thinking in decades

Dear you,

For some reason as the year is gradually coming to an end, I have found myself thinking about my goals. Usually, I use my goal setting workbook to set goals, and almost everyone who has used it has told me great stories about how they achieved most of their goals. It is designed to make you build habits and processes towards a goal/lifestyle, not just for achievements.

This time, I have found myself being transported back to the moment when I was in Bath at Jane Austen Centre.

Blessing at Jane Austen Centre, Bath, England

I remember sitting there and listening to a guy summarise Jane Austen's 41 years of life in less than fifteen minutes, starting with her birth and ending in her death, everything else in between were highlights. I am sure she drank tea on some days, and had a favourite pastry or had days when she did nothing. But none of those made the cut, only her highlights: mostly around books she wrote and what those became. It got me thinking about longterm goals and how these often become the highlight of our lives, especially when they are impactful or have ripple effects or become the foundations of other people's dream.

It made me wonder, what do I want to be known for, for the next decade? What do I want to spend my time doing for the next 10 years? What do I see myself doing nonstop for the next 10 years. When I think of my life in decades, so much is clearer and the dots connect, and it makes it easier for me to know the one thing I want to focus on in 2024. When we look at life in minutes, it can seem fleeting, but when you look back in blocks of years or even ten years, so much makes sense, and you realise the value of time and how much can change in 10 years.

Where do you want to be in 10 years time? It's a good day to start planning for it.

A lot can change in a decade.

With Love,

Blessing Abeng