Navigating the Planning Paradox
Balancing planning and spontaneity to unlock meaningful progress.
Every Sunday, Prompted delivers insights and prompts designed to help readers become a bit better each day.
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Plans are nothing; planning is everything.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
We’re prone to praising those who live at the extremes.
The unorganized look longingly at the rigid planners who create a roadmap for their lives and execute it with surgical precision. The planners marvel at the carefree and spontaneous who have a fluid approach to their path in life.
The grass always seems greener on the other side, but we need both of these skill sets to improve our lives.
Trying to become better can’t be reduced to a plan, but without a plan, we won’t be able to progress forward consistently.
Too much spontaneity can leave us directionless, never able to muster the momentum needed to make meaningful progress.
The best approach lies in the middle ground—planning to keep us moving forward while remaining open to shifting circumstances.
Gravitating to the extremes
Despite the importance of balance between these extremes, our instinctual reaction is to embrace and chase one or the other.
We often become convinced the answer to all our problems lies in the perfectly crafted plan or the entirely unencumbered life. This is the same fallacy that leads us to believe we’ll be happy once we have a certain amount of sitting in the bank.
These simple and idealistic visions for our endlessly complex and dynamic lives are an easy way to think, but they always leave us chasing something that doesn't exist.
A perfect plan is a great thing to strive for and provides much-needed direction and structure in our lives, but it’s beholden to the quality of our execution and our ability to adapt. If we don’t execute or circumstances change, adhering to our plan is like trying to steer a car that’s not moving.
Living our lives with a completely fluid approach allows us to take advantage of any opportunity that pops up and do more of what we want, but it leaves us rudderless and prone to shiny object syndrome. Without structure and direction, we’re left to the whim of our environment and vulnerable to the easy choice instead of the right choice.
Finding the middle ground
This juxtaposition is the Planning Paradox. Rigidity and fluidity are equally virtues and flaws. We need a balance of both to consistently become a bit better each day.
Effectively navigating the Planning Paradox is like sailing; we should set a course but remain ready to adjust the sails as things change throughout our journey.
We should make plans while recognizing their limits—understanding that the plan itself might be irrelevant the moment we begin, but the act of planning prepares us to face whatever may come.
Meaningful progress happens when we realize that planning is essential, but our plans are irrelevant.
When we take deliberate steps to balance a rigid and fluid approach to becoming better, we give ourselves the structure and direction required for consistent progress and make room for improvement that isn’t expected but must be welcomed.
Prompts
Are you more rigid or fluid in your approach to life?
What’s a recent example of a strong leaning in one direction or the other that’s held you back from the outcomes you wanted?
How can you better balance these extremes in the most important areas of your life?
Deep Dive
The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander
Exploring the art of reframing experiences to find openness within the structure of our plans.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin