Plan. Or Else.

Kicking off 2013 with (hopefully) a short and sweet little rant. I’ll get to my obligatory resolutions post later. Or screw, that .. two birds, one stone: This will be The Plan AND Resolutions post.

Resolutions are all about The Plan, n’est pas?

  • We’re planning for better health, maybe little weight loss.
  • We’re working towards better jobs, better clients, better careers. *raises both hands*
  • We’re making changes in our lives to change our lives for the better. We hope.

Hope is not a Plan
someecards.com - How does piss poor planning on your part constitute and emergency on mine?
It’s why resolutions often fail – they’re all talk, no show and the action has left its coat at the door. We dream and hope for love and happiness and success, but we don’t really DO anything – so our ‘plans’ fail.

Last year I planned nee made resolutions on a lot of things and can report success. Kinda. And none at all.

  • On the social front, things were mixed. I planned on a ‘less is more’ approach but I think for 2013 I need less less, more more. In the right places, like my blog.
  • Sadly my website and resume and portfolio have barely been touched and the Department of Family and Children’s Services is about to send a lynch mob after me if I don’t get those cobbler’s kids (my business) some shoes already. This HAS to change in 2013, which hereto dub the Year of Me as I’m about to become one of my biggest clients.
  • More than joining a gym and calling it done, I made changes in my life to improve my health. And some smaller pants later, I can report my evil plan is working. Why? Because I have a PLAN!
    • My diet is less of the bad, a little more of the good along with some portion control. So more Coke Zero, less of the yummy Real Thing.
    • Doing the ‘walk and watch’ several days a week, so I can get in a workout whilst catching up on my TV shows via iPad. Multitasking FTW.
    • Regular preventative maintenance. Think my BP hangs around the 105/70 mark.

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Plans take time. Lots of it, for even the ‘smallest’ or ‘simplest’ project.

Plans take work. Commitment and focus and discipline and patience. You know, many of the good virtues I wish I had.

Plans don’t fall into our laps or popup as cartoon lightbulbs overhead; plans are hard.

You can’t run your life – certainly not your business – flying by the seat of your pants. See also lame excuses for your lack of strategy, if you don’t plan to succeed then you won’t. Period.

Plans are what make companies like Apple successful. They had a plan, they got it right. So right that we’ve gotten complacent and say they’ve jumped the shark, when the reality is even Apple can’t WOW us every time. But don’t think for one second they don’t have a PLAN to DO something about it. Again.

Ok so not so short. But, that’s nothing new.

Take it away: What are you dreaming of doing this year? Now, what are you planning to do about it?

 

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11 thoughts on “Plan. Or Else.

  1. Great kick in the pants. I should’ve read this one first and then said what my plan is for 2013, which is in full bloom. Making tons of more dough by investing tons of more dough and working for myself for the very first time.

    I have never spent this much time on my business ever; I love it, I like where I’m going and I like the opportunity to spin it out of control; as long as I see the positive result.
    Jayme Soulati recently posted..Book Review of APE By Guy Kawasaki

    1. Was commenting w/ Mark Harai the other day, that these kinda ‘just do it’ kicks in the ass don’t do much for me really. B/c they’re all talk, no pep – no action, no plan. I need the PLAN for HOW to find better fish, step by step where to go, what bait to use, blah blah – otherwise it’s empty words.

      Same with clients and their businesses (the real target of this rant) – and for 2013, my biggest client: ME. I hadn’t spent so much time on my biz as I have the past few years – not coincidentally the blogging years – and would that I had more to show for it. So I need to get w/ a Plan, map it out, put in the work, follow the steps, track my progress, make adjustments, keep it moving. Makes me tired just typing it. 🙂

  2. Dang it, here I was all ready to write down 3-5 BIG GOALS and be done… But, you’re right, Davina, the proof is in the doing. And the doing takes a plan with defined, executable steps. (Isn’t that what we keep trying to do for our clients and getting our clients to do?)

    But “no pain, no gain” right?

    1. It’s why I ain’t got no shoes Daria – I don’t map out (like I would for any other client) the steps, the time, the deadlines to get things done. It’s also why we need to be stronger w/ clients who want to rush, rush, rush. If you’re not planning, you’re probably not doing – certainly not doing it well, doing it cost effectively. Here’s to a little pain and a lot of gain this year! 🙂

    1. Work in Progress, Always – you’re playing my tune Billy. Sometimes it feels slow when really, there’s no end and the finish line keeps moving on us. That’s something else I think we forget, plans change; in fact good plans are designed to, to adapt and improvise as we keep going, keep growing. FWIW.

    1. There are times my on the fly works – there’s a classic Calvin & Hobbes I love, on last minute panic causing inspiration – but that’s an exception. So for me – certainly for work, for clients – it’s time to plan, to stop rushing. Or at least, stop expecting me to do miracles w/ 2 weeks warning and you needed it all yesterday. Thanks Christina, be seeing you around this 2013.

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