Table of Contents
- Should I Explore the Jungle or Hide in the Cave Till I Die
- The Magic Ingredient Missing in Your Master Plan
- What is This Magic Called “Life”
- What Does the Superhero in You Stand For
- Planning Your Attack Against Mediocre Life
- Life Plan Can be Such a Weirdo
- Conclusion
- Homework for the Cool Kids (Call to Action)
A quick thought.
Having a great life plan is NOT enough.
You could have the best life plan possible. You could have tremendous dedication and take each action without fail. But you could still end up feeling disappointed.
You probably think that the people who succeed in life are the ones who have a great life plan and take consistent actions.
But that’s only partly true.
There is a crucial ingredient missing from the picture.
An idea so important without which your life plan and actions are as ineffective as having no plan and taking no actions.
Haven’t you wondered that if success is merely a matter of formulating a plan and taking action, why aren’t more people succeeding?
In this article, I intend to help you grasp this powerful magic ingredient that is so often missing from the picture.
But before we dive into that, let us see why we need a life plan in the first place.
Should I Explore the Jungle or Hide in the Cave Till I Die
Do you ever leave for a vacation without deciding where you are going?
How pointless will it seem to pack your bags and simply start walking down the road? Which way? Which bus? Where?
If you cannot imagine spending a vacation without a predefined destination, how pointless would it be to try and live your entire life without a life plan?
“Your life plan leads to your destination in life. You need the plan to know how you’ll reach there.” Tweet
The Magic Ingredient Missing in Your Master Plan
Think of a soldier fighting a battle against terrorists to protect the civilians. Having a “good aim” can be of great use to the soldier. The more accurately he can shoot, the more effective he can be, right?
Wrong.
While a good aim is a great virtue to have, what if the soldier cannot distinguish between the terrorists and civilians?
Suddenly, a good aim can produce the opposite of desired results. There is more threat to the civilians.
Before the soldier shoots, it is important that he confirms the target to be a terrorist.
What am I trying to say here?
“Your life plan is what you want to do in life. What you want to do in life will depend on how you understand life.”
If you have a faulty understanding of life, you will include the wrong things in your life plan and sabotage the whole thing. From that point on, it won’t matter if you’re taking consistent actions for your plan. You’re doomed to fail.
In the movie INTO THE WILD, Christopher, who is a well-educated son of wealthy parents, always dreams of living by himself in the far away wilderness of Alaska. He gives up his possessions and money and sets out for the ultimate dream.
While he loves staying close to nature all alone, soon things begin to fall apart. Two years away from home, living in the wild of Alaska (inside a broken abandoned bus), without any contact with another human soul, made things very challenging.
His last words as noted in his diary were….
Happiness is best when shared with others.
Christopher died from eating a poisonous plant by mistake.
Now there is nothing wrong with living close to nature or going on a solo trip. But don’t you think it would have been better if Christopher had realized this fact about happiness from the very beginning? Would he still have sought to live all alone, away from his loved ones?
How would you feel if you were to reach the end of your life and realize that your “most important” things weren’t that important after all?
Faulty understanding of life.
“What do most people say on their deathbed? They don’t say they wish they’d made more money. They say they wish they’d spent more time with family and done more for society or community.” ~David Rubenstein
Another example would be a person who aims to be just rich in life, without realizing the importance of other areas like family, health, service. He could have a brilliant plan to earn a lot of money and may have tremendous dedication to act upon it.
But what’ll happen as time passes by?
You guessed it.
Dissatisfaction. Disappointment.
What is This Magic Called “Life”
In order to ensure that we don’t have a faulty understanding of life, we should analyse how we think of life, and then select all the important ideas from that model to include them in our life plan.
Let’s look at some of the most common models of life. Understand their difference and try to identify the one that works best for you.
Religion (We are God’s children)
This is the most common model of life people believe in. According to this model, the world and everything in it has been created by God (different Gods in different religion). He is the supreme authority over everything. Our job is to follow his path.
Science (A cause for every effect)
Science believes that every effect rises from a cause. “Logic” and “reason” are its fundamentals. It attempts to explain all phenomena through science laws. Nothing happens without a reason.
