I have had plans in the past & continue to plan.
I also have the understanding that circumstances can change on a dime and to not be too enamored of a set path when opportunities and or roadblocks appear.
For instance, my plan in high school was:
1. Do well on the SAT & in school
2. Earn degree in a hefty, useful, employable major
3. Enter military & go for a career
#1 & #2 went as planned & I ended with a physics/history double major. #3 was going well...until
Newton's Third Law & the
Law of Universal Gravitation intruded upon my skeletal structure and my my military career.
^^^That was a "roadblock," not an "opportunity."
Hokay, enter Plan B:
1. Recover from injuries, surgeries, & post-surgical infection (osteomyelitis).
2. Regain more leg function & walk again without a limp/shuffle/whatever.
3. Become gainfully employed in private sector (opportunity knocked)
4. Earn MBA.
5. Purchase house
6. Marry the right gal
7. Have children
No real roadblocks, yet, and an opportunity occurred for #s 5, 6, & 7 before completing #4, though all are now complete (except #7, which is currently in process with two successes).
The completion of Plan B has introduced other goals that will require planning to achieve:
1. Financial & familial security, especialy in case I am run over by a truck
2. A step upwards or sideways in career to put the MBA to use
3. A location more friendly to raising a family and allowing the kids to have fewer constraints on movement & activities
We (notice that after marriage it is a "we" thing, not a "me" thing) are currently in a holding pattern. There are good reasons for this, however, and I don't see it as stagnation. I am keeping my eyes open for any opportunities good enough to break us out of our holding pattern. If none occur, I will more actively search for or create my own in order to achive our goals.