Today’s visit is directed at the younger readers.

Since I believe that no one younger than age 30 reads newspapers anymore, it is your responsibility to read this and pass it along if you so choose.

For those of you older than 30, I think you may find this interesting and useful. What follows is a guide to take hold of yourself now and change your future.

My dad, one of nature’s nobleman, always said he approached his life’s goals, plans and accomplishments in terms of decades. He would think, plan and assess requirements and actions in 10-year timeframes.

I don’t know where he came up with this concept, but it always made sense to me. Consider the overall thinking, from birth to maybe 5 years old is a little young to speak of goals and accomplishments (just like it may be too young for vaccines).

From 5 to 15, you’re a kid, so you still don’t need to be too tough on yourself, however, this is not a free pass to be irresponsible. The younger you start, the more advantageous this may be for you.

From 16 to 25, it’s high school and dating and figuring out relationships, then on to a job or college and choosing career paths. You’ve probably learned some life lessons by now about hard work, accomplishment and failure.

By 26, you, hopefully, have your feet firmly planted. You have an idea where you want to live and what you want to do, you may know your future spouse or already be married or have chosen not to now or ever. By now, you may know God or may still be searching. You may know how you want to spend your money and you maybe even know your politics. Here comes my first quote, from Winston Churchill, “If you’re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart; if you’re not a conservative at 40, you have no brain.”

In this instance, Winston seems to parallel my father’s thinking. Then, from 26 to 35, you are raising your own kids, maybe coaching, helping with homework and their extracurricular activities, driving to soccer practice, you get it. Your life may be your own, but your time isn’t. This is when you begin to make some serious money, but spend none on yourself and all this should continue into your next decade as well.

Ages 36 to 45 means you are finally grown up, but still a parent, a role that never ends, by the way. Parenthood takes different shapes, but remains nonetheless.

From your mid-40s and beyond, you tend to think about your impact on others, perhaps a kind of philanthropy, at work or in the community or church. Because you are a little more settled, you can spread your talents and gifts beyond family.

I’ll tell you a short story of a godly man in his 90s growing weaker and,, clearly, his time on this Earth was growing short. He needed help to do anything, even for the essentials of life. His spirit, though, was sweet and always generous. When our pastor went to visit hoping that he could bring some comfort to this godly man, the old man shared something so personal and uplifting that our pastor became overwhelmed. He was reinvigorated to do God’s work. At that moment, this dear man went to be with his Lord. What exactly he said, I don’t know, but my point is that right up until the moment of this man’s passing, God had a purpose for him and it was to strengthen an already-strong and courageous pastor. He had one more task to accomplish and he did. This always applies to you as well.

Now your vision and your goals will change over time and for reasons beyond your control, but the concept of a blueprint for timelines still makes sense. It still is prudent to plan and review. Ten-year plans can contain five- and one-year plans that can complement your decade plan and meet larger goals. We learn from review and assessment of our accomplishments, which we can apply to the next 10.

Now let’s fold in the concept of the different roles you will have during these periods. Roles, such as parent, sibling, uncle/aunt, student, Scout, athlete, employee, boss, co-worker, just to name a few.

Some will remain for many 10-year cycles and some will come and go, but they are your roles and they deserve some forethought and can benefit from the same discipline by looking at your own personal 10-year plans.

A note of encouragement from the book of Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.” A suggestion, let him.

Life is short my friends and every minute is precious. We may not know the twists and turns of life that await us or if we’ll accomplish all the goals we have set forth. Who really does? However, planning is essential, and my dad’s practice may be helpful as you navigate what is to come.

• William Peterson recently retired to Ottawa after working in the hotel industry for 40-plus years. He can be reached at dbarichello@shawmedia.com.