Where’d that plan get you?

One of the great things about FORCED change — when the rug’s pulled out from under you — is that you have no choice BUT to test, learn, and grow.

To change.

Take risks.

Explore and discover new options.

• New ways of doing and being you hadn’t thought of before.

Or HAD thought of but never put in motion.

Change is inevitable.

You’re in a no man’s land and HAVE to find your way to the other side.

That’s unless you choose to stay stuck.

Or worse, careen downward on an endless spiral.

I’ve had lots of forced identity transitions in my life.

In later years, I recognized that planning can only get you so far.

I have two masters degrees in planning. lol

But later, I learned to be comfortable making decisions based on incomplete plans.

To be comfortable being uncomfortable.

I discovered that next steps reveal themselves once I’m in motion.

• That at some point, a plan will most certainly expire its usefulness.

Reveal it was only, COULD only have been, a half-plan.

That a comprehensive plan is a fantasy.

Doesn’t exist.

So I bit the bullet and stopped planning so much.

And this set me free.

My son worries about this change.

“What the heck, Mom!!?!!”

But I don’t. I love it.

I used to think accurately diagnosing the problem was the best way forward.

That from a comprehensive assessment I could develop an effective and efficient plan forward.

• But I also learned a little trick psychotherapists use — take the presenting problem with a grain of salt.

They know there’s more to the story.

Diagnosis and planning ARE important, but can’t give all the information needed.

We have to gather NEW data by moving forward so we can discover it.

• We discover new data by being in motion, not reflecting on what already is.

What’s a plan that turned out very differently than expected once you implemented it?

Once I discovered a career path that I was 100% committed to (public health), I inadvertently discovered social work.

Fortunately.

Because although I love public health’s mission — preventing vs. treating health problems — I never would’ve have had the political acumen needed to excel in that field.

But it was only through a string of unplanned events that led me to even discover social work. 🥹

—Julie