“Good planning without good working is nothing.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
I had it all planned out the night before. A medium-sized list of things to do. And I must say, it looked good on paper.
The bullet points were aligned just so. My handwriting was the best it had been in four months. (Maybe I was eating too much sugar?) I even wrote it under a soft, warm desk lamp.
When I crawled into bed and shut my eyes, I knew I set myself up for success because, you know, I planned for the next day.
Then I woke up.
Every word written the night before was suddenly hideous to me. I thought of a million other things I could do instead. I picked one. Then I did that thing.
You see, it wasn’t just about planning.
It was about executing.
The moment we associate success with jotting down a list of to-do’s, taking a picture of it, and showing it to your 6-year-old niece, we’ve missed the point.
Success is a verb.
Most of us have an idea of what we want the future to look like. We have these massive dreams that almost always involve a ton of money and a scenic view.
But how many of us are willing to do the work, the hard stuff?
Not many. For the most part, we want instant success. If we can’t see it right away, we’re less likely to follow through on our goals.
When we step back and look at the grand scheme of things, we see that success is constantly active. It’s not embedded in an unhealthy workaholic culture that doesn't rest. But it does cause us to get our hands dirty.
For this reason, planning is not enough. We need other components to launch out on the right foot. These are the basic fundamentals that come with creating substance worth absorbing.
People love to sit down and map out what they want to happen. But that doesn’t make it a reality. Some action must follow. And I’d be lying through my teeth if I said it’s as easy as some folks make it seem.
Water your confidence.
With more content to stare at than ever before, most of us are satisfied with doubting ourselves and our potential. Judging our abilities by the next person, we feel most inadequate.
For this reason, it’s important to take time to evaluate the health of your self-perception. If this is off base, you’re sure to end up flat on your face with a box of Kleenex next to you.
How many times have you taken your eyes off of what you’re working on to search for “inspiration” elsewhere?
Chances are it happens more often than you’d care to admit. I’ve done it myself, and I’m now getting the gist of why we should spend less time doing this. You start doubting yourself if you aren’t careful.
Every single word on that page becomes an eyesore, something so disgusting you don’t even want to be associated with it. Suddenly, you aren’t cut out for this anymore.
Or so you think.
How about you do this before launching out into the world of inspiration: Work on what’s in your head at that moment. Don’t second guess it. Just air it out.
Barbara Markway Ph.D. puts it this way:
“Perfectionism is another form of faulty thinking that contributes to low self-confidence. If we believe we have to have something all figured out before we take action, those thoughts can keep us from doing the things we value.”
This action expresses the fact that you believe in yourself. You see the potential and resist the temptation of holding back. Making this a habit will build self-confidence in your ability to create.
Get back on your feet.
Now I’m not saying you’re wasting your time by planning. That certainly has a place in our lives. We need structure. We need balance.
Planning allows for a guided pursuit instead of one aimed at the air.
At the same time, though, we can’t become complacent by simply jotting down a carefully constructed plan in our new journals.
The reality is there’s no process without action. There must be steps taken if you want to take it to the next level. And yes, it will involve failure.
But according to Marty Nemko Ph.D., the difference between people who allow failure to define them and those who don’t is found in their willingness to “force themselves, yes force themselves, to rebound, not wallow. They see if there’s a lesson to be learned from the failure and then resolve to succeed at something at least as big.”
This is what makes it so challenging yet so rewarding simultaneously. We have to be willing to move. Without it, we’re just coloring with crayons and sticking our finished pictures on the wall for everyone to see.
Always remind yourself that those sharp turns are leading somewhere worthwhile. Remind yourself that those potholes are making you stronger, not weaker. Trust the process.
Trust your work.
Building off of the initial point of believing in yourself first, there’s also the crucial choice of believing in your work. The key is doing this before you even begin taking any steps.
It’s one thing to start hammering away at an idea you know is gold. It’s a game-changer when you have unwavering confidence in it without actually seeing it yet.
Don’t get me wrong, you’re not going to morph into this overnight. It may take some time before you get to the point where you work on something because you believe in it, regardless of whether or not anyone else does.
But it’s a good step in the right direction.
People are more willing to listen to someone who believes in their work than someone who doubts everything about it.
Of course, you’ll have to ignore the noise. You’ll have to focus less on consuming and more on producing stuff that matters to you.
Never stop learning.
I can’t stress this one enough. It is one of the most important elements for growth in any aspect of life. The beauty of our limited knowledge is that we never stop learning for as long as we live. Think about that for a second.
That means we always have the potential to grow. Growth never stops with this as the focal point.
It’s the difference between those who discover true happiness (the one that doesn’t involve abusing and neglecting yourself to get what you want) and those who go on wandering in a dark, cloudy world with no objective in mind.
There are so many people out there who have the know-how for getting things done. I’m not saying they’re all right. But I am saying you should at least listen to what they have to say.
Chances are you’ll find nuggets here and there that you can take with you. Plus, it’s kind of fun.
Soak in the advice and learning experiences of people who have been there and done that.
Winning is everyone’s goal. Working consistently towards that goal, on the other hand, is a tale in and of itself.
Realize that success is a verb — don’t base productivity on planning alone. You have to get your hands dirty.
Water your confidence — stay focused on the task ahead instead of comparing yourself to someone else’s. This will increase your belief in what you can do.
Get back on your feet — falling provides the avenue of growth. Push yourself to get back up and try again with the lessons you’ve learned.
Trust your work — ignore the noise and build the muscle of believing in what you create. It will translate.
Never stop learning — you always have room for growth. Make the most of it.
In the end, there’s nothing wrong with planning… unless you stop there.
Realizing that everyone’s process must involve action opens the door to opportunities otherwise hidden from your view.
Do more without placing yourself under the bus. Because successful people will always have a little dirt on their hands.