What We Can Learn From China – Why Planning Is Critical For Success
Months ago, I read a fascinating article published by a newspaper here in Israel. It was an interview with a woman who was the head of a huge technology company here. She mentioned in the interview that while Israeli’s are excellent at innovation and quick thinking, we have some work to do in the planning department.
[There's an old Chinese proverb, "Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still." The turtle might be slow, but he's looking up towards the end game and is confident he's going to meet his goals.]
To prove her point, she contrasted Israel, which is well known for innovation but not planning, with China, where they have a plan for everything. She explained that China has plans to lead in industries fifty years from now that it currently hasn’t even started competing in yet. She concludes with saying that because of China’s long term plans, China is now on the verge of being a major competitor in industries that it was not even present in a half century ago. This was so incredible to me, that I immediately began thinking about the importance of long term goals and planning long term.
What I Mean By Long Term Goals and Long Term Planning
When I talk about having long term goals, I’m talking about visualizing where you want to be a long time from now. For instance, you might visualize that two years from today, you’re going to be into amazing shape. When I talk about planning, I’m talking about having an idea of how you’re going to reach your goals. For example, let’s say you want to plan for your goal of getting into amazing shape. You would then say that in order for you to reach that goal, you would need to train three times a week.
Why Planning Ahead and Having Goals Are Critical For Success
You might wonder why having a long term plan is so important. After all, half of the time plans fall through, and even when they don’t, they almost never go according to plan. The answer is simple. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, but if you don’t have a plan, things don’t go at all. If you don’t have an idea of where your heading long term, you’ll eventually lose focus in the short term, and completely lose your motivation to continue.
Once you have an idea of where you want to be in the long term, you can much more easily focus on what has to be accomplished in the short term. Now you’re not just mindlessly splattering paint on a canvas, but you’re on your way to creating a masterpiece.
Share Your Personal Fitness Goals
As always, I want to hear from you. Leave a comment and tell me what your short term and long term fitness goals are. Personally, my goals right now are strictly healing related, and I’m 100% focused on completely healing my knees before I start getting back into my workout routine. What about you?
July 9th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I like articles like this that highlight the connection between spiritual wellbeing and physical wellbeing. I don’t think that true fitness can be achieved unless one FEELS fit, if that makes sense. Do you think it’s better for long-term plans to be general or specific?
July 9th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Porky,
Whether long term plans should be general or specific really depends on the individual person. Personally, I find that it depends on how far ahead I’m planning. If it’s only 6 months or a year, I find that it’s easier to be more specific. But if I’m planning ahead any longer than that, then they become much more general. Hope that helps!
-Rafi Bar-Lev
July 9th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
That makes sense. I find that specific goals work for me on a monthly basis, and any period of time longer than that is just a vague picture. Sometimes those pictures materialize and sometimes they don’t.
And regards to your comment on my post, I agree that she looks almost ill in the second picture. I was hoping to illustrate the point that healthiness is always preferred over thinness. Hopefully other readers will come to the same conclusion.