If you’ve ever wondered how to plan your life when you can’t see past next Tuesday, welcome. Pull up a chair. You’re in good company.
I’m the parent of two twenty-somethings, so our house has hosted plenty of conversations about the future. Lately, I’ve noticed the same theme when I talk with other parents of young adults. Many in this generation feel stuck on decisions about college, jobs, and relationships. It’s not a lack of ability or ambition. They simply want to see the ending before they take the first step.
Honestly, it makes sense. We live in a world where GPS tells us our arrival time before we leave the driveway, and streaming services tell us we’ll love a show before we press play. Why wouldn’t life come with a preview?
Here’s the catch: if you need to know where you’ll be in 5, 10, or 20 years before you can plan the next twelve months, you may never plan anything at all.
Confession: I’m 51 and I Still Don’t Have the Whole Plan
Yes, I coach people on productivity for a living. And yes, I’m 51 with a 27-year career behind me. I still haven’t worked out the entire plan.
When I look back, so much of what has happened was never on my roadmap. I did not plan for my work to take me to five continents and nearly every state in the U.S. I didn’t pencil in the incredible people I’d meet or the places I’d see that I never could have imagined. If I had insisted on seeing the full map at the start, I probably would have picked a smaller, safer one, and missed all of it.
Do I have goals for the next 15-plus years? Absolutely. Do I know exactly what they’ll look like when I get there? Ask me again in a decade.
How to Plan Your Life One Step at a Time
As I tell my kids all the time, that’s okay. Especially in your early 20s, it’s perfectly fine to take one step and see where it leads. A general direction helps. But a direction is not a blueprint, and letting opportunities find you isn’t a character flaw. Some of the best chapters of a career path show up disguised as detours.
Think of driving at night. Your headlights only show a couple hundred feet of road, yet you can cross the entire country that way. Nobody pulls over in Ohio and refuses to continue until Nevada is visible.
Start With Personal Values, Not a Five-Year Plan
So if you can’t see the ending, what do you hold onto? Your personal values.
Values won’t tell you which exit to take, but they will tell you which direction is north. When you know what matters most to you, decisions get simpler. Does this opportunity line up with what I care about? If so, it’s worth exploring. If not, a polite “thanks, but no thanks” is a complete sentence.
For me, the answer was always wanting to help people and make a difference. For most of my life, that has meant working with nonprofits to help them reach their goals and fulfill their missions. Today, it also means working as a productivity coach, helping people achieve their professional, personal, and purpose-driven goals. The work has evolved. The reason behind it hasn’t.
Setting Goals Without a Crystal Ball
Here’s the good news: flexibility and setting goals are not enemies. You can still be intentional. You just get to hold your life goals in pencil instead of permanent marker.
Start by asking what matters most to you right now. Then pick one step in that direction you can take in the next few months. Take it, notice what you learn, and adjust. Repeat as needed. It’s less “master plan” and more “choose your own adventure,” except you’re the author and nobody makes you flip to page 47 and fall into a pit.
This works at 22, and it works at 52. Whether you’re in your early 20s, your early 50s, or anywhere in between, you do not need the rest of your life planned out. You need to know what you value and be willing to take the next step.
Let’s Talk About Your Next Step
If you’re not sure what your values are, or how to set goals that line up with them, let’s talk. I offer a complimentary 20-minute strategy call where we’ll look at your specific situation and map out your next steps. No crystal ball required.
Dream big. Plan smart. Live fully.