Plans are the blueprints to our lives

I'm a huge lists girl - I have "to do" lists, shopping lists, wish lists... the list goes on (sorry, that was bad I know). During a fashion college class last night we went through the steps to build a successful business plan. They say, the best business plans are those that provide a framework for where you want to be now, where you want to be in five years time, and then in ten years time. That way, as the business matures, you can refer back to your original plan to gauge how the business is running (hopefully it's doing better than you ever expected)!

As a naive teenager, I laid out a plan for myself that included the exact age I wanted to be in my dream job, earning a particular salary, married, having kids and the rest. But as I've grown I've realised that the whole point of plans is to give us direction, but they are most certainly going to change. I haven't quite reached my dream job yet, and I only just reached the salary I expected to have for myself when I was 21... and who knows about kids! But that's ok, because the updated plan looks way better than I could have imagined when I was 16.

Plans give us purpose in life. They provide us with something to work for - whether it's planning a holiday or saving for a house deposit. And I can't live without them! Anyone who knows me well will know how utterly obsessed I am with my diary, and with planning and recording events in my life. I'm not sure I could ever be one of those free spirits, wandering the globe, not knowing where my next meal was coming from. I like structure and purpose, and the sense of achievment I get when I cross something off one of my lists.

I read a story once about "cosmic shopping lists" that said we should think of what we want and "put it out" to the universe (kind of like when you make a wish before blowing the candles on a birthday cake out). It recommended writing a list of things you'd like to happen in the future, in present tense, to help your dreams come true. So my cosmic shopping list / business plan would read something along the lines of:

*Ben and I have bought an amazing house near the beach on the Gold Coast and love living there
*I have paid off all my debts and have saved enough to go on my dream overseas holiday
*I have started and run my own successful fashion/lifestyle magazine
*I have an amazing group of friends, a healthy family, and am very happy with my life

Fingers crossed!

What's your cosmic shopping list? Try writing one and stick in a photo album, or somewhere else safe, so you can come back to it in five years time. Hopefully your wishes will have come true! : )

Notes on Glossy Paper