They say programming starts on paper.
Almost all programmers have gone through this at least once:
- You jump to writing code without planning your logic on paper
- Writing code takes more than it should
- You repeat it all over multiple times because you seem stuck
Many programmers have experienced the frustration of writing code without planning their logic on paper, leading to wasted time and effort.
Same exact case with life.
Just like how writing code without logic is a waste of time, life without a high-level plan is a waste of potential. We see people constantly jumping between paths because they hadn't planned out one.
Without a high-level plan, every path can seem like an opportunity, every new move is shiny.
When coding, every minute you spend planning on paper can potentially save you 10 minutes of wasted work. Problem with most adults is they don't know what to do until they have already wasted enough time. Which means they already had it in them. In a way, we all know what to do. It's just that we have to be deliberate about it, we have to say it out loud, write it in paper or tell the world about it & repeat it! Without a clear endgame, every opportunity can seem tempting.
“It took 15 minutes to realize that those are the things I care about. What's crazy is that I didn’t do this exercise until I was 27. In 27 years, I never took 15 minutes to be more deliberate about my pursuit of... life itself”
– https://www.julian.com/blog/life-planning
From what I've seen, most people know what do they want to do when they're older. But oftentimes they forget it. They forget it through the daily, & the mundane. It's normal, because most days we only want to get things done, we want to get to the next item on the list, we get caught, we lose compass.
For me, I know what may endgame is.
I want to be a writer, or a music producer –or even better: a writer & a music producer. I know this is my endgame because I can imagine myself doing it full-time when I'm 50. But it doesn't stop here. This helps me figure out what's important & what's not from early on.
Planning is really just the answers to the questions. What paths do I have to embark on? What do I need to ditch now? What's no good? How shall all aspects of life look like just so I can fulfill on this vision of me doing writing & music production full-time? What needs to be in place by the time I'm forty or fifty or sixty? What do we have to run for? Am I optimizing the right cogs?
A good takeaway from this post: Write your values, aspirations on a paper note, visit it every once in a while. Plan should serve as a roadmap that guides your decisions and actions, and helps you stay on track even when you get distracted. Do you still want it?
As long as it's there, you at least got a compass. Questions above are a good direction but you can switch & iterate. Accurate answers lead to optimized paths of growth. Higher chances. Are we really heading the right direction? When was the last time we asked?