You get excited over new notebooks. The idea of a clean slate and the ability to start fresh is exhilarating but you might also feel like you are not making progress towards the big goals you want to accomplish in this life.
Constantly planning your life is a form of procrastination but its sneaky because you feel like you are taking action with that amazing plan but in reality you are sitting and planning (probably overthinking too) instead of doing the thing you want to do.
For example, writing this blog post. I had the title of this blog post in my calendar “why am I constantly planning my life” but I didn’t schedule any time to actually sit down and write it. I felt like I had made progress because the next month had “blog post 1” and “blog post 2” on the dates I want the blogs to go live. However, I had a handful of other engagements that I did not account for so now I am writing this blog post on the fly. Not a bad thing but could I have worked on this blog post for 20 minutes a day to get it done well in advance? Yes. Maybe I could have schedule in an hour session on the weekend to write the outlines of all my next months blog posts because that is taking action over planning.
Why are you constantly planning your life?
- Planning is safe.
Planning your life requires you to stay the exact same. You are not challenging yourself when you start planning. Honestly, I struggle with this because I love planning. I even want to start doing Plan with Me’s on YouTube again but the issue I am having is… will I execute the plans I say I am going to or will it just be another list of to do’s instead of done’s. Only time will tell!
- Planning is procrastination.
When planning prevents you from taking action. You are procrastinating. If you want to start doing at home YouTube workouts so you spend an hour picking what videos you will do, when you will fit them into your schedule instead of turning a workout on and completing it.
Here are 6 YouTube Workout’s You Can Do This Week. The plan is made for you, all you have to do is show up.
- Planning is a quick win.
Creating a vision board or planning your next week feels good. It’s exciting and gives you hope that this time you will stick to the plan. But executing it is tomorrow’s problem. Making the plan fills you with satisfaction because you don’t have to do anything right now. Delayed gratification is chasing you but you are faster.
Instead of celebrating the plan, celebrate the action. You can sit down for an hour and plan out your new daily habits but once that hour is done take action. Once you complete a daily habit, hype yourself up!
By celebrating the action over the plan you are telling your brain to feel good when you do the things you say you are going to do.
How do you execute your plans when you have never been consistent a day in your life?
- Break the cycle.
Well duh, Marissa. If I could break the cycle I would have done that eons ago! I don’t mean change who you are fundamentally with a snap of your fingers. Breaking the cycle to show up for your habits is easier than you thing. Do something completely different today. Sleep the other way on your bed. Wear earrings if you have never done so before. Sit in a different seat in class. Go to a different drive thru on your way to work.
This part doesn’t have to connect with your specific plan but you have to break the cycle of monotony to teach yourself that you can handle something new. These are simple every day things you do that you shift slightly. It will feel a little uncomfortable at first but that shift is exactly what you need in order to start executing your plans.
- Dissect your perfectionism
Another reason you plan vs take action is your need to be perfect. To never break the streak. If your plan is to workout for 30 days straight but on day 14 you miss a workout so you never workout again. That is not beneficial to your long term goals now is it. But if you did 28 out of 30 workouts in a month. That is still an A if you need a grade to feel good. This is going to take a lot of effort. The need to be perfect is the silent killer of your dreams. Be imperfect.
To get started on this is to prepare yourself to fail. Say things like “I probably won’t stick to a 75 day challenge but I am going to see how many days I can do.” Or “If I miss a day, I will get back up the next day.”
It’s all about how you react in the moment to disruptions to your plans.
- Shorten the time between planning and action
I bet you’ve made plans on a Saturday with the intention of changing your life on Monday or the first of the month or the first of the year. What would happen if you made a plan on Saturday and took action the same day. What is something you want to accomplish in your life? And how can you do one small thing right now.
This third tip is a combination of breaking the cycle and being imperfect because you have to start right now. You are doing something different without all the supplies or outfit or thing you said you needed before you can start your plan.
In the end, planning is a great tool to give you insight into the future but use it ONLY as a tool. See it as a stepping stone required to achieve your dream life. This is your sign to make just one more plan and then start executing it.
I bet you already have a plan in your notes app or that random notebook in your drawer, dust it off and get going.
Happy creating!