What is Planning? What are the benefits of Planning?

As kids when we were asked ‘what you want to become when you grow up?’ we all would have answered to become a doctor, a teacher, a pilot, an astronaut, and so on.

We all were amazing dreamers back then. We wanted to have not one but many professions and we dreamed big. What happened then? As we grew older our answer for that question became shorter and at one point when we reached high school, we all weren’t even able to answer that question. Well not all, most of all.

Why do you think this happens? Well, there are countless reasons like, we start to realize what life really is, our passions change, our interests change, our circumstances are no longer the same and so on.

But there is one particular reason behind why we aren’t/weren’t able to achieve those goals. That is pretty obvious too. We failed to plan out our goals.

We failed to plan what we want to achieve and why we want to achieve that goal.

"A goal without a plan is just a wish." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

There is no point in setting or desiring to achieve a goal unless planning and executing it.

So, in today’s article let’s see what planning is and the 5 benefits of planning.

What is planning?

Planning is the action steps of the goals. When you set a goal, there are lists of tasks that come into action and you have to plan what those actions are in order and execute them.

Now without the plan, the goal will be directionless and meaningless. You will not know why you set that goal in the first place. You will not be able to track how far you are in achieving that goal. As a result, most people not only tend to forget their goals but also tend to stop to set any further goals in the future.

Let me give you an example of what and how should you plan your goal.

Starting my own blog was my dream and my goal. Now let’s see how I planned that goal and started taking action.

Now as you can see in the above image, I have listed every single step I must do in order to achieve this goal.

Then action steps should be planned clearly so that when we look at it, we must immediately start taking action. It should be simple and straight forward.

Try to include a verb in your action plan. For example, the action step, buy a domain name is self-explanatory. In the previous step, I have already looked into a few options for me to buy a domain and host my site. Now my action step is clear. I have to buy a domain name. Now when I see this task, I will go ahead and purchase a domain name of my choice. There is no confusion here.

When we plan our goals properly and execute them, we will surely be able to achieve them.

Now that we have seen what planning is, let’s see the 5 benefits of planning.

5 Benefits of planning

1. Planning helps in organizing the goal

Like I showed in the above example, with planning you can start taking actions by writing the steps in order. Without planning you will not know what to do next or what you did previously.

One may have several short term goals and a few long term goals. Without a proper organizing system, all these plans will be futile. When you start planning each and every goal you gain clarity and you know what exactly to do next. Thus planning provides clarity by organizing the goals.

2. Planning helps by providing the action steps

A goal like ‘starting my own blog’ or literally any goal can be divided into actionable steps and one can start following those steps to achieve their goals.

When you set your goals right, the next big step is to organize them and write down all the actionable steps that will be needed to achieve the goal. It’s alright if you miss one or two steps because you don’t know. You can always modify the steps and be flexible with them.

But without the plan, you will never know if you need to add or remove certain steps. That is where a well-organized plan comes to the rescue.

3. Planning helps you stay consistent

Now imagine setting your goals and not writing them down. You will not only lose track you will also end up forgetting about your goal soon. Without the proper plan, you will lose focus and fail. Planning helps in reducing uncertainty. It shows people what, when, and how they should do a certain thing.

4. Planning helps to track the process

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra

In the above example, I have noted my action steps in order. While this gives me clarity, it also helps me stay consistent and I can easily track my process. All I have to do is to tick off the completed tasks and I can look at the list and know

1. How much more time will it take me to achieve this particular goal.

2. I can analyze my speed. If I want to complete a few things faster or to check if am going at the right speed, I can just have a look at my plan to understand.

3. I can analyze the time it would take me to complete a certain task so I can plan ahead.

There are so many things you can understand if you have a well-designed plan for your goals with you.

5. Planning helps by providing motivation

Without the plan, it’s easy to lose focus and track. When you have a plan with you, you know why you wanted to achieve that goal in the first place and you will start working towards it. You can understand that you just need to do a few more tasks to achieve your goals.

This will keep you motivated and you will find yourself achieving your goals faster. When you start working on your action steps and tick off the first task you completed, it will give you an accomplished feeling. This way, you would feel motivated and would start working on your action plans regularly.

Now that we have seen what planning is and the 5 benefits of planning, I can't wait for you to start your planning process and achieve all your goals. If you feel stuck anywhere or feel like you need a guidance or an accountability partner, then you can DM me. I will be more than happy to help you out.

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See you guys this weekend with another informative post.

Until then, Take Care,

Bubye.

Much Love,

Abinaya. S