Planning… is it really worth it? I know some people may scoff and gasp at that sentence — myself included. But let me present my case. Every day we work hard to achieve goals with the idea that accomplishment will lead to happiness. We write down our goals, lose hours deep in data, calendars and Pinterest boards and eventually map out carefully set targets.
Planning and strategising isn’t always the best route to your goals
A plan is a great decision-making tool to motivate you on the journey to your goals. However, it is rare we allow ourselves any breathing space. No, I don’t mean scheduling naps into your plan. Although, it would be nice considering hard work is well… hard.
Random opportunities pop up with impeccable and almost laughable timing. Allowing room for opportunity or unexpected hiccups in your plan is important. But don’t let the plan drive you; embrace your passion to get you to your goals. After all your passion is why you wrote the plan in the first place.
Our passion drives us towards what we want most
We don’t stop doing the things we love. We may have brief or extended breaks but we always come back to our passion. Sometimes we even use our passion for hobbies like drawing or hiking towards work related projects.
Your passion is almost like a super power. A lot of us forget how to use it. It is a force that people recognise and appreciate. I remember my Dad telling me before my first interview, “If you show them you’re keen, that can get you across the line”. When you’re a clumsy 14-year-old, you become a little desperate.
But this advice is still relevant in chasing your goals. Let your passion drive you, even if it means the occasional detour. Those detours aren’t always a distraction or interruption from your plan. More often than not, it is our belief that guides us.
Our belief guides us to what we want most
We see the obvious path we must take, we put one foot in front of the other and off we go! Well, what if the path is veering off towards the mountains, when we really wanted to go to the beach?
Sometimes the plan we set for ourselves isn’t always the path we should necessarily take. In some cases we need other experiences and challenges to teach us the skills required to reach the next step. Yes, this may mean schmoozing a relationship with someone that doesn’t yet exist or donating your free time.
Allowing ourselves to be guided by our belief rather than owning the process is a step in the right direction. The experiences that are presented to us may seem unclear but it is always in hindsight we recognise the true purpose of that opportunity. Hindsight is great, isn’t it?
The skills we accumulate along the way may intertwine with the skillset we already have. And possibly provide potential in other unknown areas.
I can definitely attest that “schmoozing” wouldn’t be in any of my plans for 2017, but who knows.
Manifesting leads us to what we want
The simple act of writing down your goals or drafting up a plan is in fact manifesting what you want. It is a form of putting your dreams out into the universe for everyone to see.
So I guess in this sense to plan is the way to obtaining what we want.
However, believing and wanting and dreaming and sharing your goals is more than a plan. In some cases we don’t even know we’re doing it. We subconsciously blab about our wants and desires to our friends, we voluntarily waste hours Googling it every night before bed and unknowingly we’ve implanted it in our every day thoughts.
I’m pretty sure my friends and family know of my goals before I do because of how much I ramble on about the things I want most. Sure, a plan is helpful in the process, but I don’t believe it is the only process.
Draft up a plan, do your research and reflect on those targets and stepping-stones, but don’t live by it. Don’t treat your plan as gospel. Navigating the journey is always difficult; lets face it only someone of Yoda-like calibre can say it’s easy. Use your desire; let yourself be guided by the process and whatever it is you have cast out to the universe, can — and will — happen.
