PLANNING & FLEXIBILITY

All our lives we've had plans to follow. Of course, early on it wasn't your own plan; it was the plan laid out by your parents, family, and teachers. Let's go back to early childhood. The plan probably sounded like this: Learn how to talk, then walk, then use the potty. A little while later, the plan was making friends…graduate kindergarten…get good grades, go to prom, get a license, go to college.

Then this thing happens called life. Whether you’re 18 or 22 or 30, eventually, you’re no longer on somebody else's plan. You need to have one of your own. When you don't have a plan, you're going to live a life wasted. Setting out on a long road trip without a destination in mind wastes a lot of gas, money, and it’s exhausting. Your plan is determined by how you define success and fulfillment. That’s a result of balancing your requires, admires, and desires, which I discuss in the book, Words Fucking Matter.?

Planning is a pathway to freedom. When you have a plan, you’ve got one less aspect of life to worry about. Taking the time to examine your options and plan is an act of self-respect. Your plan doesn’t need to be foolproof perfect from the get-go. Perfection isn’t realistic. A plan is a strategy for getting over shit, so you can be present, react, and respond appropriately.?

A plan with no flexibility is not a plan that can be relied upon. A plan that is overly rigid will break when things aren’t “going according to plan.” A flexible plan will help you respond in real-time to changing circumstances.?

This is what resiliency is. It’s being tough enough to bounce back and keep going, and adaptable enough to recognize when you need to change. As Ray Gagnon, USMC veteran and The Chaos Coach says, “There’s no such thing as good news or bad news: just new information, and what you do with it.”

A terrific adaptability tool is the OODA Loop. Developed by Air Force Colonel and Military Strategist John Boyd after his service in the Korean War and for its straightforward simplicity, it remains in use by the military today. It’s a process of four parts:

Observe: Take note of your current circumstances. Gather information. Intake stimuli.

Orient: Determine your position relative to stimuli, as well as your desired outcome.

Decide: Based on observations and orientation, decide what move to make.

Act: Put your decision into motion.

The OODA Loop is shaped like a circle because it’s a continuous process. It’s always ongoing. Steps in the cycle can be revisited at any point to accommodate new or changed stimuli. It might seem overly simple…simple works. The beauty of the OODA Loop is that it’s built for moments when shit doesn’t go according to plan.?

Every major event in your life has happened on schedule exactly as you planned it? Right, didn’t think so.?

Once you establish your plan and your goal, write that shit down! Be aggressive with your goals, assertive with your plans, and assertive with your actions.?

Plan the work. Work the plan.