Planning to plan your future is a waste of time. Has talking about planning ever been useful? Has it moved your life forward?
I think we can agree that’s a big “no”.
For me, I’ve found I’m happiest when I’m doing something…accomplishing something. By “something”, I mean anything that I feel is bettering my life in some way –- furthering a hobby, honing a job skill, learning a bit of knowledge, making travel plans, etc. The problem is that I’ve found it difficult to stop talking about what I’m hoping to accomplish and to actually make strides towards something actually happening.
The excuses:
“I don’t have time.”
“My job keeps me too busy.”
“Hey look, that generic show about that thing is on.”
But like I said, planning to plan doesn’t work. What I’ve found does for me is Forward15.
What is Forward15?
Well, Forward15 is when you take fifteen minutes out of the day, every day, to do something that makes you feel like you did “something”.
That would be you.
It’s not like you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment if you outsource planning your future. Feel free to bring in that special someone in your life (they also don’t have to be that special). Doing Forward15 as a couple gives you someone to bounce ideas off of and to “tag team” your efforts.
Whether it’s making a decision, submitting a payment, reserving an appointment, or researching an option, you have to have made progress that you can build on for your next Forward15. If it helps, focus on a theme per session. Travel Forward15, Education Forward15, Fitness Forward15, etc. It’ll help the time fly by and really make you feel like you didn’t waste it.
Forward15 examples:
Sign up for that course you’ve been meaning to take.Research the Mexican resorts you are trying to choose between.Come up with a schedule for the next month of fitness classes you’re going to attend.What works best for you? Right after work, first thing in the morning, right before bed? Whether it’s scheduled or just a matter of finding 15 minutes in a day, it’s really up to you. The only thing you can’t say is you don’t have time for it. It’s only 15 minutes!
I don’t care if you’re the CEO of a company or the mother of a 2 year old, you can find 15 minutes. If you don’t feel you can’t, here’s how you can do just that.
Where do you feel you can focus for 15 minutes? Do it there.
You’re not limited by location. If your focus that day needs Google and there’s no wifi to be found, pick a different focus.
Really the most important question to answer when doing anything is: Why?
In 15 minutes you can make decisions that will affect your life and make you feel better doing it. Just the act of taking action in your life can help make you happier about your future and where it’s going — because it’s going somewhere.
Think about it: a quarter of an hour, 15 minutes, 900 seconds can make you feel better about the next year, 365 days, 21,900 seconds. If it helps, picture some late-night infomercial host saying, “for just 15 minutes a day…”
After all, isn’t it time for some forward thinking?
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