Why not have a 10-year strategic plan this decade!

By Dickson Tumuramye

Most of the time we only focus on setting goals for one or five years as a family. Most organizations and individuals are used to a 5-year strategic plan. But at the end of the year 2019, my mind started realizing that I was beginning a new decade and I will not be young anymore. We asked our children to come up with a 10-year plan, it sounded strange how we could ask of 10 years’ plan from them. But when one in P.2 did it and learned that he will be at the university by 2031, he got so inspired.

I know you could have already set your goals for this year or the next 5 years. But do you realize that you could still set goals for 10 years from now with your children? You know it is good enough to dream big than to dream small or not at all. Do you realize that if your child is in his/her 20’s, by 2029, a lot will have changed in their lives? For example, they will have graduated, will be working, married with children, will have possibly done second or more degrees/PhD or postgraduate diplomas. Others will be having businesses, their own houses, and many other good things. How will these come to pass well when one doesn’t have a clear direction of his/her life? The problem I see in young people in the 20s and 30s, they think planning for the future is a pointless task and they don’t think much about it.

Most of us also just “fall” into things without a clear picture of where we would like to be in a given period of time. I would like to, therefore, advise you to sit down and reflect on where you might be at the end of these 10 years. Make a strategic plan for 10 years and break it down to 5 years. From that, come up with activities you will be working on annually down to monthly. Be intentional in making sure you/children implement what you/they plan. It is one thing to come up with a very good strategic plan, but it’s another to transfer what is on a paper into a reality.

The majority fail to implement what they plan, seemingly acting like those who say “it’s easier said than done.” Now strategize to “plan in a decade, think in years, work in months and live in days.” Don’t live as someone expecting miracles, put your life in order and trust God to fulfill your planned steps for a decade. You know He has good plans to prosper you and not to harm you. He knows well what you want.

Luke 14:28 challenges us that “For which of you, intending to build a house, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?” It is important for your family to make a plan and consider how you are going to raise all the needed resources. Prepare well for your today and tomorrow so that you don’t just live as someone who never knows where you are heading.

Ask them when he/she hopes to have his/her own plot of land, a house, a car, business and what kind of business? When are they going for further studies? Have they thought about a number of networks they intend to build? What do they envision before they turn 30, 40, 50 years and above this decade? Without all this in mind, one may live like any other person who thinks the world is like a garden of roses. If you are a parent reaching your 50s and 60s, do you have a retirement plan? Have you saved and invested enough to cater to your family needs in case you never had a formal job or business?

You may need to set your priorities and life goals this decade. Live a life of purpose. Ask children to make a list of the things they wish to do individually and how they intend to achieve them. If they fail to do some things along the way, that is normal.  It is better to fail when you know what has failed and where and what you can do than where you have no idea of why. Help them to know that a lot will be achieved this decade with one who has a good plan for it!

The writer is a child advocate and a parenting coach

tumudickson@gmail.com