So I tried to sprint plan my life
A friend once asked me, if I had any dreams, or any goals in particular.
I struggled to respond, I thought to myself, I had my year-plan to move to Paris, and now I live in Paris. It’s not yet dream realised. Right now I need a job, I struggle to pay rent, and watching my Australian savings on free fall. I’m counting my centimes and hoping the next CV I send, the next interview I go to tomorrow would lead to something. I was living by the day, having spent my lifetime the luxury of knowing what comes up in the next 3 months at least, it’s a scary experience.
Nonetheless, I felt bad that I was no longer in the mode to have a 3, 5 year plan when I don’t know what happens the next day. I felt like I wasn’t following the moda operandi of life.
Then while I was at PayPal, it was where I first learned about Agile methodology, the sprint planning, the retrospective, the sprints, the stories, you name it. With my colleagues we joked about sprint plan things in our lives such as weddings and having a child.
Then I thought, why not sprint plan our life? Because one thing we know for sure is that, whether it’s our work, our life, change is constant.
I set a sprint of 2 weeks, I set up a story for the big projects I need to do. I assign tasks from the story for a certain sprint. I try my best to complete all the tasks I’ve set for the sprint. At the end of a sprint, I review how I did (if there’s anything I can get done more effectively).
This way not only I’m still getting things done, I permit myself to keep seeking self improvement. I think my lifestyle of living by the day has provided me the basis to adapt agile planning in my life.
Personally, I’m not a believer in goal setting, I think setting goals would instead hinder our true potential in life, it does not nurture our adaptability. People change, lives change, therefore it’s only natural that our aspirations and goals change over time. And I’m glad to read about people who share my opinion — James Clear on Goals vs Systems, and some even argue that successful people don’t set goals.
My dream isn’t buying a house and have a family in five years, but to be a better self, making the most of the experience of my life, two weeks at a time.
