Are you a planner? Do you sit down and plan out your day every day or is it more of a quick glance at the week ahead? Do you plan for Christmas several months in advance and start buying gifts early or do you buy everything the week before Christmas? Some people are born planners and feel lost without a list in their hands telling them what to do next. Other people can’t seem to handle putting every little thing down on paper, and feel restricted when they do so.
The extent to which you plan is a very personal one. It has a lot to do with your personality and your responsibilities. Good planning leads to preparedness, which leads to peace of mind. I am not saying that if you are a free spirit you should change your way of life, but you may benefit from some overall life planning.
Besides planning what to do in an emergency, you should be making plans for your future. You may want to start by writing down where you picture yourself in thirty years, twenty years, ten years and five years. If these seem to fit together working backwards, then you have a good start. After you have decided where you want to end up, you need to decide how you are going to get there. Of course as you do this you need to be flexible to the changes that life bring you.
If you do not have a general direction you want to go, then you may need to consider some additional items. It is important to think about how you want to spend your retirement years, those that think ahead are generally more comfortable than those who don’t. If you want children you may decide on a time to begin trying to have children, before health risks get in the way. If you have not yet purchases a home, you may want to consider when you would like to do so.
Most of these items do not require the strict guidelines that a born planner would like, but they do help to give some guidance to your life. It is important to have a definite direction you are moving in, or you end up going nowhere. You should be able to find a good balance for your life.