Making a Plan

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood...Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.”

Daniel H. Burnham

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”

Peter Drucker

“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.”

Winston Churchill

It’s time to write.  It’s time to stop worrying about money.  It’s time to make a plan in case the worst happens.  It’s time to be grateful that I have some options, even if some of them don’t feel like good ones.  It’s time to make some changes.  Most of all though, it’s time to keep writing. 

If someone were to ask me what my dream job is, it would be a job where I could write creatively and read a lot of good books.   I would be working in my house by the beach with my Muse near me.  The world is too loud and angry and there are people whose only purpose in life seems to be to hurt others.  I just want to get away from it all and write. 

The problem is I can’t.  My life is what it is.  Maybe I can change it tomorrow, but right now, it is what it is.  The trick is to not wait until all the conditions are perfect.  I need to make them perfect.  I need to read and write now.  So that’s what I’m doing.  I’m writing because when that day comes, that first day I’m in that new house in my new life, the only thing that I don’t want to be new is the practice of writing.  

In fact, here’s how the first day in my house will go.  I will wake up at 5:00 and start a pot of coffee.  I will read the Bible and perhaps read something inspirational.  I will write three pages by hand to warm up.  Then I will write my first blog of the day.  My Muse will be with me during all of this and all of the rest of the day.  After I write, I will have breakfast.  Then I will go back to writing.  I will write for two to three hours.

Now this part will be new.  So far I’m only writing for about two hours a day or less.  I’m still not at a place in life in which I can write for more extended periods of time.  That’s okay.  I’ll do what I can for now.

The other trick is to take Dorthea Brande’s advice in her book, Wake Up and Live, and act as if it were impossible to fail.   If it were impossible to fail, if I could really set up the conditions of life I want, if they were guaranteed by my actions, then I have to prepare now.  I can’t waste time.  I already waste too much as it is, but I can’t do that any more.  I have to get ready.  I need to write and finish this blog and then I need to read for a while.  I need to keep doing these things, consistently and continuously, until I am in that house. 

I need to make sure, as much as possible, everything I do will help me get to that house or help me with my other goals.  Time is precious.  Life is precious.  My goals are precious.  Most of all time with my Muse and with the people I love is precious.  That’s why I have to stay focused.  That’s why I have to Get Started and Keep Going.

Now here’s the strange part:  I really have nothing more to say on this topic.  I know the following:

·      I need to make some changes in how I earn money.

·      I need to be more decisive.

·      I need to work towards my house by the beach.

·      I need to spend as much time with my Muse as possible.

·      I need to be loving with all the people who are in front of me.

That’s it.  So I really have nothing more to write, except that I love my Muse for giving me direction.  I love that Purpose is seeping into every area of my life.  I’m ready to Get Started and Keep Going…and follow my plan.