Long-Term programming vs Laying brick after brick

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Nowadays, many people struggle to live what is called an “intentional life”.
We are overwhelmed by information, choices (some might call it “free will on steroids”), career options, and so on. Thus, the new generation grows up with big expectations for themselves because everything seems easily achievable if you look at social media. But then you grow up, you see that it wasn’t as easy as you thought, you start understanding yourself better, and maybe you are not meant for a certain kind of life. Maybe only a few can achieve some goals (Yes but no).

Spoiler: You shouldn’t care.

As for myself for example, I don’t know where my life will take me; the only thing I’m certain of is that I won’t ever say “If only I had put more effort into it” whether it’s in love , at work , in the gym etc.
And this has nothing to do with your goals.. Your goal could be to be the best farmer in your country or the first man on Mars. It doesn’t matter. It’s the approach.

After this long introduction, why are we talking about programming?
Well, because I truly believe that in a chaotic environment, the only way out – to achieve all your goals and be satisfied – is to bring order to your life by finding a balance between “going with the flow” and planning.

I’ll share my own experience for what concern the long-term programming and I will recall a book – for the “daily-basis perspective” – that I read fortunately just before the disaster – joking of course – since it’s the biography of the author himself : Will Smith.

When I talk about long-term programming, I refer to the activity of planning future life turning points in advance. It could be a new job, achievements, and so on.

Looking around, I’ve noticed that a lot of people don’t really plan. Some just never thought about it and wouldn’t know where to start, while others think it’s more stress than it’s worth.
As a consequence , most people prefer to just “go with the flow” and make the most of what happens to them.

We are human, after all, and we always try to stay in our comfort zone as much as we can.
Planning is hard, especially if it is done with criteria. Worrying only about today could be easier sometimes.
It can make us feel better, safer… at least we don’t have to stress ourselves about things we apparently can’t control.
Now, as much as I may like living the day as it comes, sometimes we can’t ignore that we have to organize our lives.

So, what is the final answer? Should we plan everything? Not really.
I would say that’s quite impossible; there are too many variables.

Just to give you a quick example: think about how many decisions you actually take during the day and how many things happen without your consent. Now, multiply that by a whole year. How can you possibly think that you are able to plan months or years ahead accurately if you don’t know what comes next?

What we look for, as usual, is equilibrium.

So, we need to start by having an idea of what we want to achieve and by when. Then, we can create a plan to achieve it, and we should be ready to adjust it every now and then without losing the final goal view.

Now you’ll say: A walk in the park, huh? … Alright, not a walk in the park. But it’s not surviving a zombie apocalypse either!

Think about it: when you start your gym/diet program, you know the goal, you know more or less the deadline, but everything in between is uncertain. That’s why specialists, despite the long-term goal, give you 6-week or 8-week programs one after another. They plan, they gather feedback, and they plan again.
Nevertheless, the final goal is still the same : losing weight.

What about during the 6 weeks? In this case , here is where your accountability lies. That’s the zone where you should just focus on “laying bricks” as the young Will Smith used to:

When I was eleven years old, my father decided he needed a new wall on the front of his shop. It would be a big wall: roughly twelve feet high by twenty feet long.

Every day for nearly a year, my brother and I would go to my father’s shop after school to work on that wall. We did everything ourselves. We dug the footing, mixed the mortar, and carried the buckets. My brother and I worked weekends, holidays, vacations. We worked through the summer that year. It didn’t matter. My father never took a day off, so neither could we. There were so many times I remember looking at that hole, totally discouraged. I couldn’t see how this was ever going to end. 

It seemed like we were building the Great Wall of West Philly—billions of red bricks stretching infinitely into some distant nowhere. I was certain that I would grow old and die still mixing concrete and carrying those buckets. 

One day, Harry and I were in a particularly stank mood. We were dragging our feet and grumbling, “impossible this” and “ridiculous that.” “Why’d we have to build a wall for, anyway? This is impossible. It’s never gonna get done.”

Daddio overheard us, threw down his tools, and marched over to where we were yapping. He snatched a brick out of my hand and held it up in front of us. “Stop thinking about the damn wall!” he said. “There is no wall. There are only bricks. Your job is to lay this brick perfectly. Then move on to the next brick. Then lay that brick perfectly. Then the next one. Don’t be worrying about no wall. Your only concern is one brick.”

Smith, Will; Manson, Mark. Will: The Sunday Times Bestselling Autobiography (p. viii). Random House.

In conclusion, what should we do?
Planning is just as important as staying focused on daily activities without letting your mind drift.
Every scenario has its own specificities, but overall, these are the three key areas to focus on:

1- Flexibility: Gather feedback and adjust your plan regularly. Keep in mind the ultimate goal.

2- Planning: Plan as accurately as possible. You should dedicate a significant amount of time here—most projects fail due to poor planning.

3-Commitment and Consistency: Focus on laying each brick as perfectly as you can.

My 2 cents (three actually):

1)“You want the flight attendant, not the pilot, to be an optimist!” Plan carefully and know yourself deeply. The stories we tell ourselves don’t always reflect reality, and every effective plan requires honesty. We’re talking about you… no customers, no employers, no risk of getting fired. In some ways, that makes it even harder. If you get it wrong, you’ve wasted precious time…especially if you’re not as young as you used to be.

2)Every plan, to be accomplished, must be sustainable in the long term. It should become a new habit and one of your top priorities but still sustainable.

3)Dreams without goals are just dreams and ultimately you feel disappointed. You must apply discipline but more important consistency because without commitment you’ll never start but without consistency you’ll never finish.

That’s all for this article. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!

Enrico