Does it feel like you need to have a detailed plan when you’re at the start of a new adventure?
Perhaps a switch of career, or a new job, or a sabbatical, maybe even a gap year.
So you don’t have to sit with the uncertainty.
And so other people don’t worry about you?
When we think about what we want to create in our lives, and how we can get there, it can be super tempting to try and create a straight line between here and there.
If we can’t see all the steps it can feel like we’re not going to make it.
And so our brain really wants to decide on on a plan, and stick to it.
To create it all before we start.
It’s a really common way to help us feel safe and in control. And yet…it’s impossible to do.
How can we map out a full plan when we’re going somewhere we’ve never been before?
We don’t have a crystal ball.
We’re trying to make decisions from experience we don’t have yet.
And yet we expect ourselves - and others - to have it all figured out ahead of time.
So we design at the whiteboard.
We create a beautiful project plan.
We map out a full itinerary.
Based on what we can see in a straight line from our starting point.
And then feel like a failure when it doesn’t work out the way we expected.
So what do we do?
We can create a framework based on what we can see, and give ourselves permission to change course along the way.
We can have…
A sense of the destination we want to get to.
A skeleton of the journey, and what we might need to get there.
A plan for the first phase.
A reflection point - to pause, check where we are, and redirect.
A support structure to help us along the way.
This last one can make all the difference. In the photo I’m about to head off on a trip to India after A-levels. The people I travelled with and those I met along the way supported me, opened my eyes and kept my laughing. It changed the direction of my life in a way I couldn’t have imagined before I went. What a gift.
Are you trying to plan in a straight line?
What if it’s ok not to have it all planned out?
What if it’s ok to have a destination, a starting point and a sense of adventure?
Wishing you all an adventurous week,
