My 5 Year Plan

I had a pretty big reality check the other day. I was talking to a guy who was leaving New York to go back to florida. He had come to the city without any real plan, outside of trying to make it in standup comedy, and had only been able to land a job as a waiter. He was defeated and tired of being constantly broke, so he was packing his bags and heading back south.

I was shocked. How could someone move to a city like this (or move anywhere!) without a plan?  I said to him "Wow, we're pretty different. I have always had a 5 year plan, without it I would have so much anxiety."

His response - "Did your plan include you moving to New York?"

I immediately felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Such a simple, straightforward question but for me it carried so much weight. 

I sheepishly looked at the floor and shrugged "I guess not... Actually no, no it didn't."

For the past week that question has been in the back of my mind. Making me question of all the planning and goal setting and future-oriented decision making is even worth it if it can all change  in an instant like it did with me.

I do still think it's important (to me at least) to have a 5 (or 1, 2, 10, etc) year plan. But it's just as important to let that plan change. BE FLEXIBLE! There are so many things in life, good and bad, that we can't plan for. Career change, moving locations, getting sick, changing industries, getting laid off, starting a family, etc. These chanes are scary and a lot of times they force us to completely change our 5 year plan. But I'm learning that's not such a bad thing.