Example of a Ten Year Plan for a Remarkable Life

I recently listened to an episode of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast where the guest was Debbie Millman, a designer, author and podcast host. I loved it! I believe it is an interview worth listening to. Towards the end of the interview Debbie Millman talks about an exercise called: The Ten Year Plan for a Remarkable Life that Milton Glaser gave to a class that Debbie was taking. According to Debbie, it was an exercise where they had to envision the life that they could have if they pursued everything that they wanted with the certainty that whatever it is that they wanted, they would succeed.

Debbie now gives the same exercise to her own students, which I’m going to share below, using Debbie’s own words describing the exercise. After her explanation, I’m going to share my own Ten Year Plan for a Remarkable Life as an example.

In Debbie Millman’s own words, as taken from The Tim Ferris Show Podcast: 

I wrote an essay in July of 2005. It was supposed to be a five-year plan. He (Milton Glaser) asked us to dream big, and not to edit and said that it had a bit of a magical quality that he experienced with his students over and over, so to be careful what we wished for. I created this essay with these long ranging, far-fetched goals that I can tell you now, 12 years later, have almost all come true. It is spooky, spooky. And so, that’s an exercise I do now with my students.

So, the exercise that I do now with my students, because they are quite a bit younger than I was when I was doing this five year plan, I ask them to do a ten year plan. And it’s this ten year plan for what I call a remarkable life. It’s about imagining what your life could be if you could do anything you wanted without any fear of failure. And they are the most life affirming essays. They are so full of hope and optimism and well-being and goodness, that it gives me a sense that humanity can be saved.

So, let’s say it is winter, 2027. (The interview was done in 2017.) What does your life look like? What are you doing? Where are you living? Who are you living with? Do you have pets? What kind of house are you in? Is it an apartment? Are you in the city? Are you in the country? What does your furniture look like? What is your bed like? What are your sheets like? What kind of clothes do you wear? What kind of hair do you have? Tell me about your pets. Tell me about your significant other.

Do you have children? Do you have a car? Do you have a boat? Talk about your career. What do you want? What are you reading? What are you making? What excites you? What is your health like? And write this day, this one day ten years from now. So, one day in the winter of 2027; what does your whole day look like? Start from the minute you wake up, all the way through until when you tuck yourself in at night. What is that day like for you?

Dream big. Dream without any fear. Write it all down. You don’t have to share it with anyone other than yourself. Put your whole heart into it and write like there’s no tomorrow. Write like your life depends on it because it does. And then, read it once a year and see what happens. It’s magic. It’s magic, Tim. It is astounding, and I do this now with all of my students. And I can’t begin to tell you how many letters I get from students from ten years ago, that are like, “Debbie, it all came true! How did this happen?”

Back to me

I enjoy writing and dreaming about the future so don’t be surprised if my 10 year plan is on the long side. Make yours whatever length you decide on. I just love the idea of waking up one day in 2032 and my life is as close to the life I’m going to describe here as possible. Maybe even better.

It’s 2032, what does my life look like?

What am I doing?

I do what I love and I enjoy what I do. I write non-fiction books that are a combination of life experiences, learning, growth and anything else I believe my sharing of it would benefit others, the way that many books have done for me. No matter how long I’ve been doing so, I still love writing.

I also host a dream pursuit podcast where I interview people who had a dream that they pursued and are now living in that dream. Through the podcast I get to enjoy wonderful and interesting conversations with people who have proved that anything is possible and that you can achieve great things if you don’t give up on your dreams.

I’m invited in an advisory capacity in different cases. I pick and choose which ones I take part in. Here I work with companies, organisations, countries and any other groups that require my services. I still sometimes speak at different events. This is not my primary work anymore. I’ve lessened the number of events I speak at per year, no more than 12. I also dance professionally a few times per year with my dance partner. The rest of the time I dance only for fun because I enjoy dancing.

My husband and I started what we termed Dream Centres. They are youth centres where young people go to spend time after school to learn, grow and dream. We decided to start these to help transform people’s lives. It was through my personal development and dream pursuit journey that the trajectory of my life changed and I intend to give the same opportunity to young people. Although they’ve been running for only a few years, we already have dream centres in 10 different countries in many cities. We have an amazing team who run the dream centres. They are funded by our family foundation and other different supporters.

Apart from the dream centres our foundation also supports different causes that are close to our hearts such as bringing children into families, organisations that care for sexual abuse victims, trauma healing focused organisations, prison reform, among others.

Living arrangement

I live with my husband, H and our 3 children, Nomzamo, Timothy and David. We live in Malibu, California, in a beautiful oceanfront home. Our house looks like a hotel but feels like home. It is beautifully furnished and there’s creative artwork around. It’s only my husband, our children and myself that live in our home. We have staff that come in during the day. I work from home so I’ve designed my office beautifully with things I love. H does what constitutes his work outside of home. Our children are privately tutored from home.

My relationship with my significant other

My husband is the man of my dreams and I am the woman he prayed for. I had the pleasure of marrying for love. We love each other and we respect each other. We support each other. Our values and our vision for our lives are aligned. We took time to design our lives as a family and look into the future so that we both knew even before getting married if we could do life together and be life partners who could have a chance of making our marriage work. It helped that we had each individually worked on ourselves such that when we got together we were whole and not looking for someone to complete us.

