[Closed] Can you be happy without a life plan?

'life plan'...

Sometimes I used to think that I wished I was smart enough to have one. I was led to believe that you should.

Anyhow, I never did.

A few things I did know that I wanted from life were:

A family
Fun
Be active
etc

no 'plan' to any of it though.

I'm just not the kind of person who can plan. But going through life with what I think is a good attitude has given me many things:

A family
Fun
I'm very active
etc

Just go with the flow with a rough idea of what you want. I found it has taken me many places I never would have thought of. Some good, some really bloody good, some not so but you learn from them all...

I'm still enjoying it all so far...

I think you need to look for wisdom in the words of Spinal Taps last drummer:

"have a good time... All the time"

Whooosh! And I'm back in the thread.

Cheers for all the comments, guys.

I guess you're right. Going with the flow certainly has its advantages.

But, on the other hand, aren't there advantages to having clearly defined goals? My brother - yes, he's a successful organic chemist - would certainly say so.

The problem with having no recognisable goals is: how do you gauge how you're doing? Do you waste potential by not pursuing your potential in a methodical, organised way? Or is that beside the point?

Hitler had a plan, "the dude" didn't...

"Careful man, there's a beverage here!"

Classic.

I'm with Guy Martin on this one:

"We're here for a good time, not a long time"

&

"if I die with more than £2 in my pocket, I've made a serious miscalculation"

🙂

I like you Poddy.. you've just made it into my top 100 forum members.

If you make a "goal" what do you do when you achieve it? Get bored?

Worse still, what if you never do? Will you feel a failure and die unhappy?

And how do you want to be remembered? For spending all your time at work or for being a nice person?

EDIT

To be blunt, I think you'd be more happy without worrying about some pie in the sky plan. I don't have one. I'm happy with what I have.

I've made a plan..

Hopefully going to buy my first property next year.

see now, I used to follow what others said. I made a goal and then when I achieved it I then sat and had to think 'what's next'.

I hated that pressure. I much prefer the whole approach of 'let's see what happens next'.

As one very sensible chap said to me 'no matter how bad it may seem, something will always come around'.

And you know what - it does...

I should add that I'm posting this from India. Did I ever think I would be here? Hell no!
Is it the best? I doubt it (that's a whole other story) but it's mega interesting.
Where will it lead to next? No idea but I look forward to it!...

Plan? You're meant to have a plan? Why wasnt I told this?

If it makes him happy then fine.

For me, I have to be focused and destination orientated in work. In my own time I'll just relax a bit and see what happens.

I seem to remember a saying related to a guy called jack being a bit dull if he followed such a process in his life.

I've not got a plan as such, but I do have a goal to focus on. It's doing something I love, but I need more time to both afford what I want to do, and get good enough to be able to do it. The money side of things mean I stay driven at work, which does help. I love my job though.

My wife's goal is "chickens". She wants us to have a house where we can have chickens, and this again means hard work to get there. No plan whatsoever, just something to focus towards.

The problem with having no recognisable goals is: how do you gauge how you're doing? Do you waste potential by not pursuing your potential in a methodical, organised way? Or is that beside the point?

What is the scale on this gauge you use to measure how you're doing? What's potential, how did you get lumbered with it? How can it be wasted, or where might you pursue it to?

Is success measured in TV screen diameter? Size of car? Length of driveway? Or is it measured in your own happiness while you're here? Are success and happiness directly linked? It's up to you, isn't it. Nobody else cares. They're too busy worrying about their status to notice yours.

If you're reading this, you'll probably enjoy this:

Our two favorite subjects at Cracked are the elusive concept of human happiness and Batman. This article is about the first one.
If you're looking for an answer to "How can I be happy?" then the response from the experts is, "You're asking the wrong question." The better question is why our idea of happiness is so screwed up that most of us wouldn't recognize the real thing if we saw it. Well ...

