How to plan ahead

Each and every one of us would have invariably been caught in a precarious predicament at one point in our lives. And therein, we ask ourselves a very difficult question.



What lies ahead?

Life is replete with surprises. Surprises are exciting. In two ways : Good and Bad.
The Good way a surprise excites someone is when it turns out to be a pleasant one. Something that heralds better oppurtunity, better financial security, or even something that grants one a passionate love life.

The Bad way a surprise hits on someone is when they're faced with a daunting problem, a major financial crisis, joblessness, emotional turmoil, coping with stress, relationship issues, and various other crises that gloom normal, happy life.

Did you notice one thing?

The list of things that are "counted" as bad are endless. They keep stretching, and they're intertwined. They form a vicious circle.

On the other hand, the list of things that count as "good" are few. Why, pray? Cause Good things are generally never realized that they harbor goodness with them.

You, being the self analyzing, confident, intelligent person that you are, sometimes fail to realize the real crux of the situation that you're in.

Say, lets ponder on a small story below.

Two men are rowing kayaks. The river suddenly turns turbulent. One says to the other, "Hey man, the river seems to be in a bad mood, make sure you maintain your balance on the kayak!"

The other person, a -things-the-way-they-come person, retorts, "Why don't you shush and concentrate on the rowing?"

What happened?

The river was headed into a waterfall. The person who sensed it and prepared himself for the oncoming descent, managed to have a safe fall through the waterfall and down to the calmer water below.

The other person, who failed to realize the impending catastrophe, was swept along with the river in full force and crashed headlong into a rock precipice, hurting himself.

What does this tell us?

To plan ahead, to always keep an eye open for what might traverse us in our lives. No matter how secure/ insecure we feel about it.

How to plan ahead?


The primary step in planning ahead, is to set yourself a target.

Without a target, how can someone accomplish anything?

It's like a car on a friction less road. It keeps traveling, forever. Hypothetically proven.


Set a Goal.

Set yourself an objective. A Goal, a target, something you might feel like working towards to.

Let it be realistic, but by keeping it realistic, you need not restrict the limits to which you set yourself to.

The Goal should be something you will have to put in a lot of work to do it, it should be more or less a challenge.

Remember, if Edison hadn't taken it as a challenge to keep experimenting with the filament for a thousand times, we would never have seen the electric bulb in action!

Prioritize.

Classify your everyday activites into two types. Useful/ Useless.

Useful activities should be those that help you move one step closer to your goal. Useless activities are those that do not relate in any way to your goal, but they might be a casual activity in your daily life. It might be important, but that doesn't matter.
Just fill in the list according to the usefulness of the activity you indulge in.

The importance of this step is to self analyze yourself and to inform You of what you're really upto in each passing day of your life.




Be Confident.

The single most important foundation to achieving whatever your objective is to be sure of yourself that you're capable of doing whatever you set yourself to. This article might help you allay any fears you may have about your potential.

Don't waste the Present.

Remember, the past is finished. It's over, done, that's it. The future is uncertain. Its only the present that you hold in your hands. No matter what befell you in the past, if you make use of your current time usefully, the future will be good right?


Planning Ahead


Take up the list you made containing the activities you indulge in daily. Look at those that pertain towards the completion of your goal. Draw a mental picture of what you have to do in order to further your objective. Think. Think what you'll do to improve upon what you were already doing. Think of the pitfalls you might encounter, but also think how you will equip yourself to face them and succeed.

If at any point, you feel that something might not turn out favourably, convince yourself that it will, indeed turn out for the overall improvement of your current predicament, and whatever turmoil that heralds only serves as experience, a powerful tool with which you can bravely face the future!

Remember, it's not the bad things that pull us down, it's us thinking that things will end up bad that pull us down!

Please feel free to drop a comment on whether you liked the article, or if you have any similar experiences or suggestions. I'll be very glad to read it, Drop a comment below!