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Invent Your Own Future
Steiner, George A.
19/1  (Fall 1976): 29-34

The article presents conceptual model of individual lifetime planning that can be made operational in the different ways. It should be observed, however, that there is no one-way to develop a life plan. Businesses discovered long ago that there is no one-way to do business planning. The process can start at any point in the accompanying illustration. One may start with objectives and then rework them by testing them against other steps noted in the chart. If all steps are not included, however, something vital in the process is lost. This process can also be applied to career planning. There is a way to approach questions with the probability that a person can indeed make decisions that will help to bring about a desired future. Of course, there is no certainty that this will happen, but structured planning promises the possibility that one can influence his or her own future. In long-range business planning a typical starting point is some fundamental optimizing and integrating objective, such as profit or return on investment. There are no comparable objectives for individuals, but business planning does suggest one possibility, that is, maximization of self-satisfactions over a lifetime.

 

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