Ten years ago, I was feeling a little bit lost. I think a lot of people go through a rough patch like this at some point. I had a degree, but couldn’t find a good job. Wasn’t happy where I was living. Thought I wanted kids and a family, but maybe didn’t know when or where to start as most of the other areas of my life didn’t seemed to be lining up.
So… I sat down and made two plans. The first was a short term plan for getting things I needed to get done in the next 6 months or so. The second plan was a long term, ten year plan.
I divided my long term plan into different pages. One page for career. One page for family planning. One plan for community volunteer goals. One plan for the type of education I needed to get the job I wanted. Where I wanted to live, etc.
It took me less than a half an hour. When I finished, I folded it up and put it in a special place and felt a lot better. If anything, I had a plan.
And guess what?
Almost everything on that plan came true!
There were some variations and lots of things that came to me that were way beyond what I could have ever imagined. But, for the most part, the plan happened.
There’s a big a power in having a goal. A plan gives you direction and focus. A plan allows you to relax because you already know that you’re working in one direction and even if it doesn’t work, you’re at least giving your 100%. The trick is not getting too obsessed or stuck on the plan. While I had a plan, I also left lots of room for spontaneity. Because really, you never know what life is going to dish out.
For example, something I remember putting in my plan was that I wanted to have three kids, when I was 28, 30 and 32. Bwahahaha!
Well, the first part was sort of true, I had my first at 27 and the second at 29. Then, I realised that having kids two years apart was totally mental for us, so I decided to wait four years for the third and he came along when I was 34.
And, for places to live, I wrote that I really wanted to move somewhere with nice weather and good waves. So, I put my options as either Hawaii, Australia or California. Soon after, we moved to Australia, and we’ve been here since!
A few months ago, I started feeling that old familiar feeling…. Like, “Ok… What’s next?” And, I remembered, that my ten year plan had ‘expired‘. I guess it’s time to sit down and make another ten year plan. Let’s see what happens!
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