How can you write a plan when you don’t know the future? Make no mistake about it: life isn’t always fair, and you can rest assured that things will probably not go your way at least once or twice. I simply call this, ‘life happens.’ Why does this happen? It may not be due to any mistake on your part. Sometimes you have to plan for the unpredictable element. You cannot predict the future, so attempting to determine the outcome of your every endeavor might leave you feeling disappointed. Instead, focus on what you wish to accomplish with the experience. You can certainly determine your own performance. Try and set goals that you have more direct control over. This way, even a financial or personal setback will not interfere with the achievement itself. There could be any number of obstacles that could prevent an outcome-oriented goal from being accomplished: Government law could inhibit your professional goals. Weather or climate could ruin an important event. A bad economy could prevent you from achieving high numbers for the year.
You must also beware that others should not influence you to set unrealistic goals based on outcome or performance. Your views on what success means could be influenced by the media, by employers or even by one’s own family. The problem is, when others try and set the standard for success, they do so in ignorance of your personal desires and ambitions. What makes one person successful does not necessarily make you happy. What one person sees as high performance in a short period of time, you may well consider exhausting or you don’t view it as high performance, based on your own circumstances, desires, and ambition.
