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Evan Hadkins believes that it is only by living authentically that we can find lasting satisfaction.

Planning Based on Goals Didn’t Work For Me

I mean planning as a way to run my life; segmenting my life into different areas, establishing realistic goals for each area and then working systematically on them. I’m a pretty heady and stubborn person; so setting goals and priorities was pretty easy for me.  Plus I can be quite stubborn, so follow through isn’t normally a problem. I can also make decisions knowing that I can change them, and not have regrets if things don’t work out – so procrastination isn’t usually a problem for me either.

So why didn’t goals work for me? 

1. Not scheduling in times for just hanging out (not recreation or sport just doing not much) – how much time I needed for this varied in ways I couldn’t figure out and so couldn’t schedule.
2. More important things would come up: a friend would have a crisis, or an unforeseen problem needed to be solved.
3. What I planned on doing turned out to be more complicated than I thought, or there was an unexpected detail which I needed to deal with.
4. I spent lots of time revising my plans and trying to adjust them. I ended up spending lots of time in planning and less time in doing, which isn’t what’s meant to happen.

Would running your life around goals work for you?

I think goals do have their place in your life.  I don’t think they are a good way to organize your life for two reasons; trying to organize our life around goals presumes:

1. We know everything, and,
2. We can control everything.

We don’t know everything – those unexpected events and unanticipated details come up that render your timetable irrelevant.

We don’t control everything – people don’t do what we expect; consequences are out of our control; “stuff happens”.

This means that goals are useful in areas where we know a lot and can control a lot.  So the examples often used are of athletes – the task is simple (do this activity faster), the situation is very controlled (confined to one lane in an arena say, the athlete usually only has to worry about their own body) and it is all pretty well known what needs to be done (the rules are known to everyone and usually abided by).

So goals are useful for limited situations where you have a lot of control.  Things like: greeting people politely, not buying ice cream, finding five minutes each day to sit quietly or write in a journal or letting the phone ring. All these could improve your life for the better.  Goals can be very useful and helpful.  But for the bigger more complicated things they become less useful depending as the things become bigger and more complex.  Is there an alternative?

Playing

This is an alternative to goal setting and being rational and disciplined is play.

Having fun can be helpful in sorting out what you want to do and how you are going to get there.

Getting over what may be the first problem.

It may be that you feel life is a serious business, your talents and resources are not to be wasted but to be employed in a disciplined manner if you are to achieve what is worthwhile.

If you feel like this I ask you to create a little space to consider what I say and try out if it works.  I think you will find that you achieve more and enjoy it more too.

How to do playful planning

These are just a few suggestions that have worked for me and others.  Feel free to change them around and alter them and come up with other ways that work for you.

Often we are more in touch with what isn’t working for us than what is, so we’ll start there:

• Make a list of all the things you don’t like in your life at the moment.
• Pause and see if anything else comes to you.
• If so keep writing until you pause and nothing else comes to you.
• Read over what you have written.
• Some things will stand out for you – put a mark against them.
• Read over the things you have put a mark against (one or two will stand out for you).
• Do one or two simple and easy things to deal with what you are unhappy with.

On a more positive note, to create a more enjoyable life that doesn’t focus on the bad stuff, create a vision to navigate by:

• Find a restful position (this will usually mean having a well supported straight spine).
• Take some time to imagine what you would really like your life to be like.
• If you feel this is unrealistic; imagine yourself walking in to a magical place or going on holiday. Spend some time with what you imagine. Be as detailed and specific as you can in terms of the people, places and activities that make up what you want your life to be like.
• Create a reminder of what you imagine. This could be a vision board or a particular movement or just a reminder to remember’ whatever mode works for you.
• This vision is what you use to navigate by.  It functions like the mountain you want to get to.  You may not know the exact path but you can see where you are going.

Instead of needing to specify goals, timetable and priorities, you can simply ask: does this get me closer to the mountain (what I want my life to be like)?

It is easier – and you don’t need to know everything and control everything but it does guide you on what to do.

Whether it is dealing with areas of your life that you find unpleasant or whether it is more positively creating the life you want, being playful is an easier and more fun alternative to the usual goal setting, prioritising and planning.  It is possible that you will find a fun way to a more enjoyable life.

Evan Hadkins believes that it is only by living authentically that we can find lasting satisfaction. To find out more about Evan and his blog you can go here. http://www.livingauthentically.org/all-about-living-authentically/