Kenny Talks About : Making Plans for Your Life

We all go through life in many different ways. We are all just very different people. We each have different aspirations, goals and ways of doing the things we do. But, yet, in my opinion, we would probably be the same in one aspect. That is, each of us, by our own thoughts and motivations decides about how and where we end up.

You may say that there are people who do not have a freedom to decide, but making decisions no matter how small it may be is what makes us human. We each have a conscious mind to think about our actions and even the consequences of each of those.

And we all make plans in our very own way. There will be those that say, they don't make plans, and that they would just go with the flow of life, let things happen as they may be. But, I don't believe that to be true. Honestly, plans does not have a statute of timing or period. It could be as short as making plans to have a meal within the next hour or planning for your retirement in 30 years time. All of us think about a sequence of events that will ultimately lead us to the objectives of the plans.

Am I wasting time....?

Since young, I was taught to think about my actions and how it would help with what I would do in the future. Mom and Dad would say, "Don't spend time doing useless things. Don't waste time doing something you did not plan. Don't waste time with petty tasks... Don't waste time... "

Can anyone honestly say what is useless and what is not? Though we are smart enough to identify with certain things that is either wrong or right, black or white, but there are a lot of things in our lives that would consists of grey areas.

It's subjective and it really depends on what your personal goals are.

Personal goals...

Sounds like a big subject.... or perhaps a popular phrase that is coined in a whole list of cliches by motivators and self-development Gurus. But, you know what? Don't look at it that way. Think of it as part of the task of making personal plans for your life. And never treat it like a tangible thing! Personal goals should be close to your heart and it's about feelings rather than words in your head.

If you treat it as a tangible achievement, you will always be looking for a physical proofs. We are human, and when we don't see these physical proofs, (ie. cars, money, house...) we get demotivated all too easily.

So, if you think about it, it's something that should be of your heart and feeling.

Not too short and not too long...

Make plans... Some of you may sigh. "Oh no, another tedious task to think about what I will do and the hard part is sticking to it... "

Well, don't plan like you are thinking of an invasion. Keep your plans short enough so they will be practical, achiveable and you can see the results in a relatively short period.

On the other end of the spectrum, don't make it too short that you don't have enough time to execute the thoughts or that the end result is not justifiable in the amount of work needed to e put into it.

Perhaps the best length would be 3-years. Decide what you will do within this 3 years and what you hope to achieve at the end of this period (remember, it doesn't have to be tangible).

Here's an example of a young high school graduate's plans in both personal and career development:

Start : 17 years old

3 years - Higher Education (17 yrs old)
3 years - Permanent posts in the hotel line (21 yrs old)
3 years - Escale to managerial role (24 yrs old)
3 years - Career development or post-graduate education (27 yrs old)
3 years - Settle down and get married (30 yrs old)
3 years - Own your own business or become a young director (33 yrs old)

Though is not a hard and steadfast timeline, but it gives one a guide of the different stages in our lives that we should take note of.

Plans can change...

Yes, plans do change. But, if you do not think about it and make plans in the first place, what do you refer to when making this change? Is there even a basis for a change? There simply isn't any direction to follow.

We can't tell the future and how things will change.

Just like a train heading towards its destination... You cannot forsee a truck that is stuck on the track a few miles ahead of the track because its still too far, but no matter what, you still need the train tracks to lead you on. And when you get near enough to that obstruction, you will see it with just enough time to stop the train and work on getting the tracks cleared.

That's just like our lives.