How do you plan for success?

Do you have a strategy or is it a daily challenge?

Whether it's in life or business, planning how you are going to achieve success is critical.  I was speaking with friend the other day and we both have a long list of things we wanted to get done this year when it come our corporate work and our own businesses.  As we were talking about what we were planning, or needed to get done, the feeling of overwhelm started to creep in.  You know feeling when your head starts to get a numb because you can't actually work out exactly how you think you're going to make this happen?

At times everything just seems so big and consuming.  It may be a situation at home that leaves you with a rock in the pit of your stomach, or it could be an assignment that is due too soon for your liking.  For me it's knowing that I'm trying to run two races at the same time and at the same speed, which is never a good thing.

We have to plan what areas of our life we want to focus on, because if we try to focus on everything at once, then nothing will get done well.  That isn't to stay that you can't do multiple things, it's just planning out what is priority, what will provide you with the best payoff that you need right now and what can wait for a while that isn't on your burning platform.

I struggled this week to make a decision to postpone something I've been wanting to do for some time.  But if I had booked the course, it would have potentially tipped me over the edge of my capacity and then all the balls could have come crashing down.

Can it wait 5 months?  Yes it can.

Am I happy about it?  No, not at all but acknowledging what you want to achieve and planning what you can take on now and what might have to wait a few months is part of the journey.

So if you have multiple things on your big ‘to do list', and I'm not just talking tasks, then write them all down, know how you want to feel and what your capacity is and plan accordingly.  What may happen is that you take something off the table that you're doing right now that won't serve you in the longer term in order to get what you need and  want to get done today.

Planning for success is about managing your own needs as well as managing the big tasks and life's small day to day tasks.  Your mental, physical and spiritual wellness should always come first and the rest will follow.   Be kind to yourself.  Laugh hard at least once a week.  Feel the wind in your face and take a deep breathe and remember that you can manage it all if you plan, prioritize and practice patience.