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Life is changing faster than ever and more and more people are becoming casualties of all this change. Even the most conservative doctors are suggesting that 90% of all their patients’ office visits are stress related. However, when you prepare yourself for change and are willing to adapt, you