I’m just going to throw it out there and say everyone is working towards something. Whatever you’re doing right now will always be in the pursuit of a greater goal. If you go to work, I’m sure you don’t plan on staying an employee. You might have dreams of becoming manager or even boss someday. When you first meet someone, I’m sure you don’t want to stay strangers forever. You should want to get to know that person more and actually become friends.
Everything we do has meaning and a purpose. We’re climbing an imaginary ladder that will go on forever until the day we die. But in regards to the rungs on the ladder itself (the stepping stones towards a goal, if you will), should they be planned out?
One could say that they shouldn’t. “Just do it!” they would say.We should just keeping taking action until we get to where we want in life.
I’m beginning to think the act of planning is being taken for granted and is instead being replaced by regular action. While I do encourage action, just acting is not enough for you to something you’re working towards. You’ll need a definite road map in order to achieve the best and thorough results.
Why simply acting is not good enough
Action is the main driving force behind all deeds good and bad. But that’s really all it is. It forces you to produce something of value, but it doesn’t necessarily move in any direction after the initial push.
To explain:
Little Bobby wants a cookie before dinner so he starts crying. His parents, after much deliberation and annoyance, give in and give Bobby his cookie. Okay, he thinks, I think I’ll just keep crying whenever I want a cookie. And for a while, yes, he keeps getting his cookie. What Bobby doesn’t know, however, is that his parents are catching on to his little game. Soon enough, he cries and cries, but to no avail. Result: No more cookies for Bobby before dinner.
Here’s a more relate-able example:
Ted is trying out for the Olympics as a runner, but instead of setting a regimen for when and how to exercise, he just goes about his exercises based on what he is able to do. He doesn’t count how many of anything (pushups, pullups, situps, jumps, etc.) he can do at one point. He has no idea where his limits lie. To cut a very long story short, he drops out of the Olympics because he had no idea how many laps he was supposed to run and his endurance couldn’t hold up. Result: Ted never did anything but exercise, and that was his biggest mistake.
Why plans increase the output of action tenfold
I realize that the above scenarios are a bit ridiculous, but they do have some truth to them. If Little Bobby was a bit smarter, he would’ve planned to take cookies and save them long before dinner, instead of just crying about it. If Ted only planned ahead for the Olympics, he could have been adequately prepared for the distance required, instead of just going out on a whim.
Plans track progress, and that’s what actions can never do. Think of action as the money and the plans as a bank. If you just keep money under your mattress, do you think it will accrue interest? No, of course not. But if you put it in the bank, it will always gain interest, thereby increasing your profit.
Now do you always need a plan? No, not always. Some simple tasks don’t require them.
But if you’re looking to tackle a bigger long-term goal, remember that there’s a difference between performing your best and performing your absolute best – with an effective plan in mind.
“Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you ready or not, to put this plan into action.” – Napoleon Hill
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17 comments to “Do You Always Need a Plan to Get What You Want?”
Plans are definitely important! I’m sure plenty of great things happen without them, but having one is always a good idea in my opinion.
Good advice. This reminds me of a saying I heard once. It went something like:
“You can’t manage something that you can’t measure.”
By planning, do you mean the act of plotting what your next move is, or is it also evaluating the results that you got from recent action too?
Often the road to our goals are not very straight and linear. When we learn new things, we have to change course. The power to achieve our goals lies in the flexibility to adjust our plans when circumstances change.
Great post! Planning is so often a key part of success. I can’t think of any major success in my life that didn’t come as the result of some planning.
Plans are definitely help to see where you intend to go, lets just not make rules instead of plans!
IndependentHappiness.com
Hey John.
I would say I do some good-quality short-term planning, but much less written down or definitive long-term planning. I can say from the short-term writing and planning that it does work very well and accurately, so I would agree on your message that doing the same for longer-term items should work out just as well.
I’ve been writing a lot down on paper lately and it is almost energizing, and is solid for planning.
Great material here.
Plans direct us to our destination with a sense of necessary confidence. With out a road map you will end up anywhere!
@Dani – Thanks for your thoughts, Dani! Plans are great especially when they’re filled to the brim with detail.
@Clayton – Hey Clayton, glad you could make it. In regards to your question, I mean both planning your actions and evaluating results. If you just act blindly, it’s kind of difficult to track progress or decide the best thing to do next.
I also love your comment about augmenting your plans throughout the journey. Life isn’t set in stone, so neither should your plans.
