Life Planning
So, we’ve all heard about life planning. 5 year plans. 10 year plans. Even 20 year plans. Before 2017 I barely planned my coming week – never mind the ‘rest of my life’. And honestly, I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want to be one of those ‘neurotic’ people who planned their life down to the merest detail and missed out on ‘real life’ by doing so.
But I’ve realised that the opposite is true. By living, learning, and working without purpose, it was a real struggle to achieve meaningful success because I had nothing to measure up against. If you haven’t got a goal then it’s very difficult to achieve it. Shocking, I know.
It was actually while browsing Pinterest that I came across a post by House of Muses written by Jordanna Rowan ( now Wolf & Wild Design) which kickstarted my interest in life planning. It was a beautiful concept – the 5 minute 5 year plan. I’m so sorry the post isn’t available any more for me to directly share with you all but I’ll give you what I took from it in this post.
The key to this is to get some paper to hand. I literally used A4 pink sugar paper because it was closest to my desk. That and a purple felt tip were the beginnings of my first ever life plan. Give each question a maximum of 5 minutes thought – set yourself a timer if you have to – just don’t give yourself time to second-guess or over think. Commit to your gut instinct and get it all out of your head and onto paper. You can refine it and re-write it afterwards if you want to. I put it all into my bullet journal so that I had a mostly legible record – but I’ve kept that original brain-dump for posterity. I sort of love it now – it’s totally honest and up front and I need that from myself sometimes!
So, answer the following 5 questions in 5 minutes and you’ll have your life plan started!
How do I want to feel in 5 years?
This was something that had already started occurring to me – and was my fundamental issue with how life planning had been presented to me previously. I don’t know if getting the job with the ££££ salary is what will make me happy! But if I think about how I want to feel in 5 years I have very clear ideas. Peaceful, content, energised, excited, accomplished – these are just a few of the feelings that came to me. This makes it so easy to decide on what to do. Will something make me feel accomplished once I have completed it? Then I do it. Will something make me feel stagnant instead of excited? Then I don’t do it.
Of course, this doesn’t always apply to the basic everyday things we all have to do. But it can make you question how you do them, when you do them and even who you do them with. I find the dishes a much more tolerable task when I’m not doing them solo for example. On the flip-side, however, I think some of the tasks or parts of life that we all see as absolutely essential aren’t really.
For example, before sitting down and making a 5 year plan I had simply assumed I would be paying off my mortgage for the next 20-25 years. And therefore would need a full time standard job making as much money as possible to be able to enjoy the little things as well as paying off a house. (Like shoes. I really like shoes.) But. (Big but.) It is actually possible for me to pay it off in 5 years. Not easy, but possible. And that means the other assumptions I had about my life long term can be changed. Can be flexible. Can be – dare I say it – whatever I want them to be. Life planning, in a structured way, opens up this flexibility and lets you really interrogate if your life has to play out in the same old patterns, or if you can steer it in a direction that suits you better!
What have I done in the last 5 years?
I found this question quite illuminating. At first I was filled with dread about thinking of my achievements – because that negative little voice in my head was immediately saying “you haven’t done enough”. Why should my historic behaviour have anything to do with my shiny new plan? But when I pressed on and actually started writing down my achievements (including the small victories because sometimes they are the most important ones!) I actually had a nice little list to reflect on. It occurred to me that because I had a habit of going from one task (or job, or project) to another, I didn’t fully realise my successes at the time. This reflection on your past is what informs your life planning, and allows you to come from a position of knowing where you stand currently.
Reflecting and looking back at the last 5 years felt daunting. But I promise, once you do it you will have a much better understanding of how you used your time over that period. And even if you are super productive, I’m sure you’ll see areas of your life where you could have achieved more. But this isn’t just about quantity. Investigating your previous achievements and interrogating your why for doing them and how they made you feel at the time (and after) will give you information on how to plan ahead. If you had huge achievements but they are in an area that doesn’t fulfil you, or the process of achieving them made you feel horrible, then you can avoid that sort of goal going forward. Even if it’s what your family/friends/society at large tells you is ‘essential’ – you need to see if it is actually essential for your happiness and wellbeing.
If you’re worried that you haven’t achieved much in the last 5 years then please put yourself at ease. My list was short. Some of the things on it were bigger than others, completing a degree for example. But for the most part it was my small victories that had the most lasting and positive impact on my life. Making a new friend that turned into one of my best friends and confidants has added more pleasure, warmth, happiness, and wisdom to my life than my degree has to date. Give yourself credit for your honest achievements, and think about what you put into getting them and what you’re getting out of them now. You can apply your findings to the next step.
