And the start of a whole new plan.
That’s right, I’m back with some big plans, new updated goals, and lots of tricks to get me to them that I’m looking forward to sharing with you. In some ways, this is just a continuation of what I started with this site. An evolution of where I’ve been going all along, if you will.
But in other ways—very key ways—this is a change of direction and I’m still trying to figure what that means for this site. What do I mean? I want to make some of my goals more transparent and public so I’ll post about them here. Those will largely be well-being and movement related. Other goals are just for me and you might see indicators of changes here but they won’t be things I explicitly share.
I’m not going to breakdown techniques in advance and tell you how to hypothetically use them. I’m just going to put some into play for myself and tell you how they went as I journal what’s happened. I might lay out a strategy in advance but I won’t feel beholden to see it through. After getting to know myself better these last few years, I’ve learned that I’m very spontaneous, flexible, and adaptable in my planning.
I plan because it supports one way I take in information. When there are lots of details to consider, I gather and organize them as a coping mechanism. I consider lots of interpretations and worry through possibilities and alternative. I imagine ideal and worst case outcomes and plot out a most likely course. And I do most of it in my head.
I plan because it supports one way I take in information. When there are lots of details to consider, I gather and organize them as a coping mechanism. I consider lots of interpretations and worry through possibilities and alternative. I imagine ideal and worst case outcomes and plot out a most likely course. And I do most of it in my head.
You see, to someone who doesn’t prefer to plan, who can’t stand the thought of locking themselves in on what’s for dinner tomorrow much less next week, this looks like torture taking options off the table. It is, but it’s not. Stock with me.
It’s the difference between feeling sick on Friday and knowing vaguely that I’ve got an important run on Saturday OR knowing I’ve got 5K race planned for Saturday but that it’s not a key race in my training plan so it’s ok to miss it if I’m not feeling well because it won’t derail my training. It’s also 1 pm start so I have time Saturday morning to reassess. I’m the first example, I’m unnecessarily stressed, feeling like I might have to run sick or miss out, my choices looking like all or nothing, not knowing that I’ve got plenty of time, choices, options.
By knowing what my big goals and milestones are, my non-negotiable commitments, I also know where my flex space is. What I can blow off, change, or swap out in the moment if I feel like it. My planning isn’t a contract to do all the things, it’s a framework to show me where my options are, to increase the flexibility that I have, and to help me continue to progress toward goals whatever way I feel like in the moment.
That’s why I’m as likely to change course as stick to the plan. It’s also why, despite not feeling like a hard core planner, I use so many of the same techniques to reach my goals. I do the planning so that I know what of the planning I can ignore. I might make a plan that shows when I’ll eat at what restaurants at a theme park, but only so that I know which ones are closed, which require reservations because they book up, which ones my loved ones MUST eat at. I may stick to that plan because it’s something that planning people have already looked at and agreed to. But I’m most likely to pivot in the moment, doing nothing that even resembles the plan, because I know I can and still be sure we get to those reservations and key experiences.
The new year is a natural reset point for me as it comes with the time and space to pull back. I embrace the opportunity to think about where I want to be at the end of next year and have leveraged a few of the resolutions and challenges to restart my motivation to make big changes. I’ve got some ambitions objectives for myself this year and I’m looking forward to sharing more of that with you here.
Happy New Year!