@Eric – Hey Eric, welcome to the blog! I’m glad you liked this post. Sometimes we focus a bit too much on the action and need to step back a bit and plan for little while our next course of action.
I hope to hear from you again soon!
@Nick – Thanks for your input Nick, and welcome to my humble blog! You, like Clayton, understand that plans shouldn’t be one way all the time. They should always improve because they are ever-changing.
By the way, I appreciate you want to promote your blog, but I’d appreciate if you didn’t link-drop. Try guest posting, instead of arbitrarily dropping links everywhere. Show people the value you can bring, instead of just typing it. Just my two cents.
@Armen – Hey Armen, it’s good to see you! How’s life by the way?
I like your thoughts on planning – very nice. You’ve been planning a lot lately? I hope you’ve been working on something good. We should always be working towards something awesome we hope to one day achieve.
I hope you succeed, man
@Jonathan F. – Hey Jonathan!
Yeah, we don’t want to end up in the middle of nowhere. Remember to never give up and keep planning until we get to our destination.
Rock on, my friend.
I agree wholeheartedly with what you say regarding “only action”~ time for pause and reflection is needed unless we want only to be caught up in our ego.
My lifestyle is minimalistic and so too my planning style…but then my goals are quite simple.
A mandala, a symbol, a dream, a quote or proverb,
a mindmap, a list~ these are my guides for navigation toward goals.
My life is rich with achievements, I am blessed.
Planning is essential, but it is also important to know when to abandon a direction that is not panning out. Sticking to a plan that you feel has little chance of succeeding is unproductive.
For some things, a clear plan is less important than effort. In the running example you gave, I would argue that if the person was putting in 3 to 4 hours of consistent training a day, they would improve substantially regardless of whether or not they had a plan for the Olympics.
Hard work towards a single action, can trump the best laid plans that are half-heartedly undertaken.
Have a direction and some ideas of how to get there, but don’t get bogged down in the details too much.
I can’t imagine living life without SOME plan for SOMEthing. You’re right, the little everyday things we do we do on autopilot really. But the goals? I liken it to getting in the car, having a sense of the direction I’m going in and putting the car in drive. I’m not out driving aimlessly (like Ted). On the journey there may be detours, or distractions, or delays but I still have that car in gear.
Love your posts! Always thought provoking!
You know me… not much of a planner these days. It’s the complete opposite of how I was most of my life, but I find it very liberating to just go with the flow.
Aha….the big PLAN!!!
I leave the planning to God and i just pretty much go with the flow. Its less stressful, cause when there are no expectations there are no disappointments
I used to be very very uptight, but my dear hubby has taught me the fine art of going with the flow. And i tell you, No plan is a pretty good Plan for me
I do have short term goals….but i dont hold a knife to my head if i cant get to them in time ….life is so much more beautiful when lived with a free spirit and less expectations.
I have set some goals for my blog….in time i know i will get to them…but i need to enjoy each an every step. I dont like the stressing to complete something just cause it has to be done..you know what i mean…:)
@Char – It’s great to hear that Char. Sometimes we get caught up in the planning, and sometimes we get caught up in the action. I like your approach – minimalism all the way
@John – Hmm, great points, John. I suppose there would be an increase in the runner’s performance. And it is true that some people make strict-as-nails plans only to halfheartedly follow through with them later. I only say that action shouldn’t be blind and should always be done with your best effort – of course a plan would make it somewhat easier…
@Suzen – I like your thoughts on this one, Suzen. The metaphor with you driving your car onwards no matter where life takes you is especially creative. Glad you took something meaningful out of this post. Thanks so much!
@Lisis – Hey Lisis, glad to see you back on the blogging scene (or at the very least back online)
I know what you mean by not really planning these days. Things have gotten pretty adventurous for you haven’t they? Living a life of freedom is what it’s all about.
@Zeenat – Welcome back Zeenat! How are you?
Just like Lisis and John B. I see. Always be grateful that life can shape you to take things as they come and deal accordingly.
I’m sure you’ll reach any of the goals you set. Happy to have you back!
Set the intent, let it go, and detach from the outcome.
I admit, I’m not much of a planner. I guess it the type B personality in me.
I tend to get afraid that if I “obsess” too much, Ill somehow push what I want or need away from me. I do need to remember that planning or mapping out what I want isn’t an evil thing though! I guess it depends how I go about doing that.
Hi John. One important reason to plan is to make sure your ladder that you are climbing is leaning against the right wall. Good job! Thanks.