Spirituality (Oneness in all things)
All beings rise from a single infinite source (or spirit). We are all connected together to make a larger whole. We must respect this oneness of the universe and act in accordance to that.
This is not an exhaustive list of life models, and there can be many more.
Think of the above life models (or any other model that you may believe in).
Which one makes the most sense to you?
What Does the Superhero in You Stand For
Once you know how you think of life (from your life model), it is time to find out all the important ideas worth having in your life. You want to include all of these in your life plan.
Here are some ideas….
Religion
“I believe God has created us all. We all are the children of God. I must respect this and help others whenever I can. It is important for me to do no harm. I believe that God will feed me, guide me, and protect me from any harm.”
Science
“Reason is important to me. I do things only if there is a good reason behind it. If an action causes me harm, I’ll avoid doing it. If there is a benefit associated, I shall gladly do it.”
Spirituality
“All things are connected. I am one with the world. I feel universal kindness for all things around me. It is important for me to treat others with kindness and respect.”
Do you see how each model has different important ideas?
Planning Your Attack Against Mediocre Life
One great way to define important ideas for life is to use “principles.” Why principles, you may ask.
Because they are timeless.
Whether it was 1600, 1990 or 2015, everybody wants to have an abundant life. Abundance is a timeless principle.
Similarly, principles like freedom, authenticity, love, etc. are universally desired principles.
Defining the Principles You Want
I belong to a middle-class family. From an early age, I saw my parents, uncles, relatives, etc. rushing to their job early morning and returning home late evening. That is how the financial model worked.
While I feel deeply grateful for having enough food to eat and clothes to wear, I wished they could spare more time for themselves and me. That is when I began to realize.
Freedom (principle) is important to me. It made sense that I should have more control of my time than somebody else.
The idea of being self-employed (blogging, to be more specific) has attracted me ever since.
Do you see how I defined an important principle I wanted in my life? What are the principles you would want in your life?
Steps to Define Life Plan
Steve Pavlina once expressed a great way to define life plan.
Your life plan is the intersection of three circles—
• What you want to do(principles)
• What you can do (skills and talents)
• What you need to do (financial need, supporting family, etc.)
You’ve already defined what you want in terms of principles.
“What you can do” should include your skills and talents. Not just the ones you already have mastered but also those that feel intuitively interesting to you. Ask yourself this question-
What are the things that you can get really good at, if you put your heart into them?
“What you need” are the requirements you must meet in life. Such as your financial need (paying your bills), or supporting your family, etc.
Let’s take up a quick example.
Say, you’ve already listed your desires, needs and skills. And now you want to find out which career is best suited for you based on these.
Desires (principles) – freedom, abundance, service to others.
(Speaking of service, Vinay of Aha!NOW is a registered organ donor. Here is a link to his article that explains his perspective on the topic and the whole process in case you want to do it too.)
Skills – writing (posts/articles)
Needs – Support yourself financially.
So which career will suit you?
One possible option could be “Blogging”.
Can blogging help you create freedom (be more control of your time), abundance (high income, control of time, etc.) and service (sharing valuable content with others and helping them in their goals)??
Yes.
Can you use your writing skill in blogging?
Yes.
Can you earn enough money to support yourself financially?
Yes. Professional bloggers have an income of six figures and above.
Life Plan Can be Such a Weirdo
There’s more to life plans –
• Life Plan is Not Static and Constantly Evolves
If you think that you could spend an entire week sitting on a rock, thinking hard about life and be able to list down everything that you will ever want in life, you’re mistaken.
We don’t know everything in a moment or a week. As life unfolds, our thinking constantly evolves, refining our experiences in life. Gradually, we become wiser.
Hence, your life plan must include room for future changes. A good life plan would include specific actions for your immediate next step but also allow for changes in future.
• Life Plan is a Guide, Not a Rule
Your life plan is just “one way” to achieve what you want. There could be many more ways to achieve the same things.
So don’t feel too disappointed if your life plan fails. You just ran into a roadblock on your current path. Find another way to reach your destination. 🙂
“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel in it.”-Rosalia de Castro
Conclusion
To sum it all up…
• Understand your life model.
• Find out the essential principles of your model. These “must” be included in your life plan.
• Overlap your desires, needs and skills.
