activities attract me; I understand that you can do important, useful things outside the boundaries of your home, work, or place of study. Perhaps I will become the founder of a foundation that helps orphans or other vulnerable groups of the population. Or maybe I will be able to invent a device that will make the life and work of many people easier.
At the time of writing an essay about my plans for the future, I do not know how life will turn out. But I can say with confidence that I will do everything possible to get an education and take a good position. I don’t want to waste time, and I will try to fill my life with meaning.
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