Littlemummy.com

I’m a list person, I like making lists.

I have a list for household jobs, a shopping list, a work ‘to do’ list, and a ‘life’ list.

My life list is a broad plan of some of the things I’d like to see, do and own (the own one is very small in comparison to the other two!). I began doing this after reading The 4 Hour Workweek which had an activity for life planning which encouraged you to think big and break down the costs of the things you’d like to see, do and have. The activity’s benefits were two-fold, it helps you to be more focused about where you’re going and what you’re aiming for and secondly it shows you that even the most exciting and fulfilling life doesn’t cost nearly as much as you might expect.

Once you’ve totted up how much your dream life would cost it makes you ultra focused on earning that amount in the shortest space of time. As a result of this focus I’ve gone down the passive income route, I’ve built my monthly income from ?0 to over ?2000 per month, by the end of the year it’s my target to exceed ?3000 per month every month. This is the amount it takes to achieve my list working part-time only, I currently ‘work’ for around fifteen hours a week.

Over time I’ve added more detail to my list including forecasts of how much I’ll need for each thing and when I’d like to achieve it. For things within the next two to three years I have broken down each goal into steps I need to take to make sure I achieve all the things on my list.

This may all sound a little lacking in spontanaeity, but even being spontaneous takes a certain amount of planning so it’s hardly spontaneous anyway. By doing it this way I always have things to look forward to and when money comes in I know just where it’s going rather than frittering it away. I feel without at least a rough plan I’m merely existing. When I sit down to work I know exactly why I’m doing it.

I know exactly how much I need to earn to make my dreams a reality so I do what is needed to earn that amount. Sometimes I do more because I’m thoroughly enjoying my work at the moment, but that’s my choice and some days I don’t do extra if I don’t feel like it. This may sound a bit lazy but there are no prizes for working yourself to death in this life. I never look at someone who works ten hours a week and makes ?500 and think he’s lazy, I think that’s smart! Especially when he spends the rest of his time with family and pursuing hobbies. As well as my fifteen or so hours of work I’m doing a full time degree and continuing to look after my daughter, the point I’m making is one – it’s not lazy to want to spend time doing things that involve not earning money, and two – you can have it all, but you need to sacrifice a bit and work hard before you get it.

I feel that by creating a plan and working towards it I’m living purposefully. I love how my plan has hard figures that I know if I can earn that amount then I get to do all the things I want, and when I say ‘I’ that actually means my family too as we create the wish list together.

Do you set goals or do any sort of life planning? Do you have a ‘before I die’ list or a five year plan?