• Find the options that suit this overlap.
Voila.
But we are not done here. The class is not dismissed till you get some homework. 😛
“I went to work and did a lot of homework about what was wrong with me.”-Margot Kidder
Homework for the Cool Kids (Call to Action)
Fill in the following blanks and start defining/refining your life plan.
• I think of life as …… (2 to 3 sentences describing your life model).
• According to this life model, I cannot compromise with the following principles ……
• My skills, needs and desires are ……
• What option(s) will suit the overlap of these skills, needs and desires?
Reading about these ideas won’t take you far. Answer these questions and start walking down the path of your dreams.
“The price of inaction is far greater than the cost of making a mistake.”-Meister Eckhart
I sincerely hope that you found this post helpful.
Share your takeaway(s) from this post in the comment section.
Go out there and live your life to the fullest. 🙂
Great post, I must say, Ankit. Lack of plan for one’s life makes failure inevitable.Thanks for the exposition.
Hi Akint; what a thoughtful post. I think the best part of it for me was where you talked about your skills and reminded people its not just what you know or can do now but what you can learn if you put your mind and heart into it. I find that the more new things I try and the more new skills i have had to find a way to learn the more that opens up for me in my life. too often people’s life plans give them tunnel vision and keep them so focused they can’t see an even better dream along the way. thanks for sharing, max
Hi Maxwell.
Thanks for the great comment. 🙂
Yes it comes down to expanding our skill set and not just focus on what we already know.
A lot of times, people think that they cannot chase their dreams because they don’t have the skills. And then they are also not willing to invest in learning those skills.
That cycle is a dream killer.
I am very inspired by your work sir.
You courage inspires the very core of me.
I signed up for your blog. 🙂
Hope to see you around often. 🙂
Hello Ankit,
Well before reading this article I never thought so deeply about my future plans and failures that may occur. But now I know how to plan my future safe and secure without any worry.
The main thing is to keep yourself happy and enjoy, rest of the things will automatically get done.
Hi Akash.
That is a great description of what you want in life.
Thank you. 🙂
I am glad you liked the ideas. 🙂
Hello Ankit Yadav,
Tremendous post 🙂
These days, mainly the upcoming generation just don’t have a life plan.
Indeed I had also been through this situation.
Reading this many will realize the necessity of having a life plan.
Thank you for sharing this among us.
Keep Writing.
Shantanu sinha
Hello Shantanu. 🙂
Thank you for your appreciation.
I am glad you loved the idea. 🙂
Yes. I do plan to write more. I am starting out.
Take care. 🙂
Hi Ankit
You are so right. Once the foundation of a life plan s faulty, everything becomes messed up which is why it is best to have so much wisdom about life.
I do agree that Life plans evolve. You know people teach that you need to sit and figure hard what your life plan is and stick to it. Strange isn’t?
I love your images as the are spot on and apt. Thanks for sharing. Have a swell week.
Hi Ikechi.
thanks for the appreciative comment. 🙂
Am glad the ideas resonate with you. 🙂
What a great article and I agree with Steve’s model. My focus and life goals involve people and family (relationships). I love helping people feel better and have the skills and experience in doing it. I’m determined and set to make it happen. Thanks for sharing such great content.
Have a great weekend.
Irish
Thanks Irish.
All the best 😉
Your path is noble. 🙂
Thoughtful post. I agree with you that no life plan will work if one doesn’t have an understanding of the big picture and the interconnected state of the Universe.
Hi Lata. 🙂
Disconnection is a big illusion that has us living with fear and doubt.
Recognizing the “oneness” helps us to respect life around us and build our own life from there. 🙂
indeed a great post, it caters everything that we need to know about life in general, I agree with everything you’ve mentioned.
We can easily plan, but it doesn’t mean to be necessarily be that way, sometimes it turns out to be the other way, but it doesn’t matter you’ll never be wrong because you’ll never get done.
Hi Mary.
It gives me great pleasure that the post resonated strongly with you. 🙂
Yes, our planning can change and that is alright.
As long as we don’t give up and keep trying, we’re good. 🙂
Hi Ankit,
Wow, I really enjoyed this article. I’m always skeptical of people who tell me I need a life plan because any time I made a plan it got thwarted by other circumstances in my life. I never planned to move to England, for example, that just happened to me and my family.