We communicate well with each other and have learned how to fight clean and be able to express ourselves in a way that allows our relationship to flourish. We’ve both made mistakes in the past so we don’t judge each other. We know we are not perfect and treat each other with that understanding. We live our lives in a way that we’ve chosen, not what the world has decided. We have grown into best friends and know without a doubt that we each have the other’s back. We are each other’s number one cheerleader. We’ve intentionally made our home a safe space for each other, where we are each free to be our truest most authentic self without fear of being judged or misunderstood.

Children

Through our childhood, our life experiences and lessons from other people, God has groomed H and me into just the right parents for our kids. We love them unconditionally and we let them know it and treat them with that in mind. We know we won’t always get it right, which is why we seek God’s guidance in raising our children. We started praying for them daily, before they were in our lives. Where we don’t trust ourselves with them, we trust God. That’s why we are able to love them in a manner that suits each of them as individuals. We also let them know how special and beautiful they are. They are growing up in a home where love rules. I take time to play with my kids, games they enjoy. I love doing that. We also read together often. Other times we just hang out and talk. I have a close relationship with each of my children. We are also a close family and we treasure the time we spend together.

Friends

Apart from my husband and children, I have friends who love and value me and I love and value them. I’m surrounded by friends and family that I trust. I have people I consider my inner circle. People that I feel safe with and trust their intentions. I also have a team of people that I work with, whom I get along well with. I only work with people I like.

My wellness and my physical & mental health

I am in great mental and physical health. I have an inner life filled with serenity. I have continued with the mindfulness practices I use to seek and maintain serenity. Clenching my jaw is not my normal state anymore. Relaxation is now my normal. I don’t suppress my emotions anymore and I don’t check out or try to numb the pain. I express myself where necessary and express healthy anger so it doesn’t lead to it coming out in undesirable ways.

I’m healing day by day and feeling more and more myself with each passing day. I’m so in tune with myself that I know me and I get me and I listen to what I need and what my body needs. I have reconnected with my most authentic self and let her shine. I am free to be one hundred percent me without fear of what other people think of me. I love myself without conditions. I am deeply connected to my inner core. My intuition and gut instincts protect me because I am intimately aware of my true self. My relationship with God through the Holy Spirit guides this in me.

I surround myself with people who love me, who respect my boundaries and who are happy to see me be my authentic self. I know it’s better to be alone than to be around people who don’t have good intentions toward me. Although I know the benefits of friendships, I’m happy to have none if I can’t be myself with the people around me.

Health and fitness are now a priority in my life. At any given moment I love my body and I feel beautiful. Above all, I love myself as I am at all times. I treat myself with kindness, even more so when I think I don’t deserve it. I love that I take a walk 5 mornings a week and enjoy doing so. Three times a week I work out in our home gym. I drink lots of water and ensure that I get adequate sleep each night. I follow my morning routine daily. I eat healthy delicious foods. Our family meals are prepared by our chef. Sometimes we order in if we feel like eating certain meals.

Money

My husband and I are financially wealthy, individually and together. We are well on our way to building generational wealth. We know how we both grew up and where we come from and want a better life for our children and our children’s children and further generations to come. We intend to leave behind a family trust to take care of family needs for generations to come. Each family member to get a certain amount at a certain age, such as 21 or 25, to have enough to buy a home and cover living expenses for 5 or so years as they pursue their dreams. Varsity fees for all covered in full. This is to ensure that no child or descendant of ours ever has to worry about living expenses whilst pursuing their dreams or getting their lives in order. Each will be given enough but not too much. We agree with Warren Buffet when he says “Leave your kids enough money so they can do anything but not so much money that they can do nothing.”

Other

I’m chauffeur driven, allowing me to use driving time to do some work or read so it isn’t wasted. I get to travel in luxury whenever I travel and also live in luxurious hotels. I’ve had the opportunity to travel to most of the places I dreamed of visiting. I dress beautifully. I wear elegant, chic and exquisite clothes. I also value comfort in anything I wear so I feel great in my clothes. I wear designer gowns when I attend different events. As a result I’ve been positively featured in some fashion magazines. My hair is a beautiful natural afro that is well taken care of. My hair dresser knows what they’re doing. I also sometimes wear different Brazilian wigs that look stunning on me.

Overall

I am happy and I love my life because I’m living in my dreams, not what society decided for me but what I designed for myself. All 3 major areas of my life bring me joy and I allocate adequate time to each so none of them suffers. Firstly I make sure to make time for my wellness, ensure I have alone time daily and enjoy my space so I don’t get overwhelmed by things and people around me. Secondly I make meaningful time for my family, both my husband and my children. I also put aside time for my work/purpose/passions. All these matter to me. I’m serene and know things will work out the way they are supposed to because God’s got this. I’m happy that in just 10 years, everything I dreamed of has been manifested effortlessly, as I continue to do what I love.

Over to you

If you haven’t listened to it, I think it would be beneficial to you to check out the Debbie Millman interview on The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast. If you take the time to write your own 10 year plan for a remarkable life, how about we all check in 10 years from now and see what’s what? It’s a date.