Life Plan
I was reading Spencer Fry's blog the other day, and he was talking about his new 50 year life plan. He created one because he believes thinking about the big picture because gives him a horizon to drive towards, regardless of whether he'll achieve everything or not. I thought that was a pretty good idea, and decided that I'd try to write one, too.
You can't achieve your goals until you define your goals, so here I am, putting them down "on paper", ready to be put into action on the first day of 2010. If ever I feel that I've lost perspective, I'll refer back to this.
My list is different from Spencer Fry's in a few key ways, though.
His plan is serial. He plans our year by year what he wants to get done.
It's a great theory if you know exactly what you want to do, and if you love doing 1 thing at a time.
That's not me, though. I love to be doing lots of things regularly, so my plan will be more parallel.
I will have 3 streams of focus, and each stream will have its own set of projects or goals. I'll be free to adjust my projects & goals along the way, as life happens and things change. What I don't see changing are my main areas of focus -- the streams themselves.
My 3 Streams are:
- Body (health, fitness, fun)
- Mind (learning, problem solving, working)
- Spirit (love, family, giving, oneness)
Body Goals
- Eat well (whole foods, mostly plants, not too much)
- Exercise regularly
- Reduce or eliminate caffeine intake (if I need to stay awake, go for pure sugar instead)
Mind Goals
- Continue to advance in my trade (web development & entrepreneurism)
- Create my own revenue generating websites and become self-sustaining
- Become competent in electronics & magnetism
Spirit Goals
- Develop my ability to concentrate, imagine, & visualize (necessary for lucid dreaming, gnosis, etc)
- Raise a family in our home & yet-to-be-acquired cottage. Build as much as possible with my own 2 hands. Travel with family as much a possible.
- Develop my community, both in my neighbourhood, and with like-minded people in the city, by seeking out existing groups and creating new ones. Examples: Habitat for Humanity, St John's Ambulance, Community Choir, CSETI Contact Teams, Paranormal Researchers
How will I work on all of this?
Well, I'm sure the process will evolve quite a bit over time (especially when a kid/kids are added to the mix), but here's my initial stab at it:
Weekday Routine (work & personal project focus)
6:30-07am - spirit - meditation to plan the day
07am-08am - spirit (reading for fun) OR body (workout)
08am-12pm - mind - work
12pm-01pm - body - healthy lunch sitting at the dining table
01pm-04pm - mind - work
04pm-05pm - body (workout) OR spirit (reading for fun)
05pm-06pm - body - healthy dinner sitting at the dining table
06pm-07pm - mind/spirit - electronics/magnetism
07pm-08pm - mind/spirit - electronics/magnetism
08pm-09pm - mind/spirit - personal web dev project
09pm-10pm - mind/spirit - personal web dev project
10pm-11pm - body/mind - watch TV or play video game to wind down
11-11:30pm - spirit - meditation to end the day (plan dreams/probs to solve, express gratitude)
Saturday Routine (family focus)
6:30-07am - spirit - meditation to plan the day
07am-08am - spirit (reading for fun) OR body (workout)
08am-12pm - spirit - chores/renovations
12pm-01pm - body - healthy lunch sitting at the dining table
01pm-04pm - spirit - chores/renovations
04pm-05pm - body (workout) OR spirit (reading for fun)
05pm-06pm - body - healthy dinner sitting at the dining table
06pm-11pm - spirit - family time
11-11:30pm - spirit - meditation to end the day (plan dreams/probs to solve, express gratitude)
Sunday Routine (community focus)
6:30-07am - spirit - meditation to plan the day
07am-08am - spirit (spiritual reading for fun) OR body (workout)
08am-11am - spirit - volunteer/community involvement
11am-12pm - spirit - church/zen/temple/community event
12pm-01pm - body - healthy lunch sitting at the dining table
01pm-04pm - spirit - volunteer/community involvement
04pm-05pm - body (workout) OR spirit (spiritual reading for fun)
05pm-06pm - body - healthy dinner sitting at the dining table
06pm-11pm - spirit - family time
11-11:30pm - spirit - meditation to end the day (plan dreams/probs to solve, express gratitude)
Because I'm not specifying years, I am free to adjust plans accordingly. I don't think it's important that I plan specific goals so much as it is important that I set aside the time for everything I want to be able to do. If I can stick to the plan most of the time, I should be able to accomplish a great deal.
Oddly, when I finished writing this, I went into a directory of images to find one for this post, and I stumbled upon a photo that was taken 10 years ago tonight! We had just finished making a "couch cushion fort" at Amy's house, to hide in, because it was about to switch from 1999 to 2000, and everyone was mildly worried about the Y2K bug. Shortly after this photo was taken, we decided it would be better to be outside at midnight, so we went out into the corn field to hunt for sharks. Long story.
To infinity, and beyond.