I had given up on making plans but I never thought of your perspective, recognizing my values and making my plan sticking to those values. That’s actually what I’ve been doing without knowing it.
Yes, I have taken vacations without planning where I was going. And those may have been my best vacations. I backpacked through Europe three times when I was younger. I had general plans of what I wanted to see, but sometimes would arrive at a youth hostel looking for guidance where to go next. People are always helpful in pointing you to their favorite places, if you’re open to asking.
Last month I went on a last minute trip to Israel. I signed up at the last minute and really didn’t know the itinerary of the tour. But it was a life-changing trip that moved me deeply.
So I am now thinking, after reading this article, that my plan is one for adventure and open-mindedness, instead of plotting every step. That plan suits me well and allows me to enjoy incredible experiences.
I know that isn’t for everyone. Some people need to have every step plotted. But I’m glad to now know I do have a plan. Thanks, Ankit!
Hey Carolyn. 🙂
It’s difficult to believe in plans because they are vulnerable to changes.
At a deeper level, I think the very purpose of making plans is to maintain the belief that we can get there. Sure things can go wrong and our current plan can fail. But you can always find a new plan.
It’s like driving from one city to another with the plan of following the road. Now the road may be blocked somewhere, which may then cause us to find a different road.
Either way, following the road makes the possibility of reaching our destination city believable. It would seem hard and impossible to reach the city by unknown paths.
I love your unique way to spend holidays. 😀
The way you traveled Europe is the ideal way we can live our lives with the help of “right amount” of planning.
You say you had general plans of what you wanted to see and you asked for guidance on other matters.
That, I think is the essence of planning.
Striking the right balance between being specific in what you want to do and also leaving enough room for to adjust and improve our approach.
You’re spot on by looking for adventure and open-mindedness instead of making a rigid tour plan.
As I said, your planning needs to be grounded in a foundation and the “right foundation” to be most effective.
Thank you for your insightful comment dear. 🙂
Hi Ankit,
This is some great guidance for anyone who’d like to take a try at developing a life plan.
I’ve never really done that, but you’ve got me thinking it might be a worthwhile project.
I like that you’ve included a lot of flexibility in your guidelines, allowing for your life plan to change on a regular and ongoing basis.
That’s important because I think we all know that our plans are always just temporary guideposts. In fact, I’d say that the plan changes most typically in response to our lack of implementing the things necessary to make the plan work.
It always seems easier to change the plan, rather than start implementing the actions required to make the plan work.
Nice post, very thought provoking.
Thanks, too, go to Harleena for publishing this interesting article.
-Donna
Hi Donna. 🙂
Flexibility in plan is very important.
Too much planning leaves little room for improvement and hence we may miss opportunities along the way.
At the same time, too little or no planning has us living aimlessly.
The key is to strike an ideal balance.
Between knowing what you want to do (your plan) and staying open to newer ways to achieve same things.
Changing plans is important. More specifically, it is “updating” our plan.
But we must make sure we’re not merely planning and re-planning without taking actions.
That one is a mental trap. 🙂
Thanks a ton Donna. 🙂
Hi Ankit,
I thought it was a very interesting post – it is definitely very thought provoking.
Without principles to help us navigate the unknown challenges that life invariably throws at us we’d be at the mercy of those challenges. But then again, we are also at the mercy of the principles we choose to guide us.
Hey Quinn.
You’re right. We’ll be at mercy of principles.
But I feel it is better to be dependent on a sound and solid foundation to help us guide our lives through the uncertainties and challenges instead of merely drifting around aimlessly.
As for choosing the right principle, that would take a bit of exploration and learning.
But hey..
We wouldn’t want to make things too easy would we?
Thank for your comment. 🙂
Hello Ankit and welcome to Harleena’s blog.
You made the post simple and understanding enough to reshape any life for the better.
As you say; life doesn’t comprises of you alone… Life is about you and the people you love…
Love life and you will see the world clear…
Thanks for such an awesome post and do have a blast weekend both of you.
Hi Babanature.
