Hey friends!

This week I rediscovered a previous note I'd made about 'The Odyssey Plan' and thought it would be an interesting newsletter!

The idea

The Odyssey Plan is an exercise used by Stanford Graduate School of Business students, designed to help you figure out your path in life. The idea is to open your eyes to all the opportunities that lie in front of you ie. not tying yourself to one future.

It is split up into three steps.

Step 1. What would my life look like 5 years from now if I carry on with my current path?
This is the simplest step. You write down how you imagine your life will be if you continue with the path you are currently heading down. For example: finish my current study, and secure a job in that field.

Step 2. What would my life look like 5 years from now if I take a completely different path?
"Basically, you put down a scenario where your primary goal is unachievable. But the idea here is that you change your life completely. So let’s say you were planning on graduating and working for a specific firm and become a consultant. Imagine that working for that firm is not possible, or even the career prospects on the field you want to are uncertain. How would life be and what would you do." - The Odyssey Plan: Visualise 3 Versions of Your Future by Moataz Elashmawy.

Step 3. What would my life look like 5 years from now if money, societal expectation and what people think didn't matter?
The third step is to imagine a different plan, in which money and social expectation are not deciding or contributing factors. What if your decisions are not limited by the amount of money you have, your view of your social status or what others expect from you? What would your life be like then? For example: withdraw from my current course (because it's boring) and investigate how to take part in an Antarctic expedition.

To summarize, 'not tying yourself to one future' doesn't necessarily mean completely changing your chosen path.
It is more rethinking your main plan (step 1) to see if there are interesting ideas in your other plans (steps 2 & 3) which you may wish to incorporate into the main path you have chosen.

Hope you've enjoyed learning about The Odyssey Plan, thanks for reading!

Some of my favourite things

Video game

Genshin Impact. Anime-themed action-adventure game, with a nice back story and incredible graphics.

Music

A lofi remix of the beautiful Genshin Impact soundtrack.

Quote of the week

"We put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement that everyone will talk about. Meanwhile, improving by 1% isn't particularly notable, sometimes it isn't even noticeable. But it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding." - James Clear, Atomic Habits

Have a great week!
Cheers, Toby