You Need a Plan.

My friend Marilyn used to say to me “You need a plan, or else you’ll just become part of somebody else’s.”

Planning can be really hard for a lot of people because they get hung up on a simple, but actually true premise: Anything can happen.

And hey. It’s 2020. I think we’re all preeeeeeetty aware that anything can happen.

But. That doesn’t stop you from needing a plan. A path. Structure.

Because if you decide that you want to give a speech in 2021, you’re definitely not going to do that without figuring out all of the things you need to do ahead of time. Like building your confidence. Like learning and practising excellent speaking skills (Standing, Breathing, Speaking, Reading). Like writing a speech.

It’s one thing to want to do something, it’s an entirely other thing to build the steps to get there.

Planning involves commitment. We all sort of know that. But planning also involves flexibility.

“Pivot”

Oh god that word. Honestly, I’ve heard the word pivot more times in 2020 than I ever have before, and I have watched Friends a lot.

This morning I spent some time writing and reflecting on my New Year’s Resolutions for 2020, and what happened when the pandemic struck, and how I dealt with it. And now I have some goals that I’m going to make happen by December 31, 2020.

I know it’s only September and who knows what’s still in store for us here, but I am clear on what I want to achieve. And right now, knowing everything I know, I have a way that I’m going to get there. And maybe something totally out of the blue will happen in October and cause me to… pivot… but that doesn’t change the goals, it only changes the path. And if I hadn’t created the original path, I’d have nothing to pivot from.

What’s Your Plan?

So where are you sitting at 3/4 of the way through the year? Did you have any goals for yourself in early 2020 that you let slip because: pandemic?

(Just so we are crystal clear, the pandemic is an absolutely devastating, life changing, difficult global shut down, and if it caused you to ditch all of your goals just to survive, that is absolutely ok. And if the rest of the year is pure survival, too, then that’s also ok. You are the driver of your life and you know best what you can handle, and what supports you have.)

But… if there are a couple of things you had really wanted to try and tackle this year, and you haven’t done them, yet... let this be a reminder to you that there’s still time.

Exercise

Why don’t you take 5 minutes right now (yes, right now!) and write down anything that pops into your mind that you want to achieve. Don’t censor yourself. Do be ambitious. Forget the pandemic (you can always keep putting goals into next year, or hell, the year after if it comes to it.) Just take a minute to know where you’re at. Who are you? Who do you want to be? What can get you there?

And if any of those goals revolve around speaking, visibility, confidence, presentations, showing up for yourself, learning how to have difficult conversations (at work or at home), I can help! My email and Instagram DMs are always open. Hit me up!

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Want to work with me? Schedule us for a 15 minute chat and let’s make a plan!

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