Most of us have heard some variation of the quote that your life happens while making plans. In other words, plan as much as you want, but life is going to get in the way.
And at the same time, there's so much emphasis on being present and in the moment.
And I agree - it's crucial to be in the moment,
But lately I've been thinking a lot about my childhood, growing up poor in Brooklyn, and about the early, hungry years of Steiner Sports.
Those were times when I didn't have a choice but to live in the moment. When you're living hand to mouth, constantly trying to make ends meet; when you're getting to the office at the crack of dawn and you're not leaving until way after dusk - it's tough to make plans even a day ahead. Let alone weeks, months or even years ahead.
You're just treading water.
But looking back on those times, I now wonder how much of that busyness, that running around to get everything done, fed on itself.
If I had taken a small amount of time out of each day to plan for my future, to plan on how I was going to achieve my goals - maybe I could have gotten to them even sooner.
Previously, I've talked about the need to budget in giving, when you don't think you have enough, and to budget in fun, in case it doesn't come around on its own.
Well, it's the same thing with time itself.
When you're poor, or young, or otherwise hard up for resources, you can get trapped in this mindset of doing everything you can just to get by.
And sure, you'll get by. But the question is: How will you get ahead?
No matter how strapped you are, there's always time, every day, to set aside for thinking about your future.
For writing down your goals and spending a little bit of time, each day, taking steps toward reaching them.
Because if you spend all your time only treading water, ten years will fly by, and you'll be no closer to the shore than you ever were.
It’s important to live in the moment but your moments won’t be their best if you haven’t prepared for them. That necessitates a little dreaming and thinking about the future now and then.
Live in the present, but make sure you're budgeting for the future, as well.
