Is It Better to Plan Our Life Beforehand or Go with the Flow?

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Life is unpredictable. This is the common excuse of many people who do not like to plan their lives. They always opt for the easy option and go with the flow. Actually, they choose the path of least resistance. However, many of them end up with the life which does not reflect their chosen path. Even though we cannot predict what will happen to us in the future, experts do not recommend giving up on our plans. If we give up on plans, we will give up on our goals and our dreams. We will live a life where someone else decides instead. Choosing the path of least resistance, we will lack a sense of purpose. And that scenario is exactly why so many people are unhappy today. On the other hand, people who make plans and live their lives up to them are not always happy, too. Namely, many of them are driven by outer results. They do not take a time to reflect on their own dreams, goals, and inner needs. They set their goals based on achievement valued by society. They do not even ask themselves what they truly value. The solution is somewhere in between. If we want to live a more fulfilling life, we need to make plans, set up goals, and take action. And, if the plan fails or shows as inadequate, we need to let it go or make some adjustments. In other words, we need a flexible plan. To find out more about a dilemma ‘is it better to plan our life beforehand or go with the flow‘, the article “How to Plan Your Life, When You Can’t Plan Your Life” gives us the following explanation.

The process from planning your future when you can’t really plan looks like this:

1. Determine your desire

2. Take a small step toward it

3. Learn from taking that that step

4. Take another step

5. Learn from that one

You follow this Act, Learn, Build Repeat model until you have a job, your own business, or have achieved your goal. It’s not career planning. It’s acting your way into a future you want.

How do we know this approach will work? Because it already has.

You never want to reinvent the wheel, so when we set off to create our last book (Just Start: Take Action. Embrace Uncertainty. Create the Future) which was about the best ways to navigate the unknown, we went looking for people who had done it successfully. And we found one group that was better at it than anyone else: Serial entrepreneurs, people who have started two or more businesses successfully. There is nothing more uncertain than starting a business and these people had done it at least twice with stellar results

The purpose of making plans is to invest time, energy, and money in things that we really care. In this way, we will direct our life toward goals that satisfy our soul. And, of course, being present on the journey is not the opposite to making plans. It is essential to enjoy the journey. Without it, we will miss the most important ingredient for happiness. Thus, the question – is it better to plan our life beforehand or go with the flow – is not a dilemma. We just need to link the two. The happiness lies in balancing the both approaches.