Here are a few starting thoughts on how to create a multi-horizon personal plan:
- Start by writing your obituary
- Based on that, decide on 2-3 key things you’d like to get down in the next 1-2-3 years
- Get out of the comfort zone. This is perhaps the most important mental decision that needs to be made. It is much easier to make today like yesterday, and tomorrow like today. Determining one has to change is sometimes harder than the process of change itself.
- Start allocating some time today for these activities. One of them could be to focus on health. That would mean a 30-minute spend daily on either walking, gym or yoga. The benefits of these will accrue in the future, but the work needs to start today.
- Try and meet with people outside the regular set that you would otherwise meet. Attend conferences or talks that are not directly related to the immediate future. Read books which are different. All of this is about changing the current context to something that spurs a different line of thinking.
- Do a review every few months to see how you are doing, and course correct as needed.
- Above all, think like an entrepreneur and as a CEO of a startup. Don’t worry about failure. Focus on the journey.