Clear goals for the next 5 years.
This is the bit that I found really hard at first. I started writing down standard stuff that we all see everywhere online and in magazines, and hear from our friends and families. Get a promotion. Settle down with a reasonable partner and get started on the 2.5 kids. Maybe plan one holiday per year.
But I noticed what I was doing. Just spewing out the things that other people tell us we should achieve. So I forced myself to go wild with this one, in the privacy of my own journal. I dared myself to set big goals. Massive and scary goals. Goals that I almost couldn’t imagine myself achieving. Because why not? Why not challenge yourself to live a big life that is full of massive achievements? And even more importantly, full of massive happiness.
“Aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”
Norman Vincent Peale
This is one of my favourite quotes and it came to me while I was dreaming up my huge goals for the next 5 years. It echoed with advice I have been given by multiple cherished people in my life – treat yourself just the same way as you would treat your best friend. And if my best friend were to tell me she wanted to set a huge goal like paying off her mortgage I would 100% jump on the bandwagon and cheer her on. So why should I let my little internal naysayer tell me I couldn’t?
We all have different ideas of what a big goal is. For some of us it is finishing a course or degree, for others it might be starting their own business, or even starting a family. And some days getting up and making your bed before flopping on the sofa is a big achievement. The important thing is to apply your original answers to ‘how do I want to feel in 5 years’ to this task. Don’t judge yourself for the goals you want to set, don’t think about how other people will see them. Because this isn’t for anyone else – it’s for you. This is your life, and how you live it is your decision and your responsibility. And what an exciting responsibility it is!
What can I do tomorrow?
Now this question was the most essential. It brought everything into focus and reminded me that the key to any plan is to take immediate action. To break the big ideas and goals into small – no – tiny, little bitesize chunks that I could do in a day. Or even in 5 minutes. Things like making a call, or sending an email, are the baby steps that set you on the path to massive achievement.
Just writing them down in a quick list galvanised me to action immediately. I didn’t even wait till the next day. Breaking it down into tiny, actionable tasks made me feel like they were easily achievable – and taking that immediate action gave me the feeling of success in the moment. What can I say, I like instant gratification sometimes. For big goals that you set yourself, you need to allow yourself those moments of quick and easy achievement. It fuels you for digging in and working into the long term to make those huge dreams in your life plan a reality!
So think about the small elements of your massive goals, the first steps you need to take to get the ball rolling. Whether it’s eating one piece of fruit to get started on that 5-a-day habit, or emailing your boss about on the job training. Whatever your small first step is – write it down. And then wake up tomorrow morning and do it. The feeling of victory alone will be the best reward, though I also recommend a nice cup of tea and perhaps a happy dance. Whatever suits you.
How can I keep focused?
This is the difficult one. You’ve had an amazing session of brainstorming and dreaming and life planning, you’ve written crazy notes all over a piece or paper or your notebook. You’ve got a list of things you can to tomorrow – or right this moment! Now what?
Now sit down and make a date with yourself. On your phone, or in your diary, or with a post-it note stuck to your fridge. Make a date a week from now, and keep to it. This is your time to sit and check in with your goals. Did you do all of your next day tasks? What are the next steps? I actually sat with my diary and made a weekly date with myself for reflection, and then a monthly check in to re-formulate the plan based on my progress.
This might seem like a lot of work, but its your life we’re talking about! If you can keep to meetings with your boss or your friends, you can show yourself the same respect and stay on track with your progress check ins. This is your chance to evaluate on the go. Maybe that big dream of starting your own business is actually a nightmare when you get it up and running. You don’t have to carry on. Stop, evaluate, and plan again. Every failure is just one way you have found that doesn’t work for you. Keep on moving forward and you will find your path, the one that fulfils you and brings you joy.
Final thoughts?
Focus on how you want to feel. And pursue the things that will make you feel those things. The beautiful thing about this is that we are all different, what makes me content might makes others feel constricted. What makes me excited might make you nervous. This quick life planning process helps you pin down how your life plan should look – not just what LinkedIn or Pinterest tells us it should be!
I would love to hear your thoughts on life planning, and if you have tried this technique then do let me know how it went for you! You can always comment or contact me privately to ask any questions or suggest further blog posts!
Love, Isobel x
