As architects, we are used to planning.
In fact, you could say that we plan a lot!
Our job and our contribution to the world revolves around creating a plan for a building.
Every detail must be conceptualized and figured out beforehand.
Every girder, every beam, every joist, every screw is considered.
That is a lot of planning!
And yet how many of us take the time to plan out our lives with the same exactness that we approach a building problem?
The Roman philosopher once wisely said:
You are living as if destined to live for ever; your own frailty never occurs to you; you don’t notice how much time has already passed, but squander it as though you had a full and overflowing supply — though all the while that very day which you are devoting to somebody or something may be your last.
What a great call to face the magnitude of reality!
May I submit, that if you want to make better use of your given time, you follow a plan.
Here are 3 words that can form a framework to get started: ready, set, go.
Ready
Readiness brings to mind a state of alertness and preparedness. If we apply this concept to our lives, we can prepare ourselves for our life's work through diligent application and foresight. Only then can we move on to the next step: set.
Set
What does set mean? To me it brings to mind ‘setting in place' – a momentary stillness before a burst of energy.
Following our analogy here, set can mean making the life plan that charts out the course of our future.
Go
This step needs no explanation. Once our plans are in place, we are freed to act! Only through action are we rewarded with the fulfillment of our vision.
Ok, so maybe I stretched the analogy some, but hopefully you've taken some food for thought.
This post was inspired the #Architalks theme this month which is ‘3 Favorite Words'.
Read what other archi-bloggers had to say about the topic – I guarantee everyone has a unique ‘take'!
Bob Borson – Life of An Architect
@bobborson
3 Words: Are. Blogs. Important.
Matthew Stanfield – FiELD9: architecture
@FiELD9arch
3 Words
Marica McKeel – Studio MM
@ArchitectMM
Never Give Up
Jeff Echols – Architect Of The Internet
@Jeff_Echols
What's Your Story – My Three (or Four) Favorite Words
Lee Calisti, AIA – Think Architect
@LeeCalisti
i make art
Lora Teagarden – L² Design, LLC
@L2DesignLLC
#ArchiTalks: I love it!
Andrew Hawkins, AIA – Hawkins Architecture, Inc.
@hawkinsarch
Three Favorite Architectural Words
Michele Grace Hottel – Michele Grace Hottel, Architect
@mghottel
architalk#9: my three favorite words
Meghana Joshi – IRA Consultants, LLC
@MeghanaIRA
My Three Favorite Words
Amy Kalar – ArchiMom
@AmyKalar
My Three Favorite Words (Architalks #9)
Michael Riscica – Young Architect
@YoungArchitxPDX
How’s it going… Finishing The Architect Exam?!??
Stephen Ramos – BUILDINGS ARE COOL
@sramos_BAC
My Three Favorite Words
Brian Paletz – The Emerging Architect
@bpaletz
I am in
Jonathan Brown – Proto-Architecture
@mondo_tiki_man
The Big Idea
Eric Wittman – intern[life]
@rico_w
my three favorite [hardest] words
