Detailed life plan...

[Ultralight]

I went to a presentation last night at the secular Humanist Community of Central Ohio. The speaker advocated some interesting, compelling, and clever ways about thinking of the future.

One thing he suggested was a detailed life plan, basically going year by year until a projected end of life.

Anyone do this? It really goes beyond the one year plan or even the five year plan most of us are probably used to.

He even showed us the timeline for his own life plan from about 5 years back. Very interesting...

[Chicken lady]

I had a detailed life plan. It ran through about now. My dd told me that if you achieve all of your life goals by the time you're 45, you were aiming too low.

now I have a vague long term plan (keep teaching as long as I enjoy it, garden, raise goats until I can't, live here with dh, add grandchildren, do pottery and fiber crafts, maybe expand marketing my work, get my house in order, eventually replace my car....)

[Ultralight]

Aiming too low is an interesting phenomenon, as is aiming too high.

Before placing my goals on my timeline I jotted them down.

-Find a more tolerable job
-Maybe go back to school for another degree
-Save up for an RV to buy when I am old (so I can live like Bob Wells of Cheap RV Living)
-Move somewhere nice with easy fishing access (no hour long drives to get there)
-Eat healthy
-Drop 25 lbs.
-Look to cook reasonably well

[catherine]

Well my life plan, if you go year by year, will be considerably shorter than yours, UA. But I do have a feeling that I better be intentional now about how I live out the rest of my life. I remember about 15 years ago I was having lunch with my favorite aunt, who was 70 at the time and she said something to the effect of "I'm still not sure what I want to do with my life." And I was shocked, thinking, "Well, you better get on about it!" I just assumed that people of that age were just riding out their lives--decision-time over.

Now I'm only 6 years from being 70, so I better get on about making sure that my decisions, or lack of them, are wise.

[iris lilies]

Sorry, Im not going to make a year by year plan, what a bore.

A general life trajectory plan is all I wish to sketch out.

Retirement was my big goal and having reached that, I have other goals vut will not tie them to a specific year.

[Teacher Terry]

Retirement was my goal too and I reached it 4 years ago. Then within 6 months realized I did not like complete retirement and about that time a teaching opportunity just fell into my lap. Then I started to occasionally consult in my field and life was perfect. For years I had goals etc and reached them all. Now I decide each day when I get up what I want to do. WE are traveling, spending time with family, friends, dogs and life is great. This am after I fed the dogs at 7-they got me up I went right back to bed for 2 hours-simple pleasures.

[Ultralight]

Retirement must be nice!

Obviously, if a detailed life plan is not for you, then it is not for you.

But it is something to consider.

For me it just really dawned on me how few goals I had to populate my year-by-year life plan.

And the goals I have mostly feel... I dunno... kind of "meh."

Perhaps underwhelming is a better term.

Then again, they are somewhat reasonable. And I have already completed a fair list of goals in my life:
-Play in a band
-Live in another country for a little bit
-Live in a few different states
-Learn to catch fish like a champ
-Go to college and grad school
-Make a documentary or two
-Labor organizing
-Become a minimalist
-A handful of NSFW things


But part of me feels that I need some much more grandiose goal! haha

[Teacher Terry]

It is nice but we are old-ugh! I think it would be nice to retire somewhat younger. Not to young but 50 would be perfect. I used to love to hike in the mountains but can't do that anymore. So now I walk on long trails that are fairly flat. Sometimes with age you start to get physical limits. I had goals my entire life so don't want them now. UL: it seems like you have obtained many goals.

[Ultralight]

I had goals my entire life so don't want them now.

Well said!

[razz]

I had goals but found that I had to adapt to life's changes which adds a lot of interest and excitement into the whole experience. I was not going to get married and did, had two children instead of 4, got my dream farm with DH in my late 40's not my 20's, graduated 50 years ago from a new profession that has multiplied from 200 to 14,000 in number making a large contribution to its success, retired at 60 and am healthy with a wonderful peaceful life ahead where I plan to contribute for the next 30+ years to horticultural, art and social activities in my community while enjoying travel, theatre, opera and ballet plus my family and friends.

Most things in my life arrived via detours BTW so planning for one turned into something unexpected and often unknown.