You Gotta Have a Plan

Kitty Boitnott, Ph.D., NBCT, RScP

Career Transition & Job Search Coach | Career "Makeover" Coach

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I am an "organizer" as opposed to a "planner." By that, I mean, I like to keep things orderly and well organized, but as far as being a great planner or having a long-range plan, I am not as talented in that area. That doesn't stop me from appreciating a good plan, however, or perhaps even more to the point, appreciating a well-executed plan.

I worked with a guy a few years ago who was the ultimate planner. He planned everything down to the minutest detail. He thought of everything. Not only did he have a plan, but he also had a contingency plan (Plan B), a backup plan (Plan C) and a disaster plan (Plan D). I sometimes thought he was a little compulsive about his need to plan for every single contingency. He trusted nothing to chance. I wish he had been around this past weekend when I attended a major conference. Someone there failed to make a backup plan, and the whole afternoon got lost to the chaos that resulted from it.

That experience reminded of the importance of proper planning. When you are planning anything, whether it is your next vacation or how you plan to live out your retirement years, you probably need a Plan B at least. What if something unexpected pops up, after all? What if some unforeseen, totally random event occurs that keeps you from your original plan?

Many of us live our lives this way, don't we? We kind of sort of plan for our future without thinking too much about the details, and when things happen to knock us off our plan, we go with the flow. Fifteen years later, we look back and realize we are far from our original goal. Our "plan" has failed us because we didn't create a contingency plan and we didn't get ourselves back on track.

John Lennon famously said, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

Wherever you are in your life and whatever it is you are doing, I want to urge you to remember that you need a plan. And, you also need a Plan B, just in case things don't go the way you think they will. Life is funny about throwing you a curve ball. You should be prepared for it. I was reminded of that this weekend, and I am going to do a better job of planning in the future.

Until next time.

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