The most important lesson we can instill in our children is that we have a say in what happens in our lives. Life doesn’t just happen to us. Each of us is born with both the privilege and the responsibility to pursue a plan, a direction, and a purpose for our own lives. This basic truth is especially important today as we continue to face mounting challenges as African Americans and as a nation.
This is why I am so troubled when I see people who appear to have no plan for their lives. They are discouraged to the point of settling for mere existence, without goals, dreams, and aspirations, or making any apparent effort to realize them. You see them, too–though you may try not to–on street corners in your neighborhood, or perhaps along your commute to work: people, many of them teens and young adults, living day to day, without direction or appreciation for the value of their own time. Every day is the same for them. There’s no difference between a Saturday and a Tuesday. They are idle, and for too many of them, idleness leads to counterproductive lifestyles and behavior potentially destructive to themselves and our communities. Too often, when I ask young people about their goals or ambitions, the response is a shrug, a blank stare, or a disinterested “I don’t know.†This is unacceptable.
Certainly, our recent Great Recession and painstakingly slow economic recovery have not been a source of motivation for the directionless. With black unemployment at 13%, and an appalling 30% or more for African American males in some
cities (and that doesn’t even include those who’ve stopped trying to find a job), we have a growing population of people who’ve never had a job, much less a career to aspire to. So certainly, we must continue, in both the public and private sectors, to work to create jobs and educational opportunities, including resources to help make entrepreneurship a more viable option.However, that won’t be enough, even as our economy continues to improve. Beyond the unemployed, too many people are just disengaged and rudderless, without a plan or vision for their lives. If this doesn’t change, not only will they lack the initiative to prepare for and pursue new opportunities, they run the risk of being hardly conscious of their existence.
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What I’m calling for is an intervention,
one that all of us must commit to. We must all work to reinforce awareness, among our young people and among one another, that no matter the problem, the only way to a better situation is to have a plan and to do something tangible each and every day toward bringing it to fruition. The plan need not be perfect; in fact, it will not be. It will change and evolve even as it is being executed, as new circumstances are encountered, short-term goals are achieved, and new knowledge and experiences are gained. Any plan backed by commitment and follow-through, even an imperfect or “unrealistic†one, is better than none at all.It starts with our own households, especially with our children. We must make setting goals and planning part of our daily discourse in our families, communities, and among our friends and associates, and set the example for others. Share the plans that brought you to where you are today and the steps you are taking today to achieve future goals. Everyone in your personal support network should ask and be asked: What are your goals? What’s your plan to achieve them? What’s your timetable and how are you measuring your progress? What will you do today to bring your plan to fruition? How can I help? We must make planning and goal-setting a priority in our day-to-day lives, and standard operating procedure in our community while constantly reminding one another and our young people that the world owes us nothing that we are not willing to pursue for ourselves with diligence, resilience, determination, and gratitude.