Wednesday Wisdom: To Plan or Not to Plan

Wednesday Wisdom for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Companies

As another year closes its doors and opens another one Sunday, we might be pressured to construct the best New Year’s Resolution list we’ve ever had for our lives and companies. But what I learned in 2022, four months into the year, as I flew from a flying trapeze high above the ground in Rochester, was a big new goal can be hatched in the most unusual spaces at any time.

I liken what happened to me on the trapeze to one of Harry S. Truman’s quotes, “You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one. I don’t believe in little plans. I believe in plans big enough to meet a situation which we can’t possibly foresee now.” Most of us aren’t seers or cradle crystal balls in our hands to gaze upon the next year and see what unfolds, all we have is our imagination.

In the past, only 25% of my annual resolutions or goals came true when I reviewed them even though it was exhilarating imagining myself 20 pounds lighter, running another marathon, traveling abroad, increasing my membership numbers, and seeing myself with a full head of hair again. But honestly it was equally exciting remembering the places I went, people I saw, and things I accomplished unexpectedly as they popped up during the year.

So today as you ponder this last Wednesday Wisdom of 2022, I ask you to consider whether you want to plan and set goals for the new year or let life take you for a ride? Maybe you can plan for your business, but let your personal life just flow or vice versa. If you are anxious about not having a plan, then do one and realize that every quarter you should look at it and cross off what you’ve accomplished or add new goals that have bubbled up due to your interest or outside circumstances.

If you are like me, you might want to let life just happen best you can and embrace the unexpected moments. As Stephen King said, “You Can. You Should. And If You are Brave Enough to Start. You will.”

May 2023 bring you unexpected pleasures and successes you couldn’t have imagined today.