Planning For The Future In Uncertain Times

The global health crisis has thrown us all into an emotionally turbulent time — one that will affect our lives for many months or even years to come. One of the ongoing effects of the pandemic is how limited we are in planning for the future!

Having things to look forward to and work towards is simply so important for our mental health and wellbeing. And this is something that isn’t entirely possible right now!

Today I want to talk about how we can still make plans and work towards our goals, while taking the current situation into account!

Planning For The Future

You might be someone who generally lives their life day to day, without placing too much emphasis on the future. On the other hand, you may be someone who always knows what they are striving for and what they want to achieve. Or perhaps you are somewhere in the middle — someone with a few plans in mind but a fairly relaxed approach about moving towards these things.

The pandemic has forced us all to readjust to a new way of life, and that will surely be the case for some time to come. For this reason, working towards the goals and dreams that we had can feel impossible.

Visualise Your Plans

If there is little you can do right now to embrace your plans and goals, then spend some time visualising how your life will be different when you are able to move forwards.

Allowing your mind to explore what the future looks like can help you to better understand what it is you truly want. It may seem as though daydreaming about your life is a little self-indulgent right now, but taking this time to yourself is a great form of self-care.

Utilising the power of visualisation is also an amazing way to keep your plans at the forefront of your mind. This enables you to feel as though you are still prioritising these intentions, even if you can’t take action on them right now.

Try To Let Go

If there are significant things that you wanted to work towards, that are currently on hold, then this can understandably be quite frustrating.

One of the most important things to remember right now, is that we are all living through the same experience. The enormity of this situation is such that it is being felt all around the world. When you imagine how other people are being affected in all kinds of different ways, it can be much easier to be patient with your own circumstances.

When I say “try to let go” — I do not mean simply forget about your plans, but that you can try to feel comfortable pressing the pause button.

Use this time-out to assess the other aspects of your life that you may not have been giving much attention to. This can be a great eye-opening exercise, and allow you to redirect all of your energy into another positive pursuit.

Be Open To Change

Nobody knows how long life might continue in this way, and for that reason it’s hard to know how long your plans are on hold!

You may find that as the weeks go on, your thoughts about the future change and develop. The way that you feel about certain situations may evolve as the world continues to adapt to a new normal.

If you have very set ideas about what you want to achieve and the changes you want to make to your life, then you might not welcome the flux in your feelings about these plans. However, there could be so many wonderful new things to enjoy by being open to this change.

Be Realistic

If you know that your goals are unrealistic, but you enjoy daydreaming about them anyway, then this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s okay to let your mind run wild, as long as you are aware of the difference between realistic goals and unrealistic dreams.

If you are truly working towards something, then arguably no goal has to be labelled as unrealistic. However, if you spend a lot of time dwelling on something that you know is unachievable, then this can become harmful as time goes on.

Set Long Term Goals

Setting new long term goals for yourself is a great way to feel productive at the moment. Long term goals of course take an extended amount of time to accomplish. They require planning and effort — as well as a lot of time and energy.

Creating a list of long term goals for yourself will help you to look to the future in a non-immediate way. This allows you to create a sense of still moving forwards, even if you can’t take any significant steps towards these goals at the moment.

Be Grateful For The Present

Negative emotions can easily begin to seep in when you feel like things aren’t going well for you. Although this is understandable right now — and completely natural — there is much to be gained from tackling these emotions.

Expressing gratitude for all of the good things in your life can truly help to refocus your mind. This is such a fantastic thing to do every day — not just during these difficult times, but even on days when everything is going great!

Click here for my top advice on How To Stay Grateful!

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Having additional support as you invite positive change into your life — such as making plans for the future — is a great way to stay on track.

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