If you’re reading this, then there’s a good chance that you may have some serious expectations placed on you. Or you feel that you should be doing a hell of a lot better in life than you already are.
Whilst some people do not have life plans, there is anecdotal evidence to show that people who do have clear goals and plans, are more likely to be successful in the long run.
I recently gave a talk to Condé Nast HQ in London where I introduced the concept of ‘Long-Range Planning’.
It’s like programming in a time machine where you decide the outcome at the other end. What would you want your life to look like? You may have an idea of what that looks like and probably set yourself goals e.g. become a director of your company within 2 years, own a Tesla in 5, or take early retirement by the time you reach 50. The problem with thinking in years is that don’t have a clear path between now and then.
How to get started with Long-Range Planning: –
- Pick a time in the future, e.g. 5 years from now where everything is just perfect and picture what that feels like, even if it seems impossible right now; Where are you living? What is your career like? Who are you with…?
- Now break that time-frame down into sizeable chunks e.g. 1 year from now and think about what that would feel like, a year into your goals answering the same questions above
- Break that down further into months, weeks and even days until you have a clear path and measurable mini goals ahead of you
Plan your life and goals far in advance so that there’s ample space to reverse engineer it into months, week and even days where the results are much more tangible. Be brave, ambitious and aim high. Think big and strive for what might seem impossible right now.
What has been your greatest accomplishment this week, month or year?