appoach to life self improvement articles

Live Your Moments & Plan Your Future

Once a day has ended, it will never come back. The future is coming whether we plan for it or not. It is up to us to be where we want to be in the future by doing something about it today.

I would like you to envision person X who wakes up everyday with nothing on their mind except what might happen ten years from now. On the other hand, person Y wakes up everyday thinking about nothing more than this: "What am I going to have for breakfast?"

Both X & Y will not have the future they wish for. The reason is simple. Our friend X is missing on everything happening today while obsessing about ten years from now. In contrast, our friend Y is missing on planning the future while obsessing with the moment at hand. It is hard to achieve your future goals without doing something about them today. Equally, spending your life just living in the moment, without planning your future, will leave you with nothing to strive for and ultimately, to achieve.

Today and tomorrow are equally important; therefore, pay attention to your daily events. Don’t miss out on moments and clues. If you pay attention to and take advantage of these things, you will move forward to achieve your goals. And remember — here and now is what makes there and then.

Focus to Achieve

With the start of a New Year, people tend to set a long list of New Year resolutions and goals they would like to achieve. By the end of the first month or two, most people have tendency to forget about their goals or resolutions and continue to do what they did before. They fall back on comfortable habits that steer them away from their goals. Why do we have the tendency to do so?
I think most people are sincere about achieving their goals. The problem is they don’t have a plan in place and have too many goals to achieve at the same time.
There isn’t anything wrong with a long list of changes, goals and resolutions. However, when we feel we have so much to do in so many areas, we feel overwhelmed and end up achieving nothing. Therefore, it is crucial that you set fewer measurable and attainable goals than several that you can’t achieve. A good start to achieving your goal is to set five year plans and break them down to 1-year, 6-month and finally, 1-month plans. Progressively smaller goals will help you reach and achieve your long term goals. Once you have a clear picture of your goals, you will need to create a daily To-Do list that will help you work toward your long term goals. Always create realistic plans and To- Do lists so you will not get discouraged or overwhelmed. This will help you be able to accomplish your goals successfully. This will also allow you to see forward progress and will raise your self-confidence in what might previously have seemed a long, pointless dream.
It is imperative that you stay focused on your goals as much as possible. Stay flexible enough to make the changes needed to achieve them. Periodically review the longer term plans and modify them—if necessary—to reflect your changing priorities and experiences. As you do so, keep reviewing and updating your daily To-Do lists to match and complement any changes needed in your long term goals.
Your goals will change as you get older and/or wiser, as well as when your needs change. Failure to meet or achieve a goal should NOT be discouraging as long as you learn from the experience and grow wiser to advance your life goals.
brought to you by:
Abeer Abdo, Ph.D LPC

Share your ideas or experience with Abeer at brainmassage@yahoo.com

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