I’m not sure where the fascination came about concerning five year plans. The Soviet Union was immersed with them and would perpetually announce five-year economic and agricultural plans going all the way back to 1946. The People’s Republic of China also partook in them. Years ago, in what I refer to as my former life, I was an avid participant in five year planning. My wife and I would talk constantly about our 5-year plans. We had friends who were consumed by their own 5-year plans as well. We would all gather around in our family rooms and cite them to the group. We alluded as to where we would be living then, what we would be doing with our lives, and boasting about how wonderful life would be then for us. It all sounded great, and just like the best-laid plans of Russia and China, those plans rarely if ever came to fruition.
Looking back it was as if we were always enthralled with some future life rather than our current one. In hindsight, it was also a complete waste of time. Mike Tyson used to say, “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.” Maybe there was a time when five-year plans worked, a time when life moved slowly and stability was the norm. All of that is history now. Five-year plans sound good until:
- An IT bubble bursts and there are suddenly no jobs in your field
- A housing bust extinguishes all of that so called equity in your home that you thought was real
- A disruptor comes along and takes out the industry that employs you
- An unforeseen opportunity falls in your lap that changes everything
- You or a loved on fall ill and your priorities in life completely change
- Robots displace millions of jobs across the world including yours
Last year I was blessed with the opportunity to go skiing in Deer Valley, Utah. As was the norm during that time, I stayed at an Airbnb, thus temporarily moving my Airbnb residence from Georgia to Utah for four days. When you live at Airbnb, home can be anywhere. Whomever you send the rent to is your landlord that week.
I am by no means an avid skier and had not been on a pair of skis in eight years. After a couple of quick runs on the bunny slop I became acclimated to the ability to steer myself by adjusting my weight and pushing on the outside skis. I soon took the series of chairlifts to get to the top of the top peaks of the resort. Like my new approach to life, I made my way to the summit without a map or strategy concerning how to return. My plan was simply to navigate my way back down to the base of the mountain, hoping that I would be able to traverse my way down slopes that were challenging but not beyond my abilities. I did not fly across the country to be comfortable. I came here for adventure, not knowing if I would ever have the opportunity to ski again. Life is short. Never travel to some place assuming you will ever get back there. As I parted from the final chairlift, I looked for the first sign I could find advertising a blue intermediate slope and pointed my skis in the direction of uncertainty.
For two days, I followed this principle. Most times, it worked perfectly. On one occasion, I found myself at the backside of the mountain and had to take another lift to get my back on track. Through the serendipity of it all, I ended up skiing the loveliest part of the resort, stopping every thousand feet to take what would be some of the most gorgeous pictures of my trip. On my final run, I ended up on the edge of a dreaded advanced black slope. With my pulse beating, I criss crossed my way down what seemed like a cliff, wiping out in NASCAR fashion twice. But I made it, and by pushing myself, I amplified my confidence level and earned some bragging rights as a result. Despite having no plan to speak of, I made safely down the slopes each day.
Five years ago I had no idea I would be a successful technical writer for clients in Ireland, Israel, Canada, Bulgaria, Singapore, England, Russia and every time zone of the U.S. I had no presentiment of traveling to Ireland for two weeks and seeing the beauty of the Cliffs of Moher. I had no hope of finally being financially free as I am now, nor did I think that my ability to terminate a constant strain of depression that would later consume me would ever transpire. In the last three years, I have accomplished more in my life than I ever have – because I have no five-year plan to constrain or limit me any longer.
The world is in perpetual fluctuation today. Anyone who says they know what the future is five years from now is lying or has no idea what they are talking about. The key to life today is to be as flexible as possible. I am not talking about being reckless. We need a sense of purpose and an outline of what we want life to be for us. Rather than mapping out a rigid course, we need to master the skills of mobility and agility that will allow us to adapt to the unforeseen events, opportunities and circumstances that will eradicate whatever plan it was we valued.
Just like skiing down a mountain, we are all going to arrive at the end of life. The experience of getting there is derived by the choices we make.
