Before I Turn Forty: Murakami's Ten-Year Plan and the Power of a One-Year Goal

"Before I turn forty..." is how Haruki Murakami looked ahead in 1979, when he won the Gunzo New Writers Prize for his debut, Hear the Wind Sing. His remarks on that occasion hold a surprisingly practical lesson about setting goals, and it is one we have been thinking about ever since.

Murakami's acceptance remarks in 1979

In the June 1979 issue of the literary magazine Gunzo, the new winner wrote a short piece about his beginnings. After finishing school he had hardly picked up a pen, so writing was slow going at first. He leaned on a line from F. Scott Fitzgerald, roughly that if you want to speak to others you have to use words of your own, but he admitted it never worked as simply as that.

He ended on a modest, hopeful note: perhaps when he reached forty he would be able to write a little better, and he still felt that way. At thirty, he was already thinking about the long game. He talked about wanting to write a "true" novel in about ten years.

A ten-year plan in books

It is fascinating to see how those ten years played out. After his first two novels, he published A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Norwegian Wood (1987) and Dance Dance Dance (1988). That last one arrived when he was still in his thirties, right on schedule. Step by step, he built the career he had said he wanted.

It is a nice reminder that big reputations are usually made of ordinary years of steady work. If you are curious how he got started in the first place, read how he went from jazz bar owner to author in a day.

Why one year may be the better goal

Here is where we add a personal note. Long-term plans can be inspiring, but they can also feel like walking through an endless tunnel, and the tiredness creeps in before the light does. For us, a one-year goal has worked better. It is long enough to show real change and short enough to keep the momentum, with quarterly checkpoints and the small satisfaction of progress along the way.

Peter Cat itself is an example. I never had much interest in social media or in sitting at a computer, but I decided to give myself one year, and I started this blog. A solid habit kept up for twelve months makes the next plan, whether for two, three or five years, easier and stronger. It is much like a farmer who sows good soil before expecting a harvest.

Start now

Other people may not see the point of your goal, and that is fine. Meaning is not something others measure for you. Do something every day for a year and you will almost certainly meet a changed version of yourself at the end of it.

What would you like to commit to for the next twelve months? Tell us in the comments, and start today.