Planning to Fail

Back in my corporate days, this time of year was planning season, and considering I was responsible for an eventual $2B product, we did a lot of planning.

We combed through environmental, legal, and political assessments and reviewed market research as we tried to predict the future. We sat with our agencies to refine our strategy and big-bet tactics and spent too much time debating PowerPoint design before pitching our vision to the executive team.

Collectively the broader team must have spent 4000+ hours for a four-hour presentation during which we had to project confidence that our plan was tight and on target – talk about pressure.

Then one day, I realized that I was planning around the clock for my brand and spending no time – zilch, zero, nada – on my future.

It was nuts and, for many today, the norm. I once read that Americans spend more time planning for a vacation than they do their retirement, and we have probably spent more time ordering take-out this weekend than thinking about 2022.

I believe your life is priceless. So, why not plan for your success?

To assist you, here are a few questions and resources to get you going.

1. What did you discover about yourself in 2021?
2. What new skills, knowledge, and friendships did you develop in 2021?
3. How would you describe your 2022 desires in one to three words?
4. Name one aspirational goal that makes you gulp or sweat in these categories:
   1. Spiritual Wellbeing
   2. Emotional Wellbeing
   3. Physical Wellbeing
   4. Relationship Wellbeing
   5. Career/Financial Wellbeing
5. What do you need to do to achieve them?
6. How do you wish to achieve them?
7. How will you measure your progress and success?
8. How will you keep yourself committed to your goals?

You’ll need some data to make a plan, and Life and Leadership Wheel can help. There’s space for ten categories, and traditionally, they are: relationships, health, spiritual connection, career, money/finance, family, hobbies/fun, personal growth, emotional wellness, and you can freestyle the last one.

Additionally, you will find Your Better Life Workbook to help you assess your energy and discover your vision, values, and who’s in your peloton.

Of course, you could push this aside and allow others to shape your future, but I doubt that their vision of a better tomorrow aligns with yours.

Until next week, remember to Pause Breathe Reflect and don’t forget to have fun storming the castle, but do a little planning before you go. Because you know what they say, failing to plan is planning to fail.

P.S., In November, please join Pause Breathe Reflect in Clubhouse to honor Native American Heritage Month. As a country, we need to heal, and until we recognize, accept, and work toward healing our First Peoples’ generational trauma, it will be impossible to heal as a Nation.

Pause Breathe Reflect will donate $0.50 to Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health for every person who shows up for one of our five-minute P.B.R. breaks. It may not sound like much, but we do 105-110 breaks/month with an average of 75 people, which would help us prove that small ripples matter.

p.s.s, Our last Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Masterclass is now scheduled for Nov 22. You can save your place by clicking MBSR and discover how to reduce your stress.

This week’s affirmations:

• I will honor my past as I create a better tomorrow
• I acknowledge and accept that healing is possible
• My life is worthy of planning