The Importance of Making Plans

Before you dismiss the importance of making plans, consider why. For many, looking toward the future involves fear, principally because they’re held captive by the past.

“You can never plan the future by the past.” – Edmund Burke

Is it any wonder that plans sometimes get cast aside for fear they’d become failures, just like so many did before? This is shortsightedness in the extreme, for no momentum or traction can be gained when your eyes are firmly planted on the past.

Others are preoccupied with daily living and give little thought to the future. Or making plans takes a backseat to other, more immediate concerns.

Making Plans Means Moving Forward

It takes a certain amount of courage to pull down the door on the past, particularly if those memories are recent, disastrous, and painful, or one more in a lengthy line of failures.

·?????? You are not today who you were yesterday. Hopefully, you’ve learned from what didn’t work so you don’t endlessly repeat those mistakes.

·?????? Having a sound support system is also critically important as you draft plans for how you’ll go about completing goals you consider worthwhile.

But do credit yourself for having the tenacity to slog through some incredibly challenging work. It’s rough going through failure and disappointment. It stings, saps your immediate energy, and puts a temporary damper on plans.

You are here today, however, living testament to the restorative power within you. It’s time now to move ahead, look for new opportunities to get involved in, an interest that fires you up and you just can’t wait to pursue, and people whom you haven’t yet met who may provide that added spark that you need to act.

Tips to Move Forward and Begin Making Plans

What you really want to know, however, is what can you do to start making plans – and stop thinking and obsessing over the past? Here are some suggestions:

·?????? Adopt a hopeful outlook. Instead of condemning yourself to repeated failure, reverse that trend. Tell yourself this is a new day. You are moving ahead with excitement and purpose. You may need to repeat this mantra daily for it to take root – and it will if you allow it.

·?????? See the lesson in everything. There’s always something valuable to learn from everything you do, regardless of the outcome.

If you train yourself to find the kernel of wisdom in all your actions, you will boost your self-confidence and feel more empowered.

·?????? Share what works with your network. Even when plans you’ve made don’t turn out to be completely successful at first, some aspects of your action do work.

Be willing to share what works with those in your network who support your efforts – and listen to the suggestions they offer.

You might learn something valuable that will further your efforts in making new plans.

·?????? Embrace change. You may be fearful of change, likening it to past disastrous outcomes, but the truth is that life is filled with constant change. Without change, there would be no growth.

Instead of fearing change, embrace it, eke every bit of knowledge and opportunity from it, and make it your own. When you are in charge, change doesn’t look as formidable.

·?????? Use the building-block approach. A house doesn’t get built without going through many stages of construction. Similarly, achieving a successful outcome when working toward a goal involves several steps. It isn’t just going from point A to point B. You may need to accommodate layers and a building-block approach.

Capitalize on what you’ve learned and apply it to the next development stage of making plans.

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