I am a planner.
I was a wedding planner for 10 years. I’ve had a paper calendar since middle school. NOTHING gives me satisfaction like crossing something off my to do list.
We all always seem to have the best of intentions right? We use our calendars, make to-do lists, use our apps, set everything out the night before and what happens? Life—Someone will have an accident, the dog will get into the yard, traffic will derail our plans, our boss adds a new project to our plate and the list goes on.
Here is the thing – that will never stop. We set goals, family bucket lists, and want to do #allthethings, but, ultimately, something will derail us. So what do we do when that happens?
Life is going to get in the way and throw us curve balls. So, your plan needs to be three things to work:
- Adaptable
- Accommodating
- Assessable
If my plan isn’t working or I am not following it, I look at these three things.
Adaptable
Can my goals/plan adapt to other circumstances? And, if I need to adapt, can I maintain the same deadline? Generally, as high achieving women, we have a lot of goals and high expectations. We assume we can be everything to everyone at all times. The truth is that is not sustainable, and we will drop the ball somewhere. I like evaluating my goals/plans every two weeks. This allows for tweaks and changes so we can adapt to kids being sick, us being sick, a partner going on a business trip unexpectedly, etc.
Accommodating
Is my plan accommodating to my current needs and life? Are you trying to make someone else’s plan your own even though it doesn’t fit your needs? I don’t think accommodating needs to be seen as making excuses. Accommodating means making your plan and goals fit your circumstances.
Assessable
In your every-two-week check-in, are you assessing the progress of your goals and measuring what determines their success? We have to do this to ensure we are moving forward!
Goals & plans don’t have to be big scary things.
They can be big dreams you have, or just routines to keep the laundry under control (Is that a thing? Let me know!), but we can apply the same ideas to both.
I’d love to know what your goals and plans are for you and your family! One of my goals this year is for our family to get to know the Magic City better. We have a goal to do one new thing around town a month. The great thing is that BMC helps make that goal easy!
