Craft your life-plan today, and you’ll wake up every morning with greater direction. It doesn’t need to be long or grand – it just needs to be honest.

In previous entries, I stressed my beliefs in the importance of dreaming big and thinking deeply about what you want in life, especially for us young people. Dream big, and then commit, is what I said.

I also promised that I’d share my own person goals in life as an example, and today I am making good on that promise. Seen below is my own personal Life Plan for myself, crafted at age 23. Think of it as what drives me to wake up every morning.

This is my own personal sharing to the world at large, partly to keep me accountable to my dreams, and partly in hopes that it could somehow help another person achieve theirs.

My name is Aldo, and I am working towards beautiful long-term goals in five aspects of my life: Spirituality, Family, Health, Career, and Wealth.

SPIRITUALITY

– I will make living with love, gratitude and contentment a centerpiece of my world-view. There will not be a day where I am not grateful of the clothes on my back, the food on the table, and the people that support me – While I know my life will never be perfect, it shall always be a beautiful treasure to me.
– I will live each day cherishing my life with quiet joy, such that if I were to be taken from this world suddenly and unexpectedly, my loved ones can know that I undoubtedly passed with a smile on my soul.
– I will stay strong in my faith in an eternal, incomprehensible state of God that can create new colors at an instant of will. I’ll always be cognizant that I am only a speck in the vast universe, but know that I can be significant in my own insignificance, especially in working towards the welfare of others.
– I will live with a high sense of integrity and value for communal good, such that if there were no heaven, I would choose to do good still.
– I will enjoy the journey of working towards good goals in a good manner. I will be process-oriented, and should things not go my way, I will find meaning and worth in fighting the good fight.
– I will derive my self-worth from myself alone, and nothing will stop me from believing I can constantly improve and be a better person everyday.

FAMILY

– I will take care of my parents and house help in their older years, and wholeheartedly give back to these people who gave me their lives for me to be what I am.
– I will remain close with my siblings, and regularly spend family time with them and our parents, and constantly be there to support them.
– I will be a loving, faithful, and supportive husband to my future wife. I will value the commitment and challenges in making a marriage work, and will continually love no one else in the world like I will love her.
– I will be a caring father and friend to my children, and I will teach them by committed example. I will nurture in my kids positive values and principles, but never forget that I must live them out myself. I will support my kids in finding who they themselves want to be, and plant seeds of self-worth so they can shine beautifully by virtue of themselves alone.
– I will be constantly vigilant and protect my family from harm and danger, and will be two steps ahead in crafting contingency plans for when crisis hits.
– I will contribute to fostering a close family environment focused on learning, values, self-worth, and love.

HEALTH

– I will live my old age with vigor and energy, and constantly move my body everyday. By age 65, I will be able to go to the park and continue doing pull-ups, dips, pistol squats, and glute-ham raises.
– I will be able to carry two grandchildren on my shoulders – and squat them repeatedly.
– I will keep my mind sharp and constantly working, and I will be able  to give talks, seminars and write books past the age of 65.
– I will successfully fight of lifestyle diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

CAREER

– I will be a prominent architect within the ASEAN region, known for crafting beautiful and apt spaces that nurture users into higher dignity and self-worth. I will be recognized as a designer whose focus is to make people genuinely happy, and my clients will get me because of this.
– By age 40, I will become a best-selling author that will sell one-million copies world-wide, and help other people find greater learning and meaning in life.
– I will be an esteemed educator, who constantly contributes to increase the quality and integrity of the younger generation – in pursuit of enhancing the standard of life for the better.
– I will be a philanthropist with a heart. I’ll will use my services in pro-bono work to bring relief to those in need – especially the disaster and poverty stricken.
– I will be continue to be active in movements forwarding education, integrity, and the abrogation of atrocities like human trafficking.

WEALTH

– Through constant saving and reinvestment, I will be a millionaire by age 30. I will continue setting up the foundations for wealth accumulation in my 20s and watch my nest egg grow over the decades.
– I will live in abundance and financial independence, but not in extravagance. I will commit to living within my means.
– I will continue habits of delayed gratification, honest work, paying myself first, saving, and investing patiently for the long term.
– I will skimp on unnecessary wants, but I will never skimp on investing in myself and family experiences.

Some people would argue that my goals may not be specific enough. That’s a valid observation – in my young age, I’m still in the process of ironing out some specifics, and I do expect my Life-Plan to grow and develop over the years. It’s only natural, I think.

However, The biggest take home here is that I’ve established early on what I want the spirit of my future to be – and I constantly remind myself of it by reading my Life Plan every day.

It isn’t perfect or completely specific yet, but it has constantly given me direction towards what to work for every day, and my life has greater meaning because of it. In a couple of decades, you can expect to see my nest eggs grow and prosper – because I have no plans of deviating from my path, come what may.

With all this said, I hope this entry somehow helps someone out there start the internal discourse on finding meaning in life – leading them to much happiness and fulfillment in the future.

Stay invested, and let’s reach for our dreams.

Aldo

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