If you're like me and like to plan ahead or overthink, then it's time to let yourself know that that is perfectly OK to be that way. In a modern world where people live in the moment and not for the future necessarily, it seems to be rare that many of us even plan our short-term and long-term goals. But based on my experience, it may be the right thing to do.
Whether you attend college, trading school, or choose not to attend college at all, we all set out to make something of ourselves. Whether big or small, for the wrong or right reasons, many of us have a vision of who we want to be as we grow older. Some of us make plans for tomorrow, but many like myself enjoy making plans for 20 years from now, or in some categories even for my future retirement. It's always been something that people have told me to give up on... I have been told many times that to overthink, and over-plan is setting myself up for failure. But I refuse to believe that.
See the purpose of setting a goal or plan is not to necessarily accomplish everything on it, exactly how you want to but to set a bar or standard for yourself so that even if your goal doesn't turn out as you hoped it would, you will still in-turn end up with the next best thing.
Another thing to remember as an over-planner is that even though people say you can't have it all, remember it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. Just take your time, and eventually, you will accomplish all that you set out to do. Personally, my career or choice is medicine. A field that many claims can outweigh having a family. However, I continue to aspire to both a family and my career by using those before me as an example.
Someone that I personally look up to is M.D. Laura Lacquer, a self-proclaimed public figure who is not only an Afro-Latina like myself but a Harvard Medical School graduate, who has accomplished both her goal of getting married and having a family and her career as a physician. Not only did she defy all odds based on the background and poverty she came from. But despite what people said she has always been open with her overthinking and overplanning. The method I view most prideful of her accomplishments.
So Like Laura and myself, always remember to never be too ashamed of over-planning and overthinking. It is perfectly OK to do so, not everyone is meant to live life day by day. For some of us, planning helps to maintain our sanity in a constantly changing and challenging society that throws sticks and stones on occasion. It is up to you to take control of your future and accomplishments and set goals for yourself, unapologetically and shamelessly.
