Common Problems with Planning
By far, the most common difficulty people have with planning is
fear. But there are also:
- Too much focus on numbers
- Inadequate access to creativity
- Plan’s lack of harmony with your true purpose
Planning is scary. It’s about the future, so you should expect fear to
be present. This is normal. You may have intense emotions about
events in your personal history, but those emotions are probably
sadness or resentment. Those events are over. Fears are about
things that haven’t happened yet. Remember, the fear is there to
help you deal with the challenge. Don’t avoid it. Let it help you by
letting the fear be OK. (Refer back to the hairy elephants in Chap-
ter 7, if necessary.)
Too much focus on numbers is a common problem. Many
times, if you ask business managers for their plan, you will be pre-
sented with a detailed spreadsheet that lays out anticipated receipts
and expenditures. Unfortunately, this is not a plan; it cannot serve
as a guide to action. The spreadsheet is a budget only. A budget is a
good thing to have, but it is not a plan.
A budget can measure the progress of a plan’s execution, but by
itself it does not serve as a guide to the sequential action required
for success. A plan does that. Clearly an understanding of the num-
bers is an important part of a plan, but more is required for success.
Another common problem is inadequate access to creativity. A
plan is about the future. The logical, analytical function of your
mind is best suited for analyzing the cause and effect of what al-
ready exists. Because the future doesn’t exist yet, the analytical por-
tion of your mind is poorly equipped to deal with it.
Your mind’s creative function is best equipped for dealing with
the future. If you use the analytical part of your mind to design
your plan, you will inevitably become stuck. When the participants
in our Training sessions make their plan, we tell them it’s very
easy to know when you are stuck. You gaze off into the middle dis-
tance, most often glassy-eyed and slack-jawed, awaiting inspiration
to come along to guide you. “Don’t hold your breath waiting for
inspiration,” we advise. Instead, put your creativity to work imme-
diately. The Discovery Writing technique from Chapter 8 is ideally
Common Problems with Planning 251