Do you have goals or a life plan?

[GodolphianArabian]

So training session at work focussing on goals and assessing our abilities in terms of teamwork, communication etc.

I realised I don't have goals well not in the way the bloke running the session envisaged. I mean I have a to-do list but it's things like pay nursery, clean kids rooms, take stuff to tip and carries on like this for a full page. At work I have work based to-do lists.

So am I missing out here? Should I have short, medium and long term goals? Would my life improve? Or is it a load of guff that keeps blokes like this employed.

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Yes to be happy healthy , stay married, become a mum pay mortgage off early so dh can work part time x

Oops sorry thought you were asking others goals

In answer to your question no of course you don't have to have goals x

I have goals, short term and long term ones.

I don't think it's necessary though if you're happy and satisfied in life. I'm not satisfied with my lot at the moment so I'm working towards being that way.

I make it up as I go along. My life is a happy series of "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

The trouble with goals is it is like wearing blinkers. You can be so concentrated on the end goal that you forget to enjoy the journey, look at the scenery, and take detours just because you feel like it.

I like to have long term goals because it's what drives me during the day to day but I don't get hung up if things don't go to plan. I don't mind if the plan changes.

I think it is very personal and depends on you. Do you have a career plan? Do you have things that you want to achieve in a timeframe?
I work with people who have their current job which is a stepping stone towards something else which will eventually lead to a fabulous job hopefully in an international role so they have a very well laid out plan.
Me on the other hand, I don’t have these goals. I used to have a plan but then my dd has autism and my plan is taking each day as it comes, enjoying the tiny wins (days without meltdowns) and I try not to think too far ahead as I never know what’s around the corner.
What about you? Do you want a plan?

I don't have goals, so much as a wish list, like a long term 'to do' list. I may not achieve some of them, but I am not a fan of meandering through life: I like to have things to aim for.

No because every time I make one the universe gets Zeus to send a bolt of lightning down to destroy it.

DH and I have medium term goals.
Right now it's to make as much money as we can in a short space of time by living overseas. After that it's to sell our house in the UK and buy our forever home where our kids will live till they choose they leave home. this is a 3 year plan.
After this we hope to both work part time to achieve a better work life balance.

Living in the present is a good goal in all three of those categories, though.

I'm a bit like you OP - I have lots of 'to do' lists and am quite organised in a day to day way but don't think about the future much.

I got promoted at work three years ago, so I guess I should be thinking about applying for the next level up in a year or two. I can't think of any other long term goals really.

Mrssunshinexxx happy to hear others goals, I like yours. The bloke running the session would not have been satisfied with happy or healthy. He expected you to break it down into specific ways of achieving this.

Frenchfancy I think I've done similar, no specific long term goals and most of the time it's just getting through the day to day.

I definitely don't have a career plan which probably explains my having the same job for a long time.

Yes absolutely. "They" say the most successful people are those with goals/plans. I've had the same corporate training which just reiterated my personality and methods. I'm a very visual person, I've known from a young age what I want to aim for, when you have that vision you develop a subtle determination that fills everything you do, it's always sub conscious, it's not like a wake up every morning vying for something and deliberately take actions towards it, but when faced with decisions such as career based I'm always thinking of the big picture and influenced by that. I've had some big hurdles along the way but I've not been deterred because I've just always assumed I will get what I want eventually. It's extremely powerful.

OP, if it wasn’t for a core group of people staying in the same jobs, most workplaces would be chaotic! If you are happy in your job, stay there. Many will secretly envy you. Don’t feel pressure to conform and flit about, that isn’t for everyone.

Marcus Child is amazing for explaining it all.

purpleolive I can see absolutely that 'successful' people are probably goal focussed. I found the training very much defined success as rich, senior job, with hobbies like climb Everest. Which is fine if that's what you want.

I can also see how you could use goals to help you persevere when it gets tough. That aspect actually appealed to me.

Have you written goals down?

No because every time I make one the universe gets Zeus to send a bolt of lightning down to destroy it.

My experience exactly. My life has turned out mostly OK but (apart from marriage and 2 kids) all my life plans have tended to crumble in the face of reality.

Librarianship careers, anyone?

@GodolphianArabian no, it's visual for me, I dont write it down. And it's not all career, it's life stuff too, how I see my relationship, what I want it to be like. It's often offered in a corporate context but you can apply it to anything. It doesn't have to be monetary (in a corporate context it often is) but it's more about how you visualise the end result and planning out how you get to it. Marcus got children to write down how they would go about getting good grades, the processes they'd have to do, the revision etc. By visualising, and writing it down in this context, it created a plan and made it feel possible.

Saying "be happy" isn't enough, what makes you happy? A good relationship? What does a good relationship look like to you? How do you achieve it? I make sure DH and I switch of technology at X o clock, we will go out X times this year, we will celebrate that anniversary etc. It can be applied in a number of ways but works very well in careers. But it's more subtle and powerful than this because it's just engrained in what I do, it's not a list I forget about, it drives me everyday. This is where personality comes in, when Marcus Child came to my work what he said just validated how my brain worked rather than made me act differently if that makes sense, but I recommend trying it if you want to have more long term vision.

The down side is I am bad for living in the moment, I am always thinking big picture and what's next and that isn't healthy I know, can't visualise myself out of that one!!

Joyfulincolour I am sort of happy in my job. I'm aware it's comfortable. I know people etc. But I'm also aware I could easily stay another 20 years! I'm not sure I want that.

Someone recently retired after 40 years there. I don't want that to be me! It's depressing how replaceable people are, 40 years and they're pretty much forgotten within months.

I have goals. Career goals, personal goals, self-improvement type goals. I can’t really imagine not working towards anything to be honest, but I guess it depends what you want from life.

Is there really nothing you want to achieve in the future? Even something small like running a 5K or learning the basics of another language? Or career-wise, where do you want to be in 5, 10, 15 years?

Yes I have. In 3.5 years (once my youngest has gone to Uni) I am selling up. I will be moving 40 miles away to a beautiful market town which I adore. Best thing is houses are much cheaper so I'll be mortgage free by the time I'm 45. I will go part time at work.

I'm getting married soon and my dp already lives there and I cannot wait to join him

@SpuriouserAndSpuriouser I don't really have any goals like that. I've done running, managed a half marathon but found it boring. I quite fancy learning Chinese or how to code but not enough to actually do anything about it. I think I'm quite lazy.

Have you written down your goals and worked out how to achieve them?

Have you written down your goals and worked out how to achieve them?

Yes, I have several lists.

• List of things I would like to achieve “one day” that I’m not actively working on at the moment
• List of things I would like to achieve in the next five years or so (mostly career goals)
• List of things to do in the medium term (1-2 ish years) that will make the longer term goals possible

These are written at the front of my diary so I can easily find them and refer back to them.

Then roughly once a month I look over what I want to achieve and make sure I’m putting effort in the right places, as well as see what I can do that month to advance them ie sign up for a particular course or or start studying for a certain exam.

I have a very clear idea of what I want to achieve and where I plan to end up. If it doesn’t go to plan then so be it, but I know what I’m working towards.

I meant to say though that I’m in a very competitive career where this is totally normal. I’m actually kind of a slacker compared to some people! It also has multiple grades, with clearly defined requirements to meet in order to move up, so it makes the planning side easier because it’s really clear what I need to do to get where I want to be.

I enjoy what I do and I want to progress, and I get a huge amount of satisfaction out of it, which is what drives me. If I didn’t particularly enjoy it, I wouldn’t be as motivated.