[url= http://www.cracked.com/article_19376_5-scientific-reasons-your-idea-happiness-wrong.html#ixzz1VPd3riOn ]5 Scientific Reasons Your Idea of Happiness Is Wrong[/url]

[img] [/img]
[b]Seems like a plan to me![/b]

Faced with a Careers Advisor aged 14(*), I was mildly concerned that I'd no idea what I wanted to do / be "when I grew up." I figured that I'd work it out in a year or two, before it became important.

Now aged 39, I've still not got any ideas as to what I want to do when I grow up. All I can say is, I seem to have kinda done ok so far. I'm not loaded, but I think that on the whole I'm having fun. Which, I think, is pretty much the point.

(* - me, not him)

My wife has some kind of plan for us, involving saving money, buying a house and being successful. I have a plan to take some of that money and buy an xx groupset and hope she doesn't cry too much. I haven't planned any futher than this. I'm certain the net result will make me happy.

I opened this thread thinking it was a question directed to me personally. Like everyone else apart from me has a life plan or something! and I'm not in on the information! well, I'm open to new ideas...

where's The Plan? or A Plan.. cmon you planners, let me in on your secret world to make me happier!

mrlugz - Member
I plan on retiring in less than 30 years.

Somewhere with a warmer climate.

Other than that, take it as it comes.

But funding that does require planning now, surely?

No life plan here, but I got lucky. Cousin with a five year rolling life plan has done spectacularly, mind!

Not really. I work, pay into a pension, pay a mortgage.

Not so much a plan, more of a 'thats just what happens day to day'

The stuff that happens within the next 30 years? I'll just have to wait and see...

i dont feel the need for a plan .... just a direction

i work offshore at the moment - piling money away to buy a house ASAP ....

will i be working off shore in 10 years .... i hope to **** not , something somewhere has gone wrong for me if i am !

My attitude is summed up by the this 'joke' I heard a while back...

Teacher: "What do you want to be when you grow up, Tom?"
Tom: "I want to be an astronaut, miss"
Teacher: "Very good, and what about you, Alice?"
Alice: "I want to be a lawyer, miss"
Teacher: "Good choice, Alice. What about you Billy, what do you want to be?"
Little Billy: "I want to be happy, miss"
Teacher: "I don't think you understand the question, Billy"
Little Billy: "No miss, I think you don't understand life"

My plan is to explore opportunities that present themselves
Some bring income, some bring interesting experiences
I have no other plan

Generally the people who have a plan seem to very dull and unfulfilled, and in many cases they don't end up with the happy ending they'd hoped for

It's a good idea to have ambition and make and take opportunities, and having a specific and defined objective can help you raise your game but... having a life plan for yourself is essentially narcissistic. Which tends to make you unpopular with other people.
Each to their own but I prefer to spend time with people who can see beyond their own perspective and needs...

In answer to the original question - of course you can. I wish however, that I had made a few more plans than I actually did, especially whilst in education. My kids will have the options and consequences explained to them! They can then make an educated choice.

Life is just a set of random opportunities which you only notice if you're not too blinkered.... Plans just blinker people so they miss most of them.

Okay, that's agreed. But can you have a life without a happy plan?

I've never heard of a life plan until reading this.

Unless it's something big like a wedding or work related, it's best not to plan, they always go pear shaped anyway.

i have a 2 step life plan:

1) ride bikes so i can learn to wheelie
2) wheelie

it's going well, i'm like, totally getting a handle on step 1...

The path to success is indeed very clearly defined for the academic track. So if you're on it, then this is reassuring in a way. The challenges are clear and understood, which is good. This sort of thing is more the exception though - most people find their own way in life without such structures in place.

