How to Plan When You Can’t Plan

The pressure to plan, especially at this time of year, is intense. It’s all anyone talks about.

Have a vision. Set goals. Make a plan.

If that is feeling too daunting for you right now, it’s likely with good reason.

Your nervous system has priorities. It has a sequence of how it tackles incoming demands.

Safety first.

Visioning, planning, and goal-setting are executive functions. They take place in the higher mind, which only opens after we’re in a place of safety.

In order for you to have access to executive functions your nervous system needs to feel safe and secure. It needs a solid foundation.

Once your system feels safe you can access your capacity and ability. And only once you access your ability can you move up to executive function.

When you’re living in a state of radical uncertainty, you can only focus on immediate steps.

Rather than being paralyzed by the pressure to create a big vision or a master plan, work with what you have. Focus on the one thing you can do immediately to feel more certain internally, regardless of the prevailing external uncertainty.

Cultivate a feeling of safety that will allow you to take a small step.

This safety starts with your health: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Without your health you have nothing.

And as you take more small steps, slowly you’ll find your footing and increase your capacity to take bigger steps.

Let go of the goals and the visions and focus on what you can do in the moment. Take care of your health.

The best place to start is where you are.