HOW TO PLAN AND IMPROVE YOUR LIFE - PART 1
At the age of 22, I accepted a job that I was very excited about. Was it part of my plan for my life? No. Did I have a plan for my life? Yes, but it was tucked away somewhere and I hadn’t looked at it for a long time. During the first month on the job I was so happy. I thought I had landed my dream job and was looking forward to helping the organization do great things. I planned some of the things I wanted us to do, looked at things we could do different, and was open to learning new things about the job. I was looking forward to playing an active role in that organization and helping to make a difference in people’s lives. However, what I thought was going to be my dream job did not turn out to be what I had expected. After the first month on the job, things changed. I volunteered to do things that needed to be done, but was told we don’t need to do those things. I offered to help with projects, but was told that they didn’t need my help at the moment. “Why did they hire me?” I asked myself. I learned as much as I could about the job and got to the point where I didn’t know what else to teach myself. I kept offering to help, but my boss kept telling me to just keep learning because he wasn’t ready for my help as yet. I felt discouraged because this was happening too often and for too long. I prayed and asked God please, if this is not the job for me, send me another one. I was under-utilized and felt guilty going to work and having little to do. I taught myself some computer programs in the slow periods, but I was frustrated because I wanted to do so much in that job and I couldn’t. I continued to pray and after a few months I applied for a job in another organization and got it. However, it was difficult for me to leave the job I had. I was still hoping things would change. Eventually, I realized that things were not going to change because that was the culture of the organization. With a heavy heart, I resigned from what I thought was going to be my dream job and moved on to my next job. What I thought was going to be my dream job turned out to be a detour. Had I remembered the plan I had for my life, which included some of my values, I may not have taken that job. I also made some other detours when I failed to use my plan. Some detours can be costly and delay your progress in life. Using the lessons I learned, I developed a strategic plan for my life which I use regularly.