I Love Planning

Planning holds all of the qualities that I am really good at – visioning, seeing the big picture, breaking it down into small pieces, and then moving forward to get it done, with the help of a good mindset and supportive team.

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to create a plan that refreshes and titillates all of the senses. Optimism, energy and creating on a fresh slate can be invigorating for most.

Until it is not.

February arrived, and I looked at my plan and thought, “Holy overwhelm batgirl, how do all of these pieces of the puzzle fall together?” I have my plan, but then there were snow days and a bad cold, and now I have fallen and I can’t get up.

The one thing I was able to perfect was procrastination. But wait, that’s not in my plan.
There I was, using all of the top procrastination techniques:

• Making lists
• Hello, Facebook
• Let me answer a few emails. . .
• What do you like in your coffee?
• And, how about a snack?

Finally, I realized that the unexpected will always happen.

So why not expect the unexpected and know that I can handle anything that comes my way? (It was a gentle reminder from Louise Hay on my calendar from her.)

Those simple words gave me a new perspective that has shifted my energy from overwhelm to, I got this.

I got this with a knowing that all I need to do is lean into the tools and team that I set up in the first place. When we feel that we can’t do things, we not only make it hard in our minds, we start to recreate the wheel. As much as l love Fred Flintstone, I have a darn good wheel and all it takes are 5 simple steps to move forward.

1. Tap back into my 2014 theme — Reboot! What I love about this theme is that my recovery time of getting back to what is most important has decreased. And, I am gentler on myself, knowing that distraction is part of the dance. How is your theme supporting you in honoring your plan?
2. Intention – Pick 1 or 2 intentions to focus on each day. This allows you to focus on what is most important and actually accomplish a task. Then you can take it off of the list (you know, that list you created when you were procrastinating).
3. Inspired Action – These are actions that are aligned to what is most important to you. Accomplish these actions first and use this momentum to move you through the rest of the day.
4. Allowing – This is where magic can happen. When you let go of control, or how you think things should happen, that is when you can pay attention to ideas, people or options that present themselves to move you towards accomplishing our intention with ease.
5. Celebrate – Taking time to acknowledge yourself or a job well done is a rare commodity these days. We are much better at putting our attention on what we did not complete. Take time each day to reflect on what you did accomplish and do something, anything to celebrate your success!

A perfect example of this is this edition of this newsletter.

I should have had this draft to my wonderful copywriter last week. Yes, I’ve been busy (who hasn’t?), and I’ve continued to move this important and typically delicious task to the bottom of my list.

This morning, instead of beating myself up about this again, I rebooted my thinking. I read my calendar for the day and it inspired me to write. I sat down with my fave music, hot coffee and moved through this process with ease and joy. Now I am on to the next tasty task, knowing that I will relish the foot massage I am going to experience with my friend Linda tonight even more – I’ll feel well used today!

I am back on the path and ready to enjoy the journey.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming of amplifying optimism to boost success-

Enjoy!