Thank you for your lovely comment. 🙂
Yes, I like the idea of understanding life but understanding life is a lifetime work. No one has understood life yet everyone has each own way of understanding it. Understanding life is much like understanding love. Love is subjective thus each person has a very unique experience of love.
Hi Jonathan.
That is true. Our understanding of life is a life long process. As I said in the post, you cannot simply take a week off and understand everything about life.
It’s like an evolutionary approach. You start with your initial model and continue exploring and improving it.
However, having said that, I believe it is essential to include our understanding of life (even if it is not perfect for now) in our life plan.
Better to have some direction in life than none at all.
Thanks for your comment. 🙂
I cannot agree more. You nailed it.
Thanks a ton Jonathan. 😀
You.. awesome.. 🙂
Hello Ankit,
Great analysis! I totally agree that you need to have ‘WHY’ you want to have that life plan. That WHY is your motivation and fuel to go on.
Also, I’m experiencing the fluidity of the plan right now. The better ideas keep coming to me and I’m trying to keep up with adjusting my life plan. Hopefully, I will achieve all of it, but it seems like the end will never come as long as I live. So, I welcome the fluidity, success and failures.
Thanks for the opportunity to think about my life plan, Ankit!
In love & gratitude,
Keiko
Hi Keiko.
It is an important distinction you know.
Root causes are the place to start for any meaningful long term changes. So many times people are stuck with trying to fix the symptoms and not the root cause.
Such mistakes cause people to chase what they think they want but really don’t.
This idea was introduced to me by Stephen Covey in his book a 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE. Personality development comes AFTER personal development. Helping others (interdependence) comes AFTER helping yourself (self dependence) and so on..
In short, I believe that it is better to have an idea of the entire picture before you start working on the individual sections.
I like your term “fluidity.”
It describes the changing nature of life plan perfectly. 🙂
Its always good to start with the WHYs and then keep working out the HOWs along the way. And I think that is the essence of the whole process for any goal achievement program.
Start with the WHY. Figure out the HOWs along the way.
Thank you for sharing your insights. 🙂
Take care 🙂
Thanks for the thoughtful and valuable post Ankit. I have definitely found that just going with the flow, with no intentional life plan in place: 1) is where most of are; and 2) virtually guarantees that we will end up living a life that someone else designed and doesn’t actually bring us much joy. Love the homework, really good cues to get us thinking about living intentionally.
Thanks again!
Craig
Hi Craig. 🙂
Glad you loved the ideas.
Yes, it is true.
I think because the default models are designed to work for the masses, it isn’t most effective. Knowing this, one does not want to leave it to chance that they will succeed.
Being intentional is the key.
The “Homework” is designed to get you started on path of self discovery and pursue what you truly desire. 🙂
Thank you for your comment. 🙂
I just read your posts at Tiny Buddha.
Good work man.
loved your happy friend.. Andy
😀
Thanks man, I appreciate it.
He was definitely a source of imputation with some frustration mix d in from time to time
Craig
😀
Hi Rachel.
I love your looong comment. 🙂
Service truly forms an integral basis of meaningful life. And I think it’s may not be obvious why but everybody does feel that they want to contribute and help out.
I think that at a deeper level all of us are connected. And in order to propagate harmony and growth for the “whole” we must reach out and serve.
Like the organs of the human body. Each must be healthy and effective in their activities to make a healthy body. But if the organs were to become selfish and worry only abou their own resource requirements (oxygen, blood supply), the overall health of the body would suffer.
I agree with what you mention about opportunities turning in favor of our intentions.
There seems to be an opinion in the world, that the successful are the people who were fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right talent to succeed.
I remember reading this in Malcolm Gladwell’s book OUTLIERS.
But i don’t quite agree with it.
It is easy to look at a successful figure, point out all the relevant events that led to the success and simply conclude they got the right opportunity.
But what if opportunities are everywhere? What if it is our actions and intentions that prepare us to grab one such opportunity and make the most of it?
If you’re not ready to act in favor of your dream, will you be able to recognize the opportunities around you? Not quite. And then it would be unfair to say that Bill Gates was lucky enough to able to work on computers when computer access was not a common thing.
If I got you revved up, then I feel pretty happy. The post did do its work. 😉
In fact, I’ll let you in on a small secret.
