Know the harbour first.

“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, Letter 71

Seneca wrote this in a letter to his friend Lucilius, who kept asking him for specific bits of advice. His answer was to settle the bigger question first, and measure every detail against it.

“No man can set in order the details unless he has already set before himself the chief purpose of his life,” he wrote. “The reason we make mistakes is because we all consider the parts of life, but never life as a whole.”

Then comes the archer, who “must know what he is seeking to hit” before he aims, and the sailor with no harbour, for whom no wind is the right one.

How to do it in the planner today

• Life Planning works top to bottom, the way Seneca would have it: your values first, then the roles, goals and dreams that flow from them.
• Say “Add health and family to my values”, then “Add goal …”.
• Each goal can be linked to one of your life roles, so you can see what it’s for.