Lately, I’ve been tired every single day. Tired to start, tired during the day and exhausted when I get back in. But regardless of this continuous fatigue, this has been a highly productive January; despite my presently intense experience at work, I’ve managed to tick off crucial things on my 2019 itinerary.
How? I made this plan long before the year began, and it fits very snugly into my 5 year plan; each small step is a push forward, which trickles a domino effect on future areas of my life.
The thing with planning is that, yes, you won’t always have things go your way, but having a failed plan is always better than having no plan, because even if things steer off course, you can recognize that; as compared to going with the wind only to look back later and be filled with regrets because you don’t like where you have ended up – which could have been more obvious to you as you approached it, had you had a plan you were following.
Another thing with life planning is that you may not have all the steps. You may know you want to work at a multi national organization, but not know when you would get hired – that’s perfectly fine. Have the goal in place and set a time frame. With each plan review, state how you have progressed towards achieving that goal; did you apply for an internship at the organization, have you tried to volunteer with their social enterprise…take note of each step made towards achieving the goal, and eventually the master plan will take shape – plus you’ll have a step by step guide to advise people coming behind you with when sharing your experience, which is very important! It’s one thing to walk through an open door of opportunity, but it’s a whole other thing to leave that door open behind you for future generations to come up through.
I’m old fashioned and I still believe in physically writing out my dreams and life plans in a journal, but you may prefer to type it on your phone or laptop – whatever your preference, ensure it’s somewhere you can easily refer back to and update with progress reports. Updating regularly will help you feel less daunted by the dream that may have initially seemed far-fetched and thus encourages you to keep pushing!
All the best my loves,
Dr. ETP xo
