Wanna make God Laugh? Tell him your future plans... And even if you're still hung up on the 5-year plan, trace the necessary steps back to what that will require today, right now - and then welcome the opportunity to witness it fall apart - dare yourself to fail.....
Yes- I love this! There are so many business books and coaches who try to complicate things. Keep it simple - do work that is important and improve each day- perfection!
This is good advice @Justin Welsh. Especially in today's fast moving environment.
James Clear talked to me about the importance of improving by 1% each day and that stayed with me. It's not a heavy lift when you do it one day at a time but the compounding effect over a year is MASSIVE.
I'm a bit torn on this one... I completely agree that focusing on improving an individual thing today can be much better than building a grandiose plan for the future. However, I also believe that there's still immense value in building a roadmap that depicts where you currently are, highlights the most efficient path to get you to your destination (e.g., an interstate), and the milestones along the way that you should plan to hit. But yes, detours, roadblocks, setbacks, etc. are all a reality. But proper planning in advance will also help you better react to those as they emerge.
But still, this was a very great read. Very thought-provoking for sure. I'm just not so certain things are so absolute. Or perhaps it's just the risk averse guy within me who still needs to have a methodical plan built to help govern my actions.
I believe I could have written the opposing argument (forget today, just focus on 5 years down the road) and made it just as compelling. That’s the fun with these pieces. They’re likely neither wrong nor right.
I am a firm believer in this approach AND my perspective has recently shifted a bit. I got onto an author and into a program of his where I learned the value of goal setting in order to become extremely focussed on the most important things that produce results to achieve the goal (business, health, etc). Using the goal as a tool to create change today. Very transformative for me.
My dad used to always ask me what my 5 year plan was but I honestly could never tell him. I like to take things one day at a time. Make a short term goal, go for it and see where it takes me next. Things change fast so it's hard to know where we will be in even just a couple years from now
One particular thing hit hard. We plan for 5 years and see our future self achieving/living a particular life. But, even if we progress as planned our situation will be totally different from what we imagined. This can result in dissatisfaction or delusion of not achieving what we wanted. Our goal is to live a life where we live intentionally and have time to pursue relationships and hobbies. We should imagine a life having these components instead of imagining exactly how, where and with whom we will be living.
I’ve shelved more five-year plans than I care to admit, and none aged as well as a single good decision made today. Showing up, adjusting, and staying curious seems to be the real long game.
There’s a widespread misperception among young ppl that you become an adult and suddenly stop changing. Nothing could be farther from truth. You may change more slowly than you did in your youth, but you still change. That’s what makes life so hard, but also interesting! Imagine how boring the world would be if at age 41 you cared about the same things you did at 21. Cheers- 💌
Often action leads to more clarity, so just moving today is better than planning for 5 years. The fog of war clears as you move, not by planning. I say this as a master procrastinator who plans and thinks too much. There is wisdom in James Clear's approach of systems and incremental improvements though. I like also Joe Hudson's approach: How can you make the now 10% better, i.e. more enjoyable? Can you see the beauty in the now?
All long term projections are incorrect…it is only a matter of how wrong they are compared to the future reality. We cannot accurately predict what the weather will be a week from now!
The best thing we can do is to move the needle between sunrise and sunset and then repeat every day thereafter!
Wanna make God Laugh? Tell him your future plans... And even if you're still hung up on the 5-year plan, trace the necessary steps back to what that will require today, right now - and then welcome the opportunity to witness it fall apart - dare yourself to fail.....
Love that, Jon. It’s just out of our control. Enjoy the ride.
Yes- I love this! There are so many business books and coaches who try to complicate things. Keep it simple - do work that is important and improve each day- perfection!
Boom. Nailed it, Rose 💪
This is good advice @Justin Welsh. Especially in today's fast moving environment.
James Clear talked to me about the importance of improving by 1% each day and that stayed with me. It's not a heavy lift when you do it one day at a time but the compounding effect over a year is MASSIVE.
It certainly is. Even if it’s 0.01%
I'm a bit torn on this one... I completely agree that focusing on improving an individual thing today can be much better than building a grandiose plan for the future. However, I also believe that there's still immense value in building a roadmap that depicts where you currently are, highlights the most efficient path to get you to your destination (e.g., an interstate), and the milestones along the way that you should plan to hit. But yes, detours, roadblocks, setbacks, etc. are all a reality. But proper planning in advance will also help you better react to those as they emerge.
But still, this was a very great read. Very thought-provoking for sure. I'm just not so certain things are so absolute. Or perhaps it's just the risk averse guy within me who still needs to have a methodical plan built to help govern my actions.
I believe I could have written the opposing argument (forget today, just focus on 5 years down the road) and made it just as compelling. That’s the fun with these pieces. They’re likely neither wrong nor right.
100%
And seriously, I really loved this piece! Made me realllllllly stop and think a bit -- which is a good thing. I appreciate you!
I appreciate you too. Was a great comment. The kinda stuff I’m looking for.
Ah, you would have been a good lawyer!
I am a firm believer in this approach AND my perspective has recently shifted a bit. I got onto an author and into a program of his where I learned the value of goal setting in order to become extremely focussed on the most important things that produce results to achieve the goal (business, health, etc). Using the goal as a tool to create change today. Very transformative for me.
And now you're the author
I often refer to making plans as "writing on water" - this post was super validating. Thank you!
Whenever I am struggling with what to do next, there is one thing that has always given me clarity:
Conversations with people who are doing what I want to do.
It’s easy to live in your head and spend hours thinking about all the paths you can take.
But spending 30 minutes talking to someone who’s walking a path, any path, usually gives me the clarity I need.
That’s why I’m such an advocate of connecting and growing your sphere of relationships.
Those relationships give you more wisdom than any webinar or digital product.
When I am struggling, I connect.
And that usually solves the problem.
The problem IS the opportunity
My dad used to always ask me what my 5 year plan was but I honestly could never tell him. I like to take things one day at a time. Make a short term goal, go for it and see where it takes me next. Things change fast so it's hard to know where we will be in even just a couple years from now
One particular thing hit hard. We plan for 5 years and see our future self achieving/living a particular life. But, even if we progress as planned our situation will be totally different from what we imagined. This can result in dissatisfaction or delusion of not achieving what we wanted. Our goal is to live a life where we live intentionally and have time to pursue relationships and hobbies. We should imagine a life having these components instead of imagining exactly how, where and with whom we will be living.
I’ve shelved more five-year plans than I care to admit, and none aged as well as a single good decision made today. Showing up, adjusting, and staying curious seems to be the real long game.
Love this! Planning helps, but doing the work and getting a little better each day is what actually changed things.
There’s a widespread misperception among young ppl that you become an adult and suddenly stop changing. Nothing could be farther from truth. You may change more slowly than you did in your youth, but you still change. That’s what makes life so hard, but also interesting! Imagine how boring the world would be if at age 41 you cared about the same things you did at 21. Cheers- 💌
Often action leads to more clarity, so just moving today is better than planning for 5 years. The fog of war clears as you move, not by planning. I say this as a master procrastinator who plans and thinks too much. There is wisdom in James Clear's approach of systems and incremental improvements though. I like also Joe Hudson's approach: How can you make the now 10% better, i.e. more enjoyable? Can you see the beauty in the now?
All long term projections are incorrect…it is only a matter of how wrong they are compared to the future reality. We cannot accurately predict what the weather will be a week from now!
The best thing we can do is to move the needle between sunrise and sunset and then repeat every day thereafter!