The long-term planning boils down to a simple algorithm:
1) Identify end goal, feasible for your capabilities and the timeframe, a year in this case.
2) Break it down into smaller milestones, assuming linear progress (for the sake of simplicity). Quaters work well.
3) Break the milestones into steps, in this case I use monthly goals as an outline.
4) Consider the processes that are likely to bring you to the end goal and design them.
5) Keep going back to the initial plan and readjusting based on the experience.
It is a difficult process to tacle, in part because it is frustrating to face the uncertainty. But the rewards, I believe, are worth it.
Well, I used this process a few times and it seems to work just fine. I learned (an retained) more than ever last year, for example.
Life is chaotic and I prefer to have at least some goal, an ambitious one to stretch my limits.
@academicalnerd :-) That was bit of a dig of course, no worries young D’Artagnan. What I meant, though, was a serious thought: it’s important to (maybe intentionally) leave or create space for serendipity in a life. Or perhaps, to leave a bit of an empty space to fill itself by life’s own course.
As a side-note: to do that in itself is actually easy. What is more difficult is to accept all the uncertainty and discomfort of living with that empty space.
While I am also a (over?)planning analytical creature (according to people around me), I leave space for throwing a dice, or taking a plunge into a deep dark water. You know that kind of “I have no clue what will happen next, this is probably going to change the course of my life, I don’t know where to, but I am strong enough to bear the consequences either way - and I do this because if I didn’t, I would regret it till the end of my days - so screw it and let’s see what comes out…”
Best of luck!
The D’Artagnan remark got me a good laugh, thanks.
There is more than enough dice rolling and dark water right now, so I don’t worry about it. But the quote you mention sounds good, I’ll save it somewhere to reflect upon later. It it yours or from somewhere else?
@academicalnerd What do you mean? The D’Artagnan reference? That’s no quote. I just watched yesterday part of the cheesy movie, so probably something from it got stuck in my head 😄 . Could have been also some chemical remnants of the vodka I had with that movie…
Anyhow, the movie is cheesy, but there are some memorable quotes when I almost spat out the drink: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1509767/quotes/qt1580610
@academicalnerd What fun that whole scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSO9XYLkfMI
@academicalnerd This way, you’ll never discover new things. This way, Vikings would never reach the Vinland and Columbus would never reach Caribbeans. By the same token, you’ll never escape the confines of mediocre life. Give it a thought.