Every Sunday night we ask our members to “Touch Base”.
It takes about 20 seconds to let us know how they’re doing, take stock and flag if they need any extra support.
Then they set a Plan for the week ahead, taking into account their commitments and challenges.
We check back in at the end of the week to see how they got on.
Most members do it.
But not all.
And, in most cases, when I talk to people about why they don’t use the system, the answers are similar;
“I like to go with the flow”.
“I do enough planning with work”.
“I like a bit more freedom”.
“I don’t like to plan everything”.
And I get this.
I really do.
Planning is pretty boring, isn’t it?
It can feel restrictive too, can’t it?
But…….
It’s worth remembering that, in reality, there’s always a plan.
If we don’t make a different plan, our default behaviour is the plan.
Which is fine.
Until it isn’t.
If our default behaviour is working for us, let’s crack on.
If it’s not, a different plan is always part of the change.
Vaguely telling ourselves “I know what I need to do, I just need to do it” will go the same way it did every other time.
Telling ourselves we’re “too busy” is madness when you think about it.
“I don’t have enough time to make better use of my time”.
What often happens when we’re reluctant to create more concrete plans………….
Is…………..
That we don’t want to create the conditions of perceived failure.
When we decide on a course of action, we’re creating the possibility that it won’t happen and we’ll feel bad.
Tell ourselves that we’ve “failed”.
The thing is, of course, that whilst it won’t always happen if we plan it………
It’s even less likely to happen if we don’t plan it.
The not planning doesn’t remove that “failure”.
It just hides it.
Not setting the conditions of perceived failure doesn’t stop the “failure” bit……….
It just stops the “perceived” bit.
That choice to make a plan is often a brave one.
It’s easier not to.
Sometimes ‘going with the flow’ gives us somewhere convenient to hide.
Making a plan means being willing to find out whether you actually did it.
Much love,
Jon ‘9 from Outer Space’ Hall
P.S. If you’d benefit from having an actual plan each week — and someone who’ll notice whether you followed it — that’s a big part of what we do. www.myrise.co.uk/apply to find out more about that.
