I have a confession to make. I’ve got a little bit of a potty mouth. It’s TRUE! I’ve been fascinated with profane language since I was a kid and my mama did a LOT of praying over me because of it. I would say there’s nothing like a well placed F bomb to make a point; no matter how extensive my vocabulary. Gah! It’s true…judge me now and get it over with, okay?
But right now I want to talk with you about another curse word. It’s one that is familiar to all of us… the necessity of having a PLAN. There. I *said* it. PLAN!
So the other day on Facebook I wrote a post about one of the downsides I’ve faced as an entrepreneur – gaining weight.
LAWD! Mercy y’all I’ve gained like 20 lbs in the last year and it SUCKS. So I said (out loud) that I need to lose some weight but admittedly I had no real plan on how I was going to do it. Now as your resident fab fundraiser I can’t carry around 20 extra pounds; it’s not a Gucci bag after all. So I had to get started on a plan that I could do with my hectic schedule.
What is it about a plan that makes us gasp with anxiety ridden breathlessness? It happens to the best of us (even those of us who identify as planners). The idea that you have to actually sit down, get some paper out (or your tablet) and write down action steps to get you to your goal scares the bejeezus out of almost all of us. And if you’re one of those people who just LOVE planning…everyone is rolling their eyes at you so just forward my email — and your judgement — to that friend, colleague or boss who needs these tips on how to plan well and survive. Mmmmkay? Let’s continue.
Now I’m not special okay, so sometimes I struggle like everyone else — even at the things I am really good at. So I did some digging (b.k.a. reading, talking to people and searching the internet). Here are 3 (consistent) things I discovered about the benefit of having a great plan that will help you crush your goals whether you are trying to lose weight, find a new gig, raise more money or start a new adventure.
Having a good plan:
- Get’s you clear and snatches you right together. If you want me to be fancy about it, it means you have specific goals and objectives that drive your action steps. In my case, it’s not enough to say “I’ve got to lose some weight”; I have to be clear about how much and by when. So Kishshana is losing at LEAST 20 big ones before 2017 is over.
- Ups your accountability meter. Now no one (really) wants people all up in their business, but when you are on the hook to someone else – whether it’s your boo, your bestie or your boss – you’re more likely to follow through. We don’t want to disappoint people. So ya’ll follow me on IG and Twitter and make sure I am following through on losing this weight. I mean it!
- You’ll get the “New Idea” endorphin high. When you have a plan and give yourself time to ask “why does any of this even matter?” you will find that you have more frequent breakthroughs and *eureka* moments. And there is nothing like the joy that comes with a new discovery; especially one that has real benefit to you or is in service to others. When I spent some time doing business planning the other day, I came up with some really creative ideas to support my clients because I’d clearly mapped out the work that I needed to do. I made space (literally and figuratively) in my business because I had a roadmap to follow that was a result of asking myself some tough questions.
Now I’m not gonna lie and promise you this is a fool proof method. You’ve got to be committed to the plan AND the execution. So before you take one step – get your mind right! Planning provides a safe place for thinking about “what’s possible” because you aren’t doing things all willy nilly. You have focus, clarity and action steps to get you where you want to go.
So PLAN – it’s the best four letter word you’ll ever use! Write me back and tell me 1 thing you need help planning right now.
XoXo,
Kishshana
