2020 PLANS

Who’s 2020 plan has gone, well… according to plan? Yours did? Okay then, you can stop reading. For all the rest of us, let’s chat.

Let me give you a quick rundown of my 2020 plan…

First according to plan, my coaching business is 25 clients deep. Next according to plan, the boys are IN school as well as playing sports with all of their friends on the fields near our house. Lastly, according to plan I actually FOLLOWED the 2020 blog script which I laid out at the end of 2019.

Of the above, guess how many went according to plan? I’ll give you a hint. ZERO. Zilch. Nada.  It should be noted, none of these things did or are happening the way I planned.

Even so, has this been catastrophic? Nope.

In fact, there have been a lot of opportunities and wins rising from the ashes of 2020.  Definitely extra family time (too much? maybe at times!). Stories told from perspectives I, without a doubt, didn’t have a year ago. Last but not least, learning more about my niche for coaching which I’m quite certain wouldn’t have been fully discovered according to plan.

Furthermore, master plans, game plans, schemes, plans of action, intentions, and methods are just, well… plans. I heard this riddle the other day.

There are four frogs sitting on a lily pad. Three decide to jump off. How many are still on the lily pad?

Answer: 4.

Deciding is vastly different than putting plans into action. Touché riddle master!

WHAT IS TO BLAME?

It’s easy, in this case, to blame a global pandemic on A LOT of things. On some level and for some circumstances, it absolutely IS accurate to blame.

But IS IT? I ask clients all the time why they haven’t moved to action and can tell you exactly 0% of the time so far has global pandemic been a legit reason. Just sayin’….

Nonetheless, even with our best thought out plans and also moving into the action phase, sometimes the Universe has a different idea.

Case in point, my plan years ago had NOTHING in it about writing a blog. Definitely nothing about starting my own business. Especially not a career outside of the sports world I had known for so long.

Despite all of this, here I am. And you want to know something crazy? Even though NONE of this was a part of my plan…. I’m happy. WHOA. I know. Plans NOT working out can actually lead to happiness?!?!? SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

Nevertheless, the insanely organized planner self I am can now admit the curveballs and best laid plans falling through have actually led me to a happier place.

What if plans falling through are the Universe’s way of resetting our course down a path of opportunity?

FAILED PLANS OR LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES?

With this in mind, what are the plans you feel are currently failing?

I’ve heard from a number of moms who feel the pressure of trying to juggle a career on top of virtual school makes them feel like a failure.

First off, we could jump right into the typical response of, “NO! You are not failing. This is HARD. Do your best. You ARE doing your personal best every day.”

While this would all be TRUE and completely valid; it likely doesn’t help much beyond hearing the words initially.

“Appreciate it, but your words aren’t SOLVING anything.”

What if we instead work on completely shifting our mindset around what failed plans mean? Before I get all “coach-y” on you (Jake’s words by the way), I simply mean we look at this from a lens of opportunity versus failure. Plain and simple.

Okay fair, maybe not simple at first, but really not terribly hard to make it a habit, then it becomes simple.

For those of you questioning creating a new habit, strap in. It should be noted, it takes around 90 days to create a habit. You’ve got this!

KIDS AND PLANS

Proof of this thing called failed plans. Think back for a moment to your pre-kid thoughts on having kids. From birth, we have plans for them. Some very sweet and cute little plans. On the contrary, others likely falling in the asinine category! Let’s be honest, we had no idea what the hell we were talking about.

We laugh at ourselves later about our best laid plans with infants…. Hello baby wipe warmers???? Does anyone actually use those things?

I would venture to guess plans go awry more than they go according to plan. Amiright?!?

On the other hand, might that be the point? Can’t we learn and grow arguably more from plans going awry than according to plan?

To demonstrate, Jake was on his way to walking by the one-year mark. Sweet! And then…. An ice storm.

On a cold January evening, I innocently stepped out of the garage with him on my hip. Afterall, he wanted to touch the snow! Then BAM. Next thing I know, we’re both on the ground.

Him: screaming like crazy.

Me: dazed and confused.

ER visit revealed a fracture in his leg. An itty-bitty cast later, our plan of him walking by his first birthday now gone awry. Additionally, me with a slight concussion.

Jake showing off his cast just before his 1-year birthday

Ironically, this was a great pre-curser to Bryce. Talking would come ON HIS OWN TERMS… not according to any milestone gurus.

It should be noted, I also don’t carry kids while walking on ice anymore! #jokingnotjoking

2020 SURVIVAL

2020 has been a lesson on survival of the nimble. Too tied to your plans and how things are “supposed” to go? Consequently, you probably will view 2020 as a fail. Instead though, what if we looked at this year as one of opportunity?

Speaking from one planner extraordinaire to another, my failed plans of the past have become some of my greatest stories. My personal triumphs and examples of perseverance. Consequently, some hilarious stories. Even the catalysts leading to my happiest state of being.

WHOA.

Let’s discuss the Zoom call gone awry. Following the dog barking during your sales pitch. Even the missed assignments in virtual school. Likewise, yelling in the background AT one son WHILE your other son is on a class Zoom (who would do that?!?! ME… it was me!).

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK!

You have a new plan. This plan is a plan to embrace the unplanned. (not going to lie, I wanted to see how many times I could get plan into that sentence.)

NEW ACCORDING TO PLAN

Plans move us forward, so by no stretch of the imagination am I telling you not to have a plan. This thought actually makes me start to sweat and envision a life of mayhem. BAH! Can’t handle it.

Instead though, I’m asking you to EMBRACE when a plan goes awry. Sure, you can have a moment of cursing all the effects of it going terribly wrong. Afterall, you’re only human.

But then STOP. (anyone else’s mind go to- collaborate and listen, Ice is back with my brand new invention…. If you didn’t, NOW you did! LOL.)

Obviously, not everything has been rainbows and sunshine in 2020. My point though, is if we look for the opportunity in what this year has provided, low and behold we just might find a cute little rainbow. Conversely, focusing on the negative day in day out just feeds us to find more of the negative.

Plans. I mean for real, who follows them anyway.

Take a moment and ask yourself what the opportunity is right now. Seriously, what is ONE opportunity?

Is this going to make a great story for your next wine night? Amazing. Did you just discover you are actually better at something than you gave yourself credit for? Boom. Did you just enjoy yourself for a moment? Ah snap.

OPPORTUNITY- ACCORDING TO PLAN

When we make a habit of seeking the opportunity in a plan going awry, we shift our mindset. We look for opportunity not only when things go according to plan, but also when low and behold, a global pandemic happens, and we go off script on EVERY SINGLE BLOG POST.

Opportunity knocks. Unfortunately, we sometimes decide to ignore the knocking and just get angry. While understandable, what if after a moment of annoyance, we shifted? Additionally, we followed a newly created habit.

According to our new plan, we possess an innate ability to adapt to our plan going awry. Furthermore, to see opportunity in something better than we could have ever imagined.

How great will it be to discover an amazing opportunity you never would have witnessed if everything went according to plan?

Keep moving forward momma. Create your new habit. Embrace what’s around the corner. I know it’s going to lead to something amazing. If nothing else, it’s an opportunity for an awesome story!

One more thing, stop counting down the days in 2020 but rather make the days count. You have 134 days of OPPORTUNITY left in 2020. According to plan we have an amazing opportunity around the corner, if only we’re open to receiving it.

Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances. You are a child of God. Stand up straight.

 

– Maya Angelou