Been thinking a lot these past few days. About life in general, future plans, financial security, the whole nine yards. I concluded that reaching your goals is easier when you plan 1 to 3 years ahead.
“I’m gonna find a job right after I graduate”
“I’ll buy a car before the year ends”
“I’ll save X amount a year from now, starting today”
“I’m gonna write another book in 6 months”.
All of those are realistically doable, and you’ll probably achieve them within normal life circumstances (barring anything abrupt changing your lifepath).
Here’s when it gets tricky.
“Where do I want to be in 3-5 years? I’m barely getting my shit done by the end of the year and the start of next one. How can I focus on what’s coming after what I haven’t even started yet? My mind doesn’t let me plan in “short” steps of time like that.
If I want something, I go and get it.
“I want to run a marathon.” The next day I’m training, dieting, measuring my progress. First week, I’m dead. Second week, I start understanding, Third week, I start challenging myself. By the forth week, fuck it, I’ll try it, even if I’m not ready. Let’s see how far I get.
But the planning totally throws me out of sync and demotivates me. All in, there’s no other way for me. Believe me, I’ll get it done. Haven’t failed a single one of my ‘goals’ to this day.
I won’t even indulge anything longer. Unless I was shooting for becoming a doctor, or I don’t know, some project that easily takes over 5 years till completion, there’s just no reason for this.
For the year 2022, all my goals are reasonable and I’m already on track to getting almost all of them done:
– Finish my story outlines for the next book (I got 3)
– Start writing my book before the year ends (will do)
– Get a handful of good-paying clients (done)
– Try to stabilize my finances (getting there)
– Work as little as possible (there’s no other way to enjoy life)
– Try to be happy[er]—> In my defense, I said ‘getting almost all of them done’. I’m still a realist, not an idealist.