Personal Goals: Why I Never Made a Five-Year Plan
Oddly, this is something I never really did. I never sat down and said I have a two-year plan for this or a five-year plan for that.
If I had anything that resembled a goal at all, it was simply to stay employed and get paid.
I always went by the mindset that you do the job you have, and you do it well. If you do that and want something more, like a raise or a promotion, those opportunities will be there. Your efforts will put you in a position to apply for that next job, earn the raise, or get the bonus.
Sitting down and making a plan to achieve something in X number of years always seemed a bit counterproductive to me. I thought it could distract me from what I considered my main goals: staying employed and taking care of my family.
It’s the life in your years, An important thought from Lincoln
Now that I’m retired, I can look back and say that this approach worked pretty well for me. I didn’t have a detailed roadmap for my career or a list of milestones I had to reach by a certain age. I focused on the work in front of me, tried to do it well, and took advantage of opportunities when they came along.
Here is a view into my life journey
Maybe that isn’t the conventional approach, and maybe it isn’t what everyone would recommend. But we all find our own way through life. Mine worked for me, and I can’t complain about where it led.
How about you? Have you always set personal goals, or have you taken things as they came and figured them out along the way?
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