Have A Plan You Can Be Proud Of

Do you have a plan for your life? You’ve got to have one. You need it — because you’re heading nowhere without one.

Having a plan is helpful. It acts as a map, guiding you along as your life takes shape. It says that you’re going to go places and do things. It says you intend to accomplish something or be somewhere by a certain time. It gives your life structure and purpose. If you saunter through life without a plan, you’ll drift off course without ever knowing it.

Having a plan means you’ve taken a moment to consider what you want to do with your life, and aren’t simply waiting for something to fall into your lap. If you believe you will accomplish great things by just waiting for things to turn up, you’ll end up sleepwalking through life surprised by everything that happens. If you haven’t put together a plan on your own already, these three steps can help you get started:

  1. Think about what it is you want to do. This is your goal.
  2. Plan to reach your goal by breaking it down into smaller steps.
  3. If you won’t reach your goal by tomorrow, focus on what you can achieve towards your goal today.

Remember that if you don’t have a plan you can be proud of, you’ll probably never finish your plan. You need a plan where a genuine desire is driving you to participate in it. This is what distinguishes a plan from a dream. While dreams are things you want to do that often appear unattainable, plans are things you have every intention of doing — and having a plan means you’ve worked out how you will actually do it.

Granted, not all plans succeed. Even when you have a plan to look before you leap, you may still fail to land on the other shore — but isn’t it better that way? Because even if you sank, you can proudly say that you dove in with your eyes on the prize. The alternative is to just follow your nose and end up downstream somewhere. Or even worse, you could simply remain still. You’ll look, and look, and look, then look again — but never actually leap!

So ask yourself: “Will I let myself be completely paralyzed by the fear of failure? Am I too scared to move forward because I’m terrified of making even the slightest mistake?”

Have no fear — just because you have a plan doesn’t mean that you must follow it no matter what. Creating a plan for yourself isn’t making an oath you absolutely must obey. Your plan isn’t meant to be rigid — it should be something that is constantly under review, changing regularly when you need it to. As circumstances change, as you change, so should your plan. The particulars of the plan aren’t important. Having one is.

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2 Responses to “Have A Plan You Can Be Proud Of”

#1 spencer on 14, Feb, 2008 at 9:07 am

hello shaun thanks for what you have wrote it as help me to see a different way. however am still somewhat unsure of where i really want to be. i just know i had to quit being a security guard. i dont want that field any more i never really wanted to be any thing other then a police officer. idont want corrections its much like being a security guard. thanks for writting these things it as help me. i will send a donation if you could please write me back at my e dress again thanks

#2 Rio on 02, Jan, 2010 at 7:31 am

Well I have to give you credit Shaun B. your article was brilliant well written and insightful. Not half bad for a recent grad. The article was a slice of sunshine and I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Originally, what I thought was a huge obstacle was reduced into a simple change of directions. I drive all over the place and I hate using GPS and mapquest, never ask for directions unless I need to. I am actually notorious for my infamous u-turns in the middle of the street. Please don’t inform the Florida cops about me but – when I read the article I began to see receive a solid perspective about an unsuccessful life plan that really put some stress on me this year. I mean it was sheer luck that I found the article put pure genius after I read it. You really got something good here and I plan to share how it turns out. I will keep my eyes on this one.

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