Your Career: You Make Plans and God Laughs

There's an old Yiddish saying that translates to "Man Plans, and God Laughs". (Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht, for you fact-checkers out there.)

I can say, from my own personal experience, that this adage is undoubtedly true.

Take my most recent event, for example.

Two months ago, I decided to throw my business a "birthday party". In its original conception, this was going to be a Par-Tay with a capital P. I met with an event planner, chose a large location, envisioned 100's of guests, got quotes from caters, made connections with potential sponsors, invited panelists, and reached out to the media

Fast-forward to Thursday of last week, and what happened?

Tracy made plans. God laughed. Nothing turned out the way I planned.

My location let me know that another event would be wrapping up exactly 30-minutes prior to mine. My catering dreams had turned into donated beer and wine (thank you, Ben E. Keith!) and a modest (but gorgeous, see PS below!) spread of meat and cheese. I had zero sponsors and zero giveaways. One of my panelists had to drop the event. Not one, single, Dallas-based media outlet promoted our event.

And gloriously, one hour prior to the event, we had sold a grand total of 9 tickets. 

Nine tickets!

In my event Magic 8-Ball, I was getting one response:

"Outlook not so good."

I soldiered on, expecting the worst, but hoping for the event. The outcome?

I planned. God laughed. Nothing turned out the way I planned.

Nothing turned out the way I planned, because it actually turned out oh, so, much, better. 

The moment we began the event, I knew we had magic in the room. Everyone shared stories of their worst jobs. We commiserated over how if feels to drag yourself to a job where you don't even get to be yourself. We talked about how exhausting it is to watch the hands of the clock tick away the excruciating hours of each wasted day. Worst of all, we acknowledged how hopeless it feels to know you're made for more, but have no idea what that thing might be!

We had an incredible impact on a fully-aligned group of people, and the event was a resounding success.

This got me to thinking about "goals".

Societally, we put so much pressure on New Year's resolutions, "dry January's", and beginning of the year goal-setting. "If you can see it, you can achieve it," they say.

But what happens when the outcome isn't what you expect?

If your goals are completely outcome-driven, then your success or failure is dictated by how closely your outcome matches your expectation.

But if it's true that we make plans and God laughs-- aka, we have basically ZERO control how ANYTHING turns out-- is that really setting us up for satisfaction or success?

Maybe there's a better way that doesn't set us up for disappointment and failure. While expectations can be met or missed, they can also be exceeded, What if we could open ourselves to the BEST outcome, simply by changing how we drive or define our failure or success?

I'm talking about values-driven goals.

Not hollow and empty, but full. Not focused on the outcome, but focused on the process. Not relying on the promise of success, but engaging in the pursuit of our purpose.

What good is being the CEO if you hate yourself while you're getting there? What good is making a little more money if you don't also get more freedom or fulfillment? And what good are goals that are driven by outcomes that are completely out of your control?!

With values-driven goals, you put success back in your hands to control. Focus on the effort. Focus on the value behind the goal. Release the need for a specific outcome (which is unlikely to meet your limited expectation anyway) and let God gift you with an outcome that you never could have envisioned.

If you're interested in creating goals like these and seeing your future career blossom with hope, consider this. It's likely that the only reason you aren't already living this is because you've never been taught to think this way.

If you're curious to learn more about how we unleash professional potential by unlocking the values and effort that drive real, lasting, sustainable success, then grab a spot on my calendar for a free clarity call. These spots fill up quickly, so if this is resonating with you, don't wait.

I can't wait to hear more about your story and work with you to find a solution to what's keeping you stuck.

Wishing you all the best, and some very unexpected outcomes. ;)

Be unstoppable,

TT

PS: Check our our instagram for images and video from the event!!