Change Management9 February, 2004 I've written a lot of planning columns recently, and the most common reaction seems to be "My God! You actually do all that?" Yes, I do. And far from increasing my stress level, planning decreases it. A lot. And I think I've figured out the reason (or one of them, anyway) why planning works so well for me and for others. I have a lot more to change. Good planning is change management. You have a vision of what you want your life to be, and you take steps to bring what your life currently is in line with that. The bigger the delta between what you are and what you want to be, the more planning you'll need to get there. People that don't take to planning generally fall into one of two categories. The first is people who are already fairly stable. The difference between the lives they have now and what they'd consider ideal isn't that big a gap. They are successful at a job they enjoy, they have the family life they want, and there just isn't a strong desire to make things other than what they are. For these people, detailed life planning probably is a waste of time. The second category may be no closer to their ideal existence than the planners, but they differ in that they don't have as much perceived control. I didn't do a lot of planning while I was in the Air Force because there wasn't a whole lot about my life that I could control directly. My job, my wardrobe, my living arrangements, even the city in which I lived were decided for me. My life wasn't my ideal, but as long as there wasn't anything substantial I could do about it, what was the point? I should point out here that most of this second class of non-planners is bogged down in perceived control. I may not have been able to do much about my job or living arrangements while in the Air Force, but I could have gotten in better shape (instead, I gained over 40 pounds while in the military), started my first novel much earlier, or learned to speak Spanish. People usually have more control over their lives than they give themselves credit for. In my case, my life is nowhere near my ideal. I'm 32 and if you'd asked me twenty years ago what my life would be like in 2004, it wouldn't have been this. That's not to say I'm not happy. I like where I am in my life, but it's not where I ultimately want to be. I know I don't want what that 12-year-old would have predicted. I had no idea the Internet even existed then, much less that I would become a rather vocal fixture on it. I would have expected to have a wife and kids by now, and I'm really glad I don't. But happy as I am with where I am now, I'm by no means content. I still have a lot to accomplish, and that means planning out how to do it and then executing that plan. Hence, I use Life Balance and yes, I record just about everything in there. The beauty of Life Balance is that you can specify how you want to spend your time and compare it to how you're actually spending your time. This only works if you're honest (and complete) about how you're spending your time. The results are worth it... ...if you really want to change. Jeff Kirvin
Jeff Kirvin is available for consulting on mobile technology. Email me today! |