Recently, I started talking with my girlfriend about the idea of writing a life plan.  The idea is similar in nature to a business plan, but instead of outlining the structure, mission statements, and strategies of a financial venture, you’re focused on the values, goals, and eventualities of your life as a whole.  I’ve researched a bit online, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized what a completely awesome tool a life plan could be – not only for organizing your life, but just the process of writing one can really illuminate and flesh out life-goals.  More importantly though, as I realized by talking with my friends, it can truly be a living document, one that grows over time as life, values, and situations change.

Though I am only in the planning stages now of what I want to include in my plan, I know before I put a single word down that there are two items that I will inevitably focus on.  The first is one of my true passions in life – creating.  Specifically, creating through computer science – games, AI, network utilities, or anything.  But ultimately I know this isn’t truly fulfilling.  I read article after tweet after blog post about software development and computer science – and some writing inspires me, and some falls flat.  It took me a while to figure out why, and as of late I realize more why that is.  Which brings me to the second item I will focus on – helping the world.  If I have a limited time on this big, blue globe, I want to do whatever I can to ensure that hopefully, at least in some small part, my creations will make the life a better place.  This – and making connections with other people who want to use their awesome skills to do some serious good!  I’m lucky enough to lots of friends with this attitude, and I’d love to make more.

Resources

To say there are a lot of amazing organizations out there changing the world on a daily basis would be an understatement – our lives change constantly with the evolution of social networks, mobile devices, and interconnectivity.  And while many of these changes attack very real problems and improve quality of life, there is still infinite amounts of space to effect positive change – still countless opportunities to do good.  And I think it’s important to deliberately focus on these items as a core goal.   I’ve recently begun to search online for resources and other like-minded buddies to help in this quest – and I’ve found a number in academia, as well awesome sites like TED that have some truly brilliant people focused on these very issues.

If you know of any other resources that talk about helping the world through computer science or other technology-driven philanthropy, please feel free to send them this way!

Or if you have any experience with writing a life plan or steps you’ve taken to clarify goals for yourself, please feel free to drop me a line!

I know there are other people much smarter than me who have tackled these areas before, so I’d love any guidance or tips.  I hope to continue to post on these subjects as I learn more and make further connections.