So, What’s Your Plan?

Have you ever been asked that question? Maybe in your first job interview, or during a casual chat with a friend, or even while filling out an online survey. It sounds simple enough, right? But for me, that question has become something deeper, something I have wrestled with, especially after turning 30 this year.

The first time I heard it was during an interview. I was fresh out of school, nervous, and honestly, all I wanted was to land the job. I gave a generic answer, something safe. My real thoughts? "I'll figure it out as I go. Itajipanga." (It will work itself out.)

But then, the question resurfaced years later, in a different and more confronting way.

In 2022, someone I deeply admire and look up to professionally, spiritually and personally, asked me to submit my 5-year plan. You should have seen the look on my face. Shock. Panic. Confusion. I froze.

Where do I even begin? How do I write a 5-year plan when I’ve spent most of my life going with the flow?

Until that moment, I had been living life day by day;Reacting instead of planning. I would face each challenge or opportunity as it came. But that simple, confronting question forced me into a state of self-audit.

I had turned 30.

A milestone that, for many, brings celebration. For me, it brought introspection. I found myself revisiting that resounding question and reviewing the key pillars of my life, career, relationships, finances, spiritual growth, dreams long shelved. And then that famous quote echoed in my mind:

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

That hit me hard. I started asking myself some difficult, but necessary questions:

• What dreams have I postponed simply because I never created a plan?

• How many opportunities have passed me by while I was “figuring it out”?

• What could I have achieved if I was just a little more intentional?

• Am I truly living, or merely existing?

The truth is, “Dunia haitasimama nijipange.” (life doesn’t pause to let us get our act together.)

The world keeps spinning. Deadlines don’t wait. Doors open and close. Seasons come and go. If I want to live a life of meaning, impact, and growth, I must show up with purpose. That means, owning the responsibility of my journey.

I am the one accountable for where my life goes from here. It is no longer enough to drift through life hoping things will “just work out.” If I don’t define what I want, life will choose for me, and it may not be what I desire.

So now, I pose the question to you:

• What’s your plan?

• Are you designing your life, or just reacting to it?

• What do you want the next five years to look like?

• Are you moving in that direction today?

• What would happen if you paused, reflected, and mapped out a vision for your future?

Truth be told, I am still figuring it out 😏

I may not have all the answers, but I have learnt that the power lies in the asking, in the awareness, and in the intentional steps forward. SO;

Here’s to taking the bold step!

Here's to creating a life on purpose, not by accident.

Here’s to planning with faith, with clarity, and with courage.👊