Why Your Career Plan Isn’t Working

Hi there – wanna know how I spent my date night with Dan this weekend?

I’ll give you a hint: it involved a spreadsheet!

(OMG - talk about a steamy Friday night 😍)

Not only that, we were at my mom’s house. 

(it just gets better, doesn’t it?!)

Now why, you might ask, did we spend date night at my mom’s kitchen island, hunched over a spreadsheet and a bowl of chips?

It was our Monthly Money Meeting.

That’s right – once a month, Dan and I get out of our house and move to a new location (this time, mom’s) to review our numbers: what we’ve spent, what we’ve saved, where we might need to cut, and what we want to budget for. 

In short, we use the time to review and to plan.

Everybody loves a plan, don’t they?

In fact, that’s the #1 thing people come to me asking for when they’re exploring coaching: “I just want to have a plan.”

Why is it so important to us to have a plan?

I have a lot of theories about this. And most of them actually involve the perceived sense of safety that plans give us. Here’s how I see it:

Making change can feel like walking a tightrope suspended between two skyscrapers. Having a plan makes us feel like we’ve got our safety harness on.

But here’s where ‘having a plan’ starts to fall down.

If we extend the tightrope metaphor, probably the toughest part about navigating change is the uncertainty we experience along the way.

  • Gusts of wind blow by us with doubt and questions like, “Is this the right choice?”

  • Our balance wobbles as we start to take action and meet resistance.

  • A bird flies right in front of us, begging us to consider a completely different option.

In short: we love a good plan because it makes us feel safe. AND also, a plan isn’t the only thing that gets you from one skyscraper to the other.

Even our monthly money plan only works up to a point.

What actually matters is the day-to-day implementation of that plan.

  • The vision that helps us confidently trust that we’re making the right choice.

  • The course-correcting that happens as we take action and learn what works and what doesn’t.

  • The mindset work, plus external support and accountability, that helps us stay focused on what we’re aiming for and not get distracted by shiny objects.

We all love a good plan. AND to achieve the change you want, you have to consider the entire ecosystem that surrounds it.

Today, consider what plans you’re making right now – and ask yourself, with honesty and compassion: is your plan working?

If not, where are you faltering? 

And what kind of support do you and your plan need to cross that chasm and get to your goal on the other side?

Onward,

 

PS: If you’d like my help to craft your plan – and take real action on it right now – snag your coaching session bundle during my subscriber-only sale! 

Quantities are limited – and only available through this Wednesday at 11:59pm ET.

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My $250,000 Mistake

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The Most Surprising Benefit of Coaching