We all have dreams and aspirations that we want to achieve in life. Maybe you already know exactly what and who you want to be, or maybe you’re on a journey to discover your dreams. But many of us think and talk a lot about our dreams without taking steps toward making them happen.
By creating a long-term plan that will happen over a long period of time, you can bring the life you envision for yourself into reality when the time comes. Taking the time to decide the best route to the future will help you consider different areas of your life that you might be overlooking, keep you motivated, take steps today to secure your dreams, and make sure you live the life you want.
Before you discover all the benefits of a future plan, you might wonder...
What is a future plan?
It’s a plan that includes information about your life at this moment. These are things like where you live, what you do each day, your likes and dislikes, and the important people in your life. It also includes ideas for what you want to do in the future. This can have information about where you want to live or work, new activities you want to try, or people you want to meet.
We get it. Thinking about the future can be scary and challenging. But, planning for the future is necessary, especially when one is transitioning to a different life stage. And by creating a future plan, you can give yourself peace of mind knowing that your next steps are already considered.
As Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.” So, thinking about what you want your future to look like and creating a plan is important if you want to reach your dreams.
Here are the top 3 reasons why future planning is important.
Focus on your priorities.
We all have several different areas of life we think about when planning. In LifeCourseOnline, we call these Life Domains. As you age and grow, the Life Domains you focus on might change. So, it’s important to focus on the Life Domains that are important to you in the life stage that you are currently in.
For example, you may have just graduated from high school and are transitioning into adulthood. If your dream job is to be a chef, you might want to focus on the daily life and employment domain to help you achieve this. When you ask yourself, “what’s important to me” in your life stage, you can list out all your priorities and order them from most important to least. That way, you can focus on the ones that move you in the direction of your dreams.
While future planning, you may need to consider areas of your life that aren’t a priority to your right now. This way, you will be ready for each area in the next stage of your life and know all the supports ahead of time.
Discover what you need.
As humans, we want control. Having control over the decisions we make helps reduce stress. With a future plan, you can make sure decisions today are taking you one step close to your dreams. While making your future plan, you can think about the different resources or supports you might need in different stages of your life. This might include child care in early childhood, employment connection services as you transition to adulthood, or extra health support as you age. This is a great opportunity to prepare for changes in the future or maybe even identify changes that should be happening now.
Live a life with no regrets.
There’s a quote by Yogi Berra that states, “if you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Life is too short to live with regrets. We can’t control everything in life, but with a future plan, it's more likely that you'll end up living the life you want. If you don't think about the future, you might find yourself living a life that doesn't meet your needs. A life plan or a future plan will ensure you are creating a safe, healthy, and happy life for yourself today and in the future. Future planning helps you share your long-term dreams with your support team. By letting your team know what you want for the future, they can join you in taking steps toward making it happen.
People often regret what they didn’t do more than what they did, so whatever your dreams are for the future, believe in yourself, create a plan and go for it. Nothing feels better than turning your dreams into reality! Don’t wait for next month or the new year. Start today. LifeCourseOnline is a life-planning platform and community where you can articulate your needs, pursue your goals, coordinate practical care, and connect with your network of support on a regular basis. To learn more, head over to our main site at lifecourseonline.com
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