For the uninitiated, what is “Agile”?
If you are fully familiar with agile sports, you know that this is a capability to quickly deliver software products incrementally. The internal team that builds the product during the build process is highly collaborative with the customer, achieving it through iterative development and incremental delivery. Therefore, according to the principle of benefiting customers, each increment of its delivery must be beneficial to the customer. The principle of iterative is also to achieve the ultimate goal by continuously completing the iteration goals and finally incrementally superimposing. Therefore, the possibility and success of building a customer’s needs will be higher.
Here I’m not gonna talk about “Agile Development”, I am talking about agile life, because I found some of the agile principles apply to life as well, which can be adapted as and used as a “Target Management Pattern” to make your life fruitful.
Let’s see first what are these principles.
Iterative development and incremental delivery.
Don’t you think it’s hard to build long term goal, and very possibly that long term target only is no target. In many occasions, we set a long-term target because we just a need a target there, and there is no guarantee that the target will come true someday. And because it’s long term thing, if we don’t have effective control on that, human inertia alone will fail most of them when they don’t even get a change to start with. We have no question of these targets, but there are too much uncertainty before we see that target comes true. Sometimes you will find that a goal three years ago is still only a goal after three years. Think for a while that how many personal targets not met since your childhood. And if you were presented with a straight-talking status comparison chart that highlights short-term targets and long-term targets, you will find that the setting of long-term goals is often related to your life values. But it is difficult to set specific implementation time, it’s just a rough plan.
The long-term goal is the beacon of life, it is to guide the direction of life and it will affect the setting of short-term goals. With it, you can reach your destination faster. You will always move toward your goal. When making some key decisions, you will be more determined. Your anti-frustration ability will be stronger when you are in the storm. Because you know that the goal is ahead! Because you know that the most powerful people in life are often those who dare to fight again and again after defeat!
Short-term goals are primarily specific actions to achieve long-term goals. Short-term goals are more focused on actual actions. Long-term goals without short-term goals are often just daydreams. Short-term goals can drive you, boost your morale and confidence by completing short-term goals. It clearly told you what achievements have been made on the road of life!
So the relationship between real long-term and short-term goals should be complementary to each other as what project goal is to iteration goal in agile development!
Amazing, isn’t it! Life target management is like project management, it’s good that you have a plan, but split the plan into multiple iteration stage with clear, visible goals, develop that step by step, deliver achievement iteration by iteration till the big target comes true. The chances of success will be greater and the cost will be smaller. Most important of all, you will never lose you target.
Plan is good, but focus more on planning!
This is the other principle of “Agile” development.
I borrow it for life planning as well. A plan for life is invaluable, but no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, so keep flexible and change course as needed, make your plan adaptive enough to changes.
There are too much uncertainties in life, it’s important to have a road map to follow. But what if your initial plan is wrong or just not match reality any longer. It’s not enough to go fast if you are heading in the wrong direction. Please learn how to keep planning if you hope to successfully manage your life target. Switch quickly and ensure you are always heading to the right direction. Do not farther and farther down the wrong path.
In the process of project management, I have continuously discovered that some management principles have the same meaning and application for life. I think this may be why Lao Zi said: “The great Tao is formless, it gives birth to heaven and earth. ” Practice tells us that although we have not realized the value of truth in advance, we have been applying it continuously.
