Have had the thought recently that I might have something useful to share here. I'm not going to commit to anything, except to do as I feel. You know, pretty much like I always do!
One thing that keeps coming to mind is planning. I've realized recently that I plan almost nothing! Other than a general idea of the end goal, I almost never plan things step by step. If I have a particular goal, I figure out the first step and do it. As I'm doing that step, I may contemplate what's next, but again, only in very general terms. I know very well that this is not the best or most efficient way to accomplish goals, especially larger ones, but it seems to be a deeply rooted part of who I am. I'm not sure but think I may have inherited it from dad, or maybe it's a left handed thing, but he was left handed as well, so who knows?
My lack of planning extends to almost all aspects of my life, and, overall I don't think I have suffered as a result. Proposing to my wife was a bit of a spur of the moment decision made after I returned from a great road trip with brother Bill. It cost me $1000 at the time, but that is another story. Our next anniversary will be our 35th! I shut down my business in 2011 with no idea what I was going to do next. A week later, I was employed at a former competitors, and it has turned into the best job I've ever had. I work with 5 other guys, and have no doubt that the 6 of us could run the world if asked to, and we would have fun doing it! I ran an ironman in 2015 having taken up the sport only 3 years earlier. I got the odd piece of advice from Peter and Brett, but had absolutely NO plan. I simply took the first step, then figured out what the next step was. More recently, I acted on a thought that has floated in my mind for some time. I decided to turn the upstairs of our garage into an apartment for one of the girls. With the exception of a couple of big jobs, (concrete floor and spray foam insulation) I'm doing it all myself. Framing, plumbing, electrical, finishing, flooring, all one step at a time. No blueprints, no permits, lol, just flying totally by the seat of my pants. I admit again this is not the way to do things, and does from time to time cause a bit of stress. The stress however is almost completely due to factors of timing and need, and not directly related to my lack of planning. The job is roughly half done right now, which is at least as far as I expected to be at this point in time. Concurrently with making an apartment out of thin air, I'm also training for another Ironman!
I have untold resources available to me. Brett has offered a copy of his plan, I have at least two books peter gave me on training, there are lots of free plans available online, but you've guessed by now, I have no actual plan. Yes, I'm working out, a lot, but believe it or not, it's almost 7pm as I write this, and I still haven't decided what I'm doing tomorrow! I'm fairly sure Peter would be both astonished and appalled at this lack of planning, and maybe deep down, even a bit jealous.
I think there may be a few reasons why I do this. One that comes to mind right away is that having no plan gives me absolute freedom. If I get up early and work my ass off tomorrow morning, I will feel really good about it the whole day. If however, I'm tired and lazy in the morning, it's ok, because I didn't have anything planned. If an opportunity presents itself, or an obstacle gets in my my way and I end up doing something completely different, again, oh well. I can change gears on a moments notice and just go with life's ebbs and flows. It occurs to me now that this freedom derived from no plans may be one of the reasons I'm so happy? I have developed very good habits of forgiveness. I can quite easily forgive others who hurt me, because I'm well aware of my own imperfections and mistakes that hurt others. I think more importantly though, I am very good at forgiving myself. I think the freedom I allow myself somehow facilitates this self compassion. The only thing I owe myself is to do the best I can in any moment. Beyond that, it's all gravy, and I love gravy.
Often when I get in a car with someone who's giving me a ride, they will apologize for the mess on the floor or the pet hair on the seat or tell me I can adjust the seat etc. My response is always the same. I tell them, no worries, I'm a professional passenger, and that's how I like to think of myself. I went looking for quotes and this one jumped out at me.
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Lao Tzu
Love Holij
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