Monday Motivation for Entrepreneurs – Planning for the Unexpected

“No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected” is the quote on my inspirational calendar this morning. The quote was said by Julius Caesar. The saying resonated with me as a woman entrepreneur, 30 year event planner, female athlete, and 54 year old bald woman dealing with Alopecia. It is impossible to plan for the unexpected so planning is imperative to survive when unexpected situations arise.

This may not sound like the perfect Monday Motivation topic you were looking for to lift your spirits but the point is most days are uneventful and taken for granted until something arises we aren’t prepared for that interrupts our lives with a sudden change of plans. As a woman entrepreneur with the freedom to alter her schedule when she wants, there are still times when something unexpected takes me off track interrupting my best laid plans.

As a thirty year event planner, I know I can plan for everything but the unexpected occurrences that always arise in the scheme of planning events. I’ve faced challenges when a gym holding 500 people lost its lights at night darkening the room and panicking the audience or having a thunderstorm approach as a bride walks down an outside wedding aisle. If you have planned everything perfectly then the only thing you can do when an emergency occurs is have the mental ability to handle the challenge. Mental toughness is hard to teach unless you’ve experienced enough difficult situations.

I needed to take a break from my business only four times in my two decade career. Twice when faced with Alopecia that stripped me of all my hair, once when my father had a massive stroke in Maine and died six days later and when my stepmother entered hospice care a year ago. I had to retreat from work to deal with personal situations I could not ignore. With a clear communications plan aided by great technology today, understanding customers and a tenacious work ethic proving I was not taking time away for anything more than an emergency, I survived in business with no regrets for the time I took away from my desk.

Sanibel Island, Florida photograph by Tracy C. Higginbotham