Somewhere along the line we were all told we need to have a plan for our lives, but how much should you actually plan for? Well, my response to that would be, it depends on the person. If you are reading this chances are you have been alive long enough to realize making plans is one thing, sticking to them is another, and having things always go as planned is a rare occurrence.
I am not a fan of disappointment but I have come to respect the fact that from time to time it happens! Such is life! When plans fall through or don’t work out exactly the way I wanted them to it’s not such a rough thing for me. I have with time and patience learned how to just bounce back to my feet and accept what I could not control and look how to adjust and avoid it in the future. However, this is not the case for everyone.
There are those of you out there that cannot and do not like it when things do not follow the precise map that you have draw out for yourselves. You are the folks that I worry about because a slight deviance from your plan and to you the world is crashing down. As well those of you who make no plans at all…you tend to have fears of failure so you fail to make plans, thereby in your mind making it impossible to fail, either that or maybe some of you are just that lazy. Regardless of which group you are coming from these guidelines are for you. I am not a doctor or a psychologist, but I can offer you some sound advice from my own personal life experiences…because at one point I have stood in both of your shoes.
1. Know that you have a CHOICE – There are two things that we cannot control in, in this life, when we are born and when we die (Yes, you can kill yourself- but most people choose not to do that). Everything else in life is determined by what you decided to do with it. We choose what we will be in this live and I am sure some of you are disagreeing with me right now, because you are in a bad job, bad relationship, or something that you are not happy with…but I will tell you this, you are there by your own choice and choices or decisions that you have made in the past. Your power of choice is what will allow you to rebound quickly when your life train begins to derail.
2. Don’t over plan it – There are some people who feel it necessary to map out every moment of every day...and if you look at them they always seem frantic. Plan for what you must, but once you get to the point where you have to take time and plan to make a plan you know you are in trouble. Life does not know your plans and has no need to respect your plans--- you must learn to respect life and dance with her gracefully even when she steps on your toes. When I say plan for what you must I mean if you have certain obligations that are a necessity in your life schedule them in, but don’t be scared to deviate from them every now and again if a good opportunity comes along.
3. Don’t fail to have a plan – Not having a plan at all for your life is just as bad as over planning. Without a plan you have no direction of where you want to go in life. I use to avoid making plans because I hated to be disappointed when things didn’t work out, but that got me know where. Have a basic plan in place. Take a look at your life and think about what it is that you want to do with it. From there start looking at the choices or decisions that you make and figure out how they are or are not useful in getting you to where you want to be. For example if you want to be a man on the moon is spending every free moment playing video games beneficial? Most likely not. So, bad choice, adjust and move on.
So that’s it. Three simple rules that could really keep you moving in a direction you want to go. But of course this is much easier said than done. Writing these rules out is one thing, but teaching yourself to live by them and believe in them is a whole different story. I myself still have a difficult time balancing my choices and decisions, but I have not given up. Every day may bring a new obstacle but I look forward to them now and plan my plans around them.
Happy Planning -- or not?
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