Life Planning for Success

Posted On 26 July 2024

My youngest just graduated from high school! It’s hard to believe that he is entering into adulthood. During his last year of high school, he has heard about planning for his future. He’s also heard about planning from my wife and I as well as in his youth group. There are so many options out there in front of him – what should he do?

Something I’ve heard a couple of times towards the end of the school year was that high school graduates should plan 5 years down the road. I partially like that. It gets kids thinking about further down the road and yet takes some of the pressure off them to declare what they are going to do with the rest of their lives. Often, kids don’t even know what they would like to eat for dinner!

Not Having a Plan Is Still a Plan

It is possible to go through life without much of a plan. Maybe we plan only to have that plan derailed. We can apply to jobs that are advertised and take whatever we can take. It will pay the bills, although we may not be that excited about where we end up.

I went to college right after high school. Engineering was something that sounded interesting to me. Nobody ever asked me what I would do with that degree, and if they had asked me, I don’t know that I would have had much of an answer.

Math was killing me, so I switched majors to business. Why? It sounded good. Accounting killed me. I had always enjoyed history, so that was my new major. I was told that any degree would open doors for me. My bachelor’s in history didn’t!

Without any clear plan I just took whatever work I could find. I have had many, many experiences and I have a wide range of skills. The problem is that I have too many options! I can do so many different things that I struggle with focus.

What I Wish I Had Been Told

Instead of just asking me what I like to do, it would have been great to have been asked why I would like to do that particular thing. I went to college because I was told that was what I was supposed to do. “Just pick something and go with it.”

I mentioned maybe going to a trade school, and my grandmother said that I couldn’t do that. I needed to go to college. So, I got a bachelor’s degree in history. What was my plan with that degree? Simply to graduate!

My advice to a young person today would be to figure out what they would like to do, and why they would like to do that. They shouldn’t worry about choosing the wrong thing or wanting to change professions later. That can be done, and a lot of skills are transferrable from one career to another.

The best way to plan is to start with the end in mind. When you know where you would like to end up, you can then figure out what it takes to get there. Like taking a road trip – there may be several different routes to get to your destination. Once you know your intended destination you can figure out the route.

The Big Plan

My challenge to teenagers is to figure out where they would like to end up. How would they like to live? How are they going to support that lifestyle? What do they enjoy, and are good at doing?

If they enjoy working with wood (like my older son does), they can go to a trade school for carpentry. For those who want to be a lawyer, teacher, or accountant they need to get a university degree. Someone who enjoys sales does not need a university degree. They can take some sales courses, read books on the subject, and get experience on the salesfloor.

Should they decide to change course somewhere along the way they can do that. The thing is to have an idea of where they want to end up. That way they have a better chance of arriving at their dream.

Why Backup Plans Do Not Work

Having a backup plan may sound like a great idea. The problem with having a backup plan is that we have an “easy out” when and if things get tough. Backup plans are talked about like safety nets.

So, what is a young person to do if they shouldn’t have a backup plan and go for their dreams at the same time? Risk it all? Go for broke? No, there is a better way – and that is to have complementary or supplementary plans. What are those?

Complementary Plans

Complementary plans are two or more plans that work well and have similar aspects to each other. An example of someone with complementary plans would be for someone who wants to be an author to go to college to become an English teacher.

Their education would help them become a better writer, and they can teach school while they start writing books. These two plans complement each other. If you would like an example of this, check out Stephen King. He was an English teacher before he was a published author.

Supplemental Plans

Supplemental plans are not related to each other, yet they can work together. Harrison Ford took this approach when he moved to Los Angeles to become an actor. He arrived in Hollywood like a lot of other hopeful actors. The difference was that he decided to play the long game while the others gave up.

Harrison worked as a carpenter to the stars, directors, and producers. He did this for years! One day he was doing work at a producer’s house and George Lucas asked him to help with a script reading. A few days later Harrison was cast as Hans Solo in Star Wars!

He was intentional with his carpentry work and got himself around the people he wanted to be with. You can use the same technique yourself. The vital part is planning it out.

Allow Flex in Your Planning

There is a Yiddish proverb, “We plan, God laughs.” Things don’t always go the way we plan. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t plan. We just need to have some flexibility and be open to changes along the way.

Going back to my road trip analogy, there may be detours on our journey. Maybe we miss a turn. As long as we don’t get all bent out of shape, we may discover something beyond that missed turn that makes the trip even better. We carry spare tires in our cars. I plan for extra time to drive somewhere to account for traffic or construction. We will have a much more enjoyable journey to our dream it we take the same approach. You can do this and become unstoppable!