A goal without a Plan is just a wish. Having a vision is needed first to define the Plan. In order to have a goal, one that can actually happen, one must have a vision first. Bloody Mary in the play South Pacific sings “”If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?” Visions and dreams begin with thoughts…….let your thoughts flow……nurture them. Think of your future as something other than dates and numbers. Many people today are not looking at retirement in the conventional sense. How will you be spending your time? There can be psychological and emotional issues involved in making the decision to retire and the process of reorganizing your life after exiting from the workforce. Many face the common challenge of feeling of loss of connection, importance, relevance and purpose. When engaged with financial planning I ask pre-retirees to envision themselves in their late 60s, 70s and 80s. Draw your future YOU. What do you want to look like? For some people, doing this exercise can be harder than saving for their retirement. There is no end of interesting things to do during retirement; if you are interested in things. Clear visions of the future greatly enhance the ability to make those visions realities. While the planning and details are important, without a definite mental picture the attainment of dreams and goals become less likely. Like with one’s faith, when the end result is so clearly embedded in one’s heart, the means to get there usually presents itself. A goal without a Plan is just a wish. A Plan without a vision is typically a road map to Nowhere.
