How far ahead do you ‘plan’ your life, if at all?

[Bardie]

When I was younger I always had a plan for my next steps in life - pass certain exams, do a course, save x amount of money, get work experience. Then in my thirties I had 3 children and got divorced so that consumed most of my time. Now I am in my late forties and my children don’t need me as much I find myself with more free time but no real plans, other than short term ones like meeting friends, etc. so I am wondering how much other people plan ahead? Do you plan big holidays, house renovations, exercise goals, starting new hobbies etc? Or do you just let life happen and go with the flow?

I used to plan things like holidays - I live in Australia and only ever wanted to visit Britain and France, so that obviously meant major planning (this was in the 80s).

Other than that, I've only planned two interstate moves in the last five years. Everything else has been the sort of small scale you mentioned, meeting friends and the like. I have never had a career, just gone from job to job. The last seven years I was my mother's carer, so I had to deal with her care plans and the like (fortunately the government setup for that made it much easier) and getting her into a nursing home. Now I'm coasting. My plans tend to change from "I'll get the groceries on Wednesday" to "Stuff it, I've got time to get them now, let's get it out of the way!" The most planning I do is buying knitting patterns and yarn. 😄

I'm glad you posted as I was thinking about this.

I have always been a huge planner. I believe in writing down goals and making plans to achieve them. I'm a long term planner and have always had a 5 year plan.

I'm 30 with a 2yo and 1yo and I'm trying to plan and it's just not the same. I can't envision life in the same way I did right now. I just don't see the plans coming to life as I did before.

I definitely need to sit and write down my goals as they will never happen otherwise.

Might actually make a post about that... What is your 5 year plan? 😂🤔

My planning consists of having a pension.

I know from experience I can adapt to life changes, and accept that things outside of my control can and will happen so there's no point in having a rigid plan in place. The world hasn't fallen down around me yet because of my lack of planning.

It's different when you need to figure out career options etc, but even then you can move sideways, then forwards, if your original goal isn't possible. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Interesting replies. I think I feel like I should have a five year plan, but also can’t really be bothered! Maybe I’m in a phase where I should just enjoy what I’ve got and if anything changes I can start planning then.