Always Have a Plan

Sunset

“I have a Plan” – Anakin

“Oh Really?” – Obi-Wan Kenobi

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi were very different in their approach to carrying out an assigned task. Obi- wan Kenobi insisted on strategy and planning his actions and holding back to ascertain the situation before deciding. Anakin Skywalker on the other hand was far more impulsive and relied on his instinct and force sensing abilities to help him quickly decide on what required to be done. In most cases Anakin was able to achieve his mission but the methods were often described as unconventional or reckless. For Anakin the ends were more important than the means even if it meant stretching the ethical and moral boundaries of his Jedi training.

Where do you reside in Life? What is your habit to approaching and completing a task? Are you more likely to jump in without hesitation or do you plan your approach and consider scenarios? Are you a risk taker or risk averse? Or are you a bit of both?

I know some people who are very careful with their financial affairs and far from impulsive with their spending but in other areas they lack all wisdom and forethought. Some people in life will plan their day, month and life to the finest detail but will not hesitate to dash across the street through traffic rather than walk the extra hundred yards to a cross walk.

My life was like that for a very long time. I lacked wisdom as well as foresight. In some areas I was well organized and intelligent, my organizational skills at work being an example. In other areas I was completely reckless, without direction and no plan. Alcohol was one area where I lacked complete reason. I could step in to a bar with the fullest intention of having single drink before heading home to work on an assignment that was due the next day and still find myself at the bar at closing time pondering where I could go next to continue drinking. People were baffled how I could lack total self-control and good judgment. I had no plan, not for life or for one day to the next. I was simply rushing mindlessly through life in a downward spiral.

Make Plans but avoid projecting outcomes

That is why you should always have a plan and all plans should lead to one goal. Everything I do now is geared towards my recovery and self-betterment. I plan each day to be part of a grander plan for life. I train, meditate, work and write as part of a plan towards progression. Along the way I collect wisdom; one peal of wisdom to remember is to make plans but avoid projecting outcomes. Do what you can do to the best of your capacity and what is under your control. Leave the outcomes to that.

Take a few minutes every morning to plan your day, no matter how mundane it may seem, step in to the day with purpose and realistic goals whether it is to complete a major assignment or simply do the laundry. List them in your daily journal if you keep one. I keep a list of my daily tasks and check them off as I complete them one by one adding a sense of achievement even if the tasks seems insignificant. I also keep a training dairy which records my completed works outs and shows my progressions over time. Benjamin Franklin wrote “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Jump in to life but plan your journey ahead without projecting the outcomes.

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