This post you read was the result of a long comment I was putting down on another post. That’s when I realized, this is large enough to be a whole post. And there came the opportunity.
haha. 😀
Well done Ankit,
Really enjoyed your post. You are so right, having dreams is nothing but that unless you have a plan. Taking action does not necessarily guarantee you success, but you can dam well try as hard as you possibly can before admitting defeat.
I enjoyed the models. I feel an innate need for service to others. Whether it’s serving food to others, sitting having a chat or working to make an income out of it. As long as it is doing my part for the universe. I have no internal voice nagging at me when I am on the right track.
So I am working in your steps to define life. And it feels right. I have loose plans with a clear view. I am always aware that when you circulate and action what you are doing, it presents with new ideas and meetings of chance and opportunity that would never had been available had you not put yourself out there.
As for fail, my only fear is that I don’t do enough, that I don’t work on areas that I fear, that I only do things half hearted. That is how I see failure. While I don’t enjoy rejection, it is evidence that I put myself out there. While I don’t enjoy a fall it means I have invested time, effort and my all in it.
I will stop my rant right there. You got me all revved up. Thanks for a great post.
Rachel.
P.S – I am an organ donor too.
This article made me realise the neccessity of a life plan.
Thanks
You’re welcome Shreya. 🙂
Hello Harleena and Ankit,
Wow, this is a great post, thought provoking like someone else mentioned. I model my life after my Religious and Spiritual beliefs.
Thank you for sharing the steps to define our plan. I’m motivated to put one together for myself. I know what I want to do but I’ve never put it down on paper. 🙂
I like the homework…I’ll be doing that for sure. 🙂
It was great to meet you Ankit. Thanks for putting this together.
Cori
Hi Cori.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your opinion. 🙂
It’s great that you are clear about your life models. It’ll help you filter out the most essential values/principles you want to include in your ideal life plan.
Do the homework.
Ace the class 😉
I am glad you found help in my words.
Take care dear. 🙂
Hi Mi Muba.
Thank you for reading the post and sharing your thoughtful comment. 🙂
Call to action is the life of a blog post as it gives the readers a clear way to implement ideas they just read.
Yes, planning can be simpler than actually figuring out how to do it.
And that is where LEARNING comes in.
Much like driving at night from one city to another.
Initially you have a “plan” to travel.
But as soon as you start driving, the headlights keep disclosing the next 20 yards to cover on road. And if you simply continues to follow the path, eventually you reach your destination.
Similarly for life plan. First we plan. Then we go out there and start doing the things and learning what we need to learn, along the way.
Thank you again.
You too have an awesome weekend. 🙂
Hi Ankit
I love your call to action that is your last moment bid to help before signing off to each one who arrived on this post.
This world is for those who want to live a successful life and live in their work after departing to hereafter.
It is so easy to plan what to do but to fully understand how to do that is not so easier and one needs to do introspection for this purpose.
I like the way you explained each point and at every step you proved how well your researched before summing up your thoughts.
Thanks for sharing such a motivational post.
Have a great weekend ahead.
Hi Mi Muba.
I replied to your comment but did it as a separate comment.
You probably didn’t get the notification for the reply.
Sorry about that.
Hi Ankit
Thanks for your thought provoking post.
Of course most people don’t have a life plan. In fact, they would rather do anything but plan. That is, with the exception for their annual vacations – they plan them meticulously.
I’m kind of in the middle about this topic. I don’t have a grand life plan, but I do have a good sense of where I want to go, and how to get there. The details can be worked out along the way.
Thanks Ankit
Kim
Hi Kim.
Thank you for reading the post and sharing your thoughts. 🙂
When you say, you’re somewhere in the middle about planning, that’s fine.
In fact, that is what planning comes down to.
How specific a plan is, will depend on our own individual preferences.
Some people may like to plan on a yearly basis. Others are be more specific. And some simply focus on the values they want to cultivate in their lives.
The “specificity” of a life plan varies from person to person but the important thing is, we need to have that sense of direction of where we are going.
So when you say you have a good sense of where you are going, that is pretty good to work with. 🙂
Thank you for the commenting.
Take care friend. 🙂
I’d like to thank people who take the time to read this post. Hope you find helpful value in my ideas.
Thank you again. 🙂