When there is a struggle or conflict in my life or with a friend or family member, I often say, “Don’t think too far ahead,” along with “One day at a time.”
My thoughts behind offering this suggestion to myself and others is that if you focus on today and do not worry about tomorrow, you will experience less stress overall.
You should not look ahead to what might happen; you should only consider what you can do and what is happening right now.
Be present and live in the moment. Things WILL work out. When tomorrow comes, you might not even think or care about your problems of today.
Matthew 6:34 says,
“Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I’ve realized that thinking ONLY about today doesn’t allow room for future planning. Thinking “one day at a time” forces you to focus on what’s happening right now and be spontaneous, dealing with immediate challenges and quick solutions—to constantly be in reaction mode.
While it’s good to live in the present and make the most of each day, living a fulfilled life also requires having long-term goals and a sense of direction for the future.
Planning for the future gives us something to work towards.
Future planning is all about achieving the big goals, something beyond the simple chores of only today.
Examples of goals that require future planning and continuous daily effort include:
- losing weight
- building muscle/increasing flexibility
- learning a new skill
- changing anything significant like a career or moving to a new house or town
- reading books
- building a network
- enhancing time management
- improving relationships
- planning a vacation
- writing a book
Any big goal requires long-term planning, which requires dedication, persistence, research, and daily effort to see meaningful progress and achieve the desired outcome.
Let’s take, for example, someone who lives spontaneously but also wants to write a book.
While this type of writer comes with their own set of unique challenges in completing any kind of project, there are also benefits:
- Ideas and inspirations can come from daily experiences, leading to unexpected twists and fresh story perspectives.
- Likely to be flexible and open to changes, willing to pivot the story based on new ideas or feedback. This adaptability can keep the project dynamic and responsive.
By living one day at a time and avoiding advanced planning, you can become reactive to unexpected events and not be consistent with your long-term goals.
Your daily mood and experiences can heavily influence your day’s accomplishments and create a lack of coherence.
Some days, you may feel highly productive; others, you may struggle to complete anything.
If you plan to complete a specific number of words, pages, or any other daily goals, you must create a consistent plan that moves you forward each day.
It isn’t likely to happen if you are only hoping for a good day to accomplish what you have set out to do.
You get to decide where your time goes.
You can either spend it moving forward,
or you can spend it putting out fires,
you decide.”
– Tony Morgan
As much as I enjoy being spontaneous and encountering life’s unplanned joys, experience has taught me that melding future planning and living one day at a time is essential to a balanced life and accomplishing anything worthwhile.
If you are finding a project difficult to start or complete, I hope this post inspires you to be intentional in the upcoming weeks and plan what you will do each day to accomplish it!
No rule says you can plan for a few days of spontaneity and flux.
“Be stubborn about your goals
and flexible about
your method.”
-Feaster Charter
With that, I’m off to complete my other tasks for today. I wish you a productive week ahead.
Thanks for reading!
Keep smiling!
xx
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