I think that is a great description of why plans work so well for some people. It's possible to be clever and academic and find life easy as a set of clear targets/exams etc. Here's the criteria, here's exactly what you need to achieve. Tick, tick, tick. It's hard work, but there's little risk or uncertainty so, is it really [i]hard work[/i]?
There is much to be gained from risking failure.

nedrapier - Member

If you're reading this, you'll probably enjoy this:

Our two favorite subjects at Cracked are the elusive concept of human happiness and Batman. This article is about the first one.
If you're looking for an answer to "How can I be happy?" then the response from the experts is, "You're asking the wrong question." The better question is why our idea of happiness is so screwed up that most of us wouldn't recognize the real thing if we saw it. Well ...

5 Scientific Reasons Your Idea of Happiness Is Wrong

Ned, that is an excellent link. Really enjoyed that, ta.

It's a question I've pondered recently. My best friend at uni was always very money focused and vowed to be a millionaire by 30 and a dad. A couple of years ago he sold a company he co-founded for £5m. He might have missed by a couple of years and had to suck up some desktime in IT in the process, but impressive nonetheless and his kids are adorable.
I was always more experience oriented. I figured that I'd rather do all things I want while my body is in OK shape than wait until my 50s. And in that I've also largely succeeded. But I have niggling fears about not having a career as such or a family. And while I'm materialistic, knowing that I'll never own a house like Fallingwater or live wherever I want doesn't bring much joy. Maybe I shouldn't have deferred responsibility for quite so long!

Having a life plan seems to be very common in the States. People plan from an early age where they want to go to college, what they're going to do when they graduate etc. I've found most American students I know have it pretty much down.

Me? I have no idea where I want to be or what I want to do and I'm very happy with that. Just playing it by ear. There's things I want to do on the way but nothing that could be called a 'life plan'. Each to their own I reckon.

Sounds like the same approach the British take to business as was discussed on another thread this week. Muddle through and make it up as we go along. Works well enough for some things, but not everything

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.
Joseph Campbell

I think the person who takes a job in order to live - that is to say, for the money - has turned himself into a slave.
Joseph Campbell

Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.
Joseph Campbell

The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.
Joseph Campbell

"I live my life day by day, and that's how I continue to live it."

Naomi Campbell

"The worst was when my skirt fell down to my ankles, but I had on thick tights underneath."

Naomi Campbell

Edit: repeat.

I think the person who takes a job in order to live - that is to say, for the money - has turned himself into a slave.
Joseph Campbell

That's why you should always respect and admire those on benefits 😀

As I see it the possible outcomes of having a life plan are these.

1. You achieve your planned objectives, and you're disappointed by how it feels.
2. You fail to achieve your planned objectives, and you're disappointed by how it feels.
3. You achieve your planned objectives, and you're happy with how it feels.

So you've got a 1 in 3 chance of success! But who knows, even if you achieve number 3 and you think you're finally happy, you might have missed loads of other, better, different stuff whilst you're narrow-mindedly pursuing your plan, which was probably flawed in the first place.

I think that is a great description of why plans work so well for some people. It's possible to be clever and academic and find life easy as a set of clear targets/exams etc. Here's the criteria, here's exactly what you need to achieve. Tick, tick, tick. It's hard work, but there's little risk or uncertainty so, is it really hard work?
There is much to be gained from risking failure.

This is mitigated to some extent when you're doing your PhD and postdoc, as you're working under someone else's vision. Ask anyone here if there was risk and uncertainty in their PhD, though, or possibility of failure, and they'll think you're being funny.
Things really open up when / if you take the next step to do your own research. Here's a desk, there's your (empty) lab - now make something happen with it. Many an academic's 'life plan' has gone off the rails at this point.

As I see it the possible outcomes of having a life plan are these.

1. You achieve your planned objectives, and you're disappointed by how it feels.
2. You fail to achieve your planned objectives, and you're disappointed by how it feels.
3. You achieve your planned objectives, and you're happy with how it feels.

So you've got a 1 in 3 chance of success! But who knows, even if you achieve number 3 and you think you're finally happy, you might have missed loads of other, better, different stuff whilst you're narrow-mindedly pursuing your plan, which was probably flawed in the first place.