The Importance of Planning - How to Get What You Want Out of Life Series

I have had the pleasure of meeting many people in my life who have various philosophies on ways to live their lives. I am often very intrigued by those individuals who seem to have an allergic reaction to the concept of planning. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a planner. I just don't have this weekend planned out, but I probably have a very good idea of what I am going to do for the next four weekends...easily.  It amazes me when you talk to someone who says, "It's only Tuesday, I haven't even thought about this weekend yet." Really?  That leads me to believe that you are also the person who thinks, "I'm only 30, I haven't even thought about what my life is going to be like at 50."  This is a HUGE mistake and one that many people make in life. I tell people that you need to AT LEAST have a 25-year plan of what your life is going to be like in the future.  I actually have a 50-year plan that I'm currently working on.  It's not that you have to stick to this plan and never make any changes (I've changed my 50-year plan often as I have matured and different things became more important than they used to be), but you have to have some sense of where you want to go.  There are numerous reasons why this is the case.

I. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU CAN END UP ANYWHERE

This is probably the most obvious and maybe the reason that many people refuse to plan.  Some people like the sense of spontaneity that comes with not having anything on the calendar for the weekend, in hopes that something "amazing" will happen. Wouldn't it be much better to just plan something amazing rather than hoping it will occur by happenstance.  When you don't plan and don't have a strategic vision for your life, you can end of moving in circles without any true sense of accomplishment.  Without focus and an understanding of what you desire to achieve, you could end up taking two steps forward, then three steps to the right, then two steps back and then threes steps to the left.  Lo and behold, you are in the same place!  Planning allows you to continue to make progress to some goal by understanding what you need to do EACH DAY to continue to move forward.  If not, any new thing that crosses your path might distract you and hinder you from continuing to achieving your overall goal.

II. IT HELPS YOU MAKE DIFFICULT DECISIONS

In relation to how planning will help you stay focused on the direction you need to travel, planning will often help you make difficult decisions in life.  When you are faced with a tough decision that you are struggling to make, often the question of which decision gets you closer to your ultimate goal can be the determining factor.  Those who don't have a plan for their life will often be at the whim of every new fad, person, or situation that presents itself for enjoyment and pleasure. There's nothing wrong with partaking in these things as long as they don't detract from what you are trying to accomplish with your plan, but if you don't know what that plan is, you have no way to make that decision.  You have to continually assess each decision that you make from day to day in light of what you ultimately have planned for your life and your family.  This will often help you stay out of situations that, more often than not, would hurt rather than help your ultimate goal.

III. MOST PEOPLE DON'T DO IT

I love this reason because it can be related to almost any best practice in life.  Just like most people don't read very much, exercise regularly, or eat very healthy, this is probably the biggest reason to do this.  While there is enough in this world for everyone to have a fair share, you often are in competition for everything you can achieve against someone else.  It's the nature of the world in which we live, and to have more than what others have you must be willing to do MORE than what others are willing to do.  The Pareto Principle speaks of how, economically, 20 percent of the world's population owns 80 percent of the world's wealth.  I would venture to guess there is a strong correlation between that 20 percent of the world and the percentage of people who plan out their lives and have a strategic vision for their future.  By planning out your life, you have a much better chance of being part of this privileged minority.

Planning.  It's something that many people don't like to do because it often takes a little bit of brain power to work out, so people would rather just "see what happens" in life.  However, it is those individuals who strategically understand what they desire 25-50 years from now and have worked out a plan to achieve it who will do laps around those who don't.  Henry Ford said that "Thinking is the hardest work there is which is probably the reason why so few engage in it." Take the time to think and plan out your life to put yourself in the "favor of the gods" and live a life of ultimate achievement.  Therefore, next Tuesday when someone ask you what you're doing for the weekend, don't just say "I don't know" as most people do, but rather, "Let me THINK about that and get back to you." Your future self with thank you.

Ken Middleton is an Account Manager at TEKsystems that specializes in IT staffing and services. He is a graduate of UNC-Pembroke and current MBA student at Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech.

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