On New Year’s Eve, I open a new diary and a new calendar for the new year and start to make plans for next year. Because I’m self-employed, I don’t have a boss telling me when to do what. Therefore, I should make effective plans by myself. For instance, this year my plan is to work for 45 weeks, have a 5-week overseas vacation and spend 2 weeks with my family during Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
- If something is not scheduled, it’s not real!
I have two types of plans.
- The annual plan – The big calendar includes what I do throughout the year. It’s a macro plan about which week is about what, e.g., 45 weeks: work; 5 weeks: an overseas vacation; 2 weeks: Christmas with family.
- The specific plan – The diary includes what I do for certain projects/activities. It’s a micro plan about when to do what on specific days, e.g., during these 45 weeks when I focus on my work, I have 2 days off each week (I spend one of these 2 days doing other things that need to be done, i.e., housework, errands, etc. And I need a day without plans so that I can totally relax – Yes, not having a plan is also a kind of plan!)
There is a difference between plans and goals. Personally, I like having good plans rather than writing down several goals. Yes, at some stage, goals are necessary, but to be honest, I’ve already achieved all of the goals that I wanted to achieve in my life. Now at this stage in my life, it’s more about enjoying what I’ve achieved and being a better version of myself. I know this sounds a bit outrageous/unusual, but it’s the truth. In our culture, most people focus on setting goals and achieving goals. However, very few people spend time celebrating what they’ve achieved. I think celebration is just as important as trying to achieve a goal.
- Do you still have the same friends that you had from decades ago?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely not saying you should leave all your friends that you met decades ago. I mean you’d better keep your friends that you’ve known for decades; meanwhile, you also need to grow your social circle.
If you don’t keep meeting new people, your social circle will stagnate, which isn’t good for your personal development.
Personally, every year I have at least one new friend that I meet in a social context. I’ve noticed that my growing social circle is expanding my outlook and giving me new inspiration as well as epiphanies regularly. More importantly, my career has become better due to new people that I meet because they introduced key contacts and opportunities to me.
Meeting new people when I’m on overseas vacations is even better as they bring very different perspectives to my life. Sometimes I feel relieved when a new friend tells me something that I didn’t even think of before or points out my blind spot.
Quote: “Having an overseas vacation is just like reading a good book.”
