Have you ever been floored by something that changed your immediate circumstances and you never saw it coming?  I have.  It’s no fun. No fun at all.

“Thank you but your services at this organization are no longer needed.”

“I hate to have to tell you this but your car will NEVER start again.  NEVER.”

Now, I understand that all the planning in the world can’t minimize the impact of truly devastating news such as the death of a loved one or the news of an incurable illness.  But apart from that, having a flexible plan for your own future has tremendous advantages over the completely unplanned, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants (I wonder exactly what that means) kind of future.

I’ve found that over time, when you plan ahead it can minimize the effects of the unplanned event.  Are you following me on this?  I hope so.

I’m planning a 2011 personal transformation, or as I call it, “Personal Change,” (maybe “Life Adjustment” or “Year of Reinvention”) that hopefully will change most of me by the end of the coming year.  I can be as flexible or as rigid as I want to be in setting forth my plans and goals for this transformation.  Too rigid and it leaves me with very little wiggle room when the unexpected tries to floor me.  A train has one set of tracks and set destinations.  The littlest of variations and derailment is both inevitable and disastrous.  Too flexible and you find yourself in a 4×4 going who-knows-where heading in some general direction, hopefully.  (I happen to own an off-road vehicle) You may make it to your destination but at what extra cost, mileage and possible accidents.

Planning can have as much detail as possible but it’s a little dangerous to have too little planning.  For example, too much planning:

“We arrive at the airport at 2:37pm and have exactly 13 minutes to check in.”

Planning like this is headed for frustration and failure.  There’s no way you can make these timetables work.  There are too many variables.  You’ve got to lighten up.

Now, planning too little can have equally crappy results.  Again, an example:

“We’ll show up at the airport Tuesday afternoon.”
When’s the plane leaving again?  How long will it take to get through check-in and security?  What gate are we leaving from and how long does it take to get there?  I once heard Zig Ziglar state that he had an agreement with the airlines that if he didn’t show up on time for a flight, the airline had his permission to leave without him.  Too little planning with too few details and someone’s going to miss their flight.

The unforeseen can stop someone in their tracks or bring out their creative side.  I have friends who planned their first cross-country trip with their newly acquired 5th wheel.  They had a plan, a destination or two and a rigid return date set by the fact that they had to be back at work by a certain day.  During their trip, they encountered a flat tire (and broken rim) on the 5th wheel (with no spare), siding that blew off the camper, a companion vehicle that just couldn’t keep up (further hindering their already stretched timetable), inadvertently putting some unleaded gas in a diesel vehicle, bumper-to-bumper traffic that sucked up hours of their time and waiting an extra day or two for repair parts to arrive (to a remote village in Kansas).  They were creative, made the trip and got back on time.  (I think they’re selling the 5th wheel)  The rigid scheduler would have gone crazy on this trip and the super-flexible planner might never have made it to the original destination.

I love the outlook of Captain Barbossa in the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.”  When questioned about the code all pirates are supposed to adhere to, he had this to say:

“…the code is more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.”
So, here are my tips for over-planning change in your life and making it work.  Yes, I said over-planning.  I’ll use the platform of my upcoming year of personal change, as that’s what I’m planning to do myself in 2011.

  • Research is your best friend.  Know as much about your upcoming year as possible.  Since I’m a very detailed person when it comes to planning, I may go overboard.  That’s OK though, as I’d rather have too much knowledge than too little.
  • Detail as much as you’d like.  Too much detail is better than too little.  You are more easily blindsided by too little detail than too much.  My detail for the coming year will be broken down into seasonal, monthly and weekly goals and activities.  Yeah, I’m like that.
  • Plan on making adjustments.  There will be, so just plan on it.  It’s not the end of the world, nor is it failure.  It’s just an adjustment or two.  For me, I just need to realize that adjustments will help me reach my ultimate goals.
  • View your plans as guidelines.  They will keep you on track and headed in the right directions, but it doesn’t mean they can’t be adjusted when the unexpected comes up.  My journey over the next year is supposed to transform me.  Without guidelines, I’m just shooting in the dark.
  • Know exactly where you want to end up.  Realize that’s there’s more than one way to get there and the unexpected route may be more enjoyable and scenic.  You never know.  For me, I seek change in around 8-10 different areas in my life.  I know where I want to end up.  I also know the route may change many times in order for me to get there.
  • Don’t compromise on goals.  Compromise on how you may plan to reach those goals.  There’s a lot to be said for setting goals and reaching them.  It is empowering and extremely motivating.

A writer and fellow blogger, Chris Guillebeau, does an annual review with detailed goal-setting for the coming year.  I will be using some of his suggestions for my own change project.  It is well worth investigating.

This posting seems a little disorganized to me but I wanted to get it out there just to get the thoughts going and continue my process.  Hope you don’t mind and I hope some (or all) of it makes sense.  Use it wisely.

Please comment with any suggestions and input you may have as I value new ideas to add to my own.