Goals setting and Time management plan
The reason we need to set some goals and have plans to manage our time is to be able to confidently walk through life. At anytime, when you feel lost or doubt yourself, you can always refer back to those tools. They remind you that you are actively engaging life with a purpose that you defined with the best of your ability and with the current available information that you had. Sometimes, things happen to your life and give your new ideas, which can help you update or strengthen your current plan.
This section is about different plans to create in advance that will help you get closer to your goals.
“Don’t think and follow the plan.”
“One step at a time.'“
“I don’t need an answer now, I just need to know that I am actively working towards it.”
“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” ― Greg Reid
“We aren’t born with goals. Many people spend their entire lives governed by routine and short-range concerns. But all of us have the ability, during any waking moment, to go from passive to purposeful: to define what we want and to start to move toward it. That’s not luck. That’s a choice. and while pursuing a goal doesn’t guarantee success, not pursuing success as a goal guarantees failure.” - Yaron brook
Pre-requisites:
(1) Go through “Discover your dreams” section:
Answer introspection questions to understand yourself better
(2) Go through “Finding your career path” section:
Understand what “job” is and ideas of what “job” you might not hate doing.
Plan 1: Morning run
Link to morning run post
Day plan, minutes by minutes. The idea here is to know throughout a typical day what you are constantly doing and at what time. Sleep, eat, exercise, work and free time. Once you optimize your daily schedule, you can use your free time to focus on more meaningful goals than just “survival".
Plan 2: Year plan from A to B
The idea here is to write down your “current you” in different categories using bullet points. Then, for each categories, write down the “future you” on the right side. This is similar to Tony Robbins ideas of “blue print”. You have a vision of who you want to be in the future. The question is “what 3 actions can I do today to bring me closer to that goal?” This is the middle section.
I also like to have a drawing of your “current self” and “future self” to reinforce the visualization exercise.
You can start with “Year-end resolution questions” to give closure to the past year. (see 2nd picture below)
Then, on a sheet of paper or Powerpoint, create your “A to B” plan .At anytime during the year, when you feel lost, you can always refer back to the Year plan A to B. See where you were, where you want to be and action you can take now to get closer to that “ideal” you.
Sphere of life: Year plan A to B
Year-end resolutions questions
Plan 3: Semester plan
The idea here is to set some short-term goals for the semester (every 4 months). I strongly believe our energy level is different throughout the year. For me, winter is very slow compare to summer (high energy).
Spring: Jan - April
Summer: May - Aug
Winter: Sept - Dec
Choose 5 goals with concrete actions, and focus on 3 goals only, especially the first 2 goals. I strongly believe it’s better to do well with 2 goals in the next 4 months than doing poorly pushing 5 goals at the same time.
Focus on the first 2 goals. If you have additional time, then you can work on the 3rd one and so on.
e.g.: Year goal -> 6 packs abs in the future. Semester goal: Go from 200lbs to 190lbs.
Action:
Sleep: Wake up 5:45AM, sleep around 10PM
Exercise: 15 mins morning walk daily, 1x gym per week, 1x bouldering per week
Diet: Smoothies + meal prep
Semester plan is here to bring focus to the season. Maybe the year goal was to travel to Japan, but the immediate goal would be to save money, learn Japanese, research about Japan, etc. Maybe the Japan trip is in December, but right now, it’s summer, and you have other goals to achieve.
Every 4 months, you review you goals and progression, then decide for the next 4 months, what else you want to achieve.
Plan 4: Morning quotes
When I wake up, the first thing I do is sit on the side of the bed. It signals my body to wake up. The 2nd thing I do is read the “morning quotes”. The idea here is to throw at your mind specific ideas to start your day. I like to compare it to “religious” books with rules. People pray and recite the same words daily. What if you can choose words that has meaning to you and help you put in a state where you are mentally ready to chase your dreams.
Sometimes, I just look for the quotes that resonate with me on that day. Then, I feel energized and start the day with a strong mindset.
e.g.: “I deserve the best that life has to offer.”
Example of morning quotes
Comments:
With all these tools, it’s very difficult to get lost in life and not be able to find back your way through introspection.
You have an idea of your “dream” and jobs that you don’t hate doing. (Purpose + money).
You are aware of your “current” situation and the “future” you aim to get closer. (self-awareness + visualization)
Morning run gives you awareness and control over your day-to-day time and energy management.
Semester plan gives you realistic smaller steps to achieve reasonable goals within a 4 months time frame.
Everyday you wake up and no matter what happened the previous days, you reset your mindset and start the day on the right foot.
Very powerful tools. It takes some time and continuous adjustment, but it really helps me walk through life with confidence.
“Make small decisions everyday that brings you closer to your dream.”
SimpleLifeBalancing.