It happens. You start a writing plan or a new diet or an exercise plan. Or, a plan to build your business.
And… On Day 1️⃣, your Plan unravels and you end up not even taking the first step. You were so excited. You knew exactly what you were going to do. And you only needed to take that one step.
Just yesterday this happened and I woke up this morning ready to reinvent myself. Not in a good way mind you but in a “Throw it all out the window and rethink it all.”
Here’s my excuse of why I didn’t get my Plan going yesterday.
It’s not that I did nothing. There are four parts to my 2019 business in retirement plan. Build my list, Engage, Publish, and create Online courses. Or BEPO as an acronym to help my memory.
I have a weekly schedule including admin, writing, publishing and some weeks, course content. Yesterday was pretty simple. We have just returned from a month-long trip of a lifetime and I was very excited to start my Plan. But we had booked in-home massages long before we left on the trip. I thought, “No problem.” I’ll work before she comes and after I’m done and we timed who went first so I could do just that.
I finished all of my monthly admin work before our massage therapist arrived. (The one thing I did complete!) We had mini pedi’s on our lanai. And then my massage.
Oh, it was so good. It seemed to go on forever. When my time was up, all I wanted to do was climb into bed and luxuriate with the feeling of complete relaxation and maybe even fall asleep.
I knew it was time to write. I had several posts on my list to complete. So, I thought I’d have lunch and read the novel I was into and then write.
I’m semiretired you know. I get to choose!!
Bottom line, I got nothing more done all day and at the time, with no regrets.
Until I woke up this morning feeling like I had failed myself.
That’s when the “throw it all out the window” thinking hijacked my mind.
After a few moments of consideration, I realized how foolish this was and I forced myself to get up and get to the beach where I start each day, knowing the answer would come to me.
Realistically, I will have a hard time catching up today because I have my clients but there are windows of opportunity before and between the appointments. As a bonus, I know talking with my clients invigorates and motivates me. I mean, it’s counterproductive to cheer them on if I’m not moving forward myself.
I know I can get the minimum done that will move me closer to being on track. I can also flip a few things around in the next few days so that all is not lost.
The Answer
I had promised myself during out trip when I refined my 2019 goal I would not deviate from the Plan for at least three months.
And I spent a lot of time and energy on the Plan. How do I know it’s a good one if I don’t give it a solid attempt? Why cast it aside after one day where I did not get to check off the boxes?
I suggest to you no matter if you are an entrepreneur at 20 or 70, when this happens and your Plan is thwarted for any reason, don’t give up. Ask yourself, what is the one thing you CAN do today that takes you one step closer to your goal. Even if it’s a 10 minute task. We can all manage 10 minutes.
While you’re at it, decide on the one step you will take tomorrow so that no time is wasted deciding what do do first.
And give yourself a break and take time to smell the flowers.
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