Life can throw curveballs. An unexpected event, a busy schedule, illness, an injury, or just being overwhelmed can derail your plans. In fact, expect something to happen. So, if that’s the case, why bother creating a plan? Let’s look at ways planning helps you keep moving toward your goals despite life’s obligations.
Planning Provides Guidance
Planning isn’t perfect. In fact, it’s not about perfection or providing a comprehensive instruction book that you follow perfectly. It’s about setting yourself up for success. Planning makes it easier to adjust to the unexpected and still make progress. Creating a plan gives you direction. Without one, you’ll try to keep it all in your head and make decisions in the moment, leading to inconsistent behavior and less-than-ideal choices.
A meal plan can define your meals for a week, making it easier to know what you’re eating for the next meal. If not, you’ll wait until you’re hungry to figure it out, increasing the chances of ordering takeout instead of determining what you’ll prepare. That certainly will make eating a healthier diet more difficult.
A workout plan can help you fit exercise into your schedule instead of “forgetting” to exercise or pushing it aside for later because you determine at the time you’re too busy.
Planning Reduces Stress And Decision Fatigue
You make countless decisions every day. The day may start with careful consideration, but as the day goes on and you make more decisions, you’ll begin to suffer from decision fatigue. As a result, the more decisions you make, the more likely you’ll make less than ideal choices once fatigue sets in.
Without a plan, every meal, workout, and habit requires a decision. When decision fatigue sets in, willpower is low or nonexistent, and convenience usually wins the day. Planning eliminates some unnecessary decision-making. For example, your meal plan will tell you what’s for dinner or what you’re doing for your workout. You already know what’s next, so it’s less stressful. That makes it easier to stick to your goals.
If your plan is causing stress, it is likely too rigid or requires decision-making to know what’s next. Plans that require you to follow specific steps or attempt to account for every contingency should be reworked to outline guidelines and have room for flexibility. For example, your meal plan could indicate a side of a green vegetable instead of dictating a half cup of green beans. A good plan provides direction and flexibility when an unexpected obligation suddenly becomes a priority.
Planning Makes It Easier To Adapt
Creating a plan helps you adjust to life’s unpredictability instead of completely derailing your goals. For example, let’s say your plan has you exercising after work, but a last-minute meeting spills into your exercise time. Instead of skipping exercise, your plan enables you to adapt and shift your workout to another time to keep you on track.
Even if you’re unsure of your plan, creating part of a plan is a starting point. If you plan to exercise five days a week but only manage three workout sessions, that’s still good. Some is better than none. Even an imperfect plan can get you on the right track.
A good plan isn’t just about setting up an ideal schedule. It’s about creating a framework that allows flexibility, such as what to do if you need to move a workout or adjust a meal. Think of your plan as a road trip. You know your starting point and destination. There isn’t one way to get to the destination. In fact, there are many routes you can take. If the road you planned to take is closed, you can take an alternative route to get past it. So as long as you know what you’ll do to overcome a roadblock, your plan can keep you on track.
Planning Increases Accountability
There is something magical about writing things down. If you write down things to do, you’re more likely to get them done. Furthermore, writing something down also gives you something to compare the intent and the results, providing feedback for you to learn from and potentially improve future outcomes. Creating a plan will increase your chances of success.
For example, if you plan to exercise three times a week, you’re more likely to incorporate those workouts into your schedule. When you can see progress, it’s easier to stay committed and recognize when you need to make adjustments when something unforeseen happens.
Tracking Your Progress
While creating a plan sets the stage, tracking your progress helps you stay engaged and make any necessary adjustments along the way. Even when things aren’t perfect, tracking helps you see your progress. Tracking gives you real-time feedback on what’s working and what isn’t.
It’s easy to feel like you’re failing if you don’t reach your goals as planned. That’s why tracking helps. It lets you see the bigger picture. Tracking helps you recognize that three workouts can still make progress even though you aimed for five. It provides the feedback you need to make adjustments, thereby creating a smarter plan and increasing your chances of success.
Tracking helps you identify patterns, instead of guessing why you’re struggling. If you consistently miss morning workouts, perhaps you should try midday or evening workouts instead. If stress leads to unhealthy choices, tracking your eating habits can help create a meal plan and shift your mindset toward mindful eating.
Tracking also reduces the mindset of all-or-nothing. You may think you’ll fail if you can’t stick 100% with a plan. That’s where tracking comes in. Tracking your progress shows that consistency matters more than perfection. In fact, tracking your progress will show you’re still making progress even if you follow your plan most of the time. Instead of getting frustrated when things don’t go as planned, tracking encourages problem-solving instead. If you discover you’re always skipping workouts on busy days, maybe a shorter workout or working out at home works better.
Tracking your progress keeps you motivated. It shows you how far you’ve come, such as how much longer you can exercise or how much weight you’ve lost. It reminds you that setbacks won’t erase all your hard work. When life derails your day, your past success can be enough to get you back on track quickly.
The Takeaway
Planning helps you work toward your goals, while tracking provides feedback on your progress and shines a light on how far you’ve come. It also identifies patterns that can help refine your plan. A plan is not meant to be rigid and dictate every step toward your goals. Instead, it’s a framework you can adapt as you learn more from tracking, helps you stay motivated and consistent, and keeps moving you forward regardless of what challenges arise.
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