Change Your Life Plan Whenever Necessary

You’re not the same person you were five years ago.

In fact, you’re not even the same person you were yesterday, because you are only who you are today.

When you repeatedly spend each day choosing to be the same person you were yesterday, though, you get comfortable with the routine and forget that you have a choice at all.

I started thinking about this after reading something I wrote seven years ago. This was written as part of a college application essay in year 2000:

Being born into the computer age has had an amazing effect on my computer abilities. Computing has literally become my life, and I hope it stays that way. I feel that computing is my calling, and there are good careers available in the computing field with excellent salaries.

To me computing is not only challenging, but fun, and that’s why I have chosen computer science as my major. I am sure that I will enjoy studying computer-related courses which will enable me to become a proficient computer expert.

Listening to my former self describe future plans is interesting. It’s clear that I had goals for my future, and that I was eager to accomplish them.

In other words, “To become a proficient computer expert” was my Life Plan.

Today, I read these words and feel surprised at how drastically my plans have changed. Though I’ve become a proficient computer expert, that line of work no longer fascinates me like it once did. In fact, before stumbling across this essay of mine, I had forgotten that it ever fascinated me at all.

My point is that people change — and as you change, so do your plans for the future.

My Life Plan no longer involves computers. Nor does it involve winning the lottery, being the youngest contender in the World Series of Poker, or designing robots. I have no more desires to become a pilot, magician, or physics teacher. Currently, my Life Plan is in sync with my life’s calling:

I want to be a writer.

I want to write things worth reading — things that people can relate to and resonate with. I want my writings to help people recognize how it’s never too late to change direction in life. I want to help inspire people to create positive change in their own lives, follow their true calling, and experience a more fulfilling lifestyle every day.

And I don’t want to settle for anything less.

Before now, all of my Life Plans were mediocre at best. I’ve reinvented myself ten times over trying to discover what makes me feel right with the world, and I’m glad I’ve arrived at this. The alternative was to settle for a repetitive and unfulfilled life investing too much time into unimportant things.

I wanted to do something that was important to me.

I needed to start again. I needed to reboot my life.

So I made the choice to change. Have you?

Take a moment to take in your surroundings — your job, your home, and your future. Ask yourself: Is this really me?

If it isn’t, then it’s probably time you made some changes to your Life Plan — and today’s a great day for a life reboot.

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4 Responses to “Change Your Life Plan Whenever Necessary”

#1 LJ on 10, Jul, 2007 at 12:53 pm

It’s no longer, I want to be a writer, but rather, I am a writer… at least thats how I feel, in your case.

I’ve always contemplated the idea “What do I want to be when I grow up?” and I challenged the question itself, why do we limit ourselves to one profession our entire lives? Maybe it’s good for some, it works for them… they were born to be that specific job. Maybe they are just lucky enough to have an attention span that lasts more than 30 seconds. But what do people like me do, who bounce around every day, thought to thought…

I want to be writer
I want to be a musician
I want to be an artist
I want to be an dancer
I want to be an athlete
I want to run a big corporation
etc, etc.

I’ve pretty much kept the same 4 dreams my entire life. I want to be a writer, musician, artist, and dancer.

I’ve half accomplished the writing and musician aspects of my life, but my undivided interest in them comes to me at random, like all good writing, it comes without being premeditated. At least for me. I just wonder if I’ll ever be able to build a career that I enjoy while having an attention span the size of a flea.

Now I’m just rambling. (:

#2 Shaun Boyd on 11, Jul, 2007 at 9:33 am

@LJ
There’s probably a reason you bounce around the way you do — I’d guess it’s because you don’t want to settle for any single thing. Limiting yourself to a single profession isn’t a requirement, it’s just the standard. I’m sure that if you want to be a writer, musician, artist, and dancer, you can find your own non-standard way of life that involves all of these things.

#3 Debbie on 06, Jan, 2011 at 9:47 am

I am so unhappy. I don’t know how to change my life, and I have been caught here for so long. I am afraid of change.

#4 Isabel on 11, Mar, 2013 at 9:15 am

Thank you so much for posting this. I needed to hear something like that, very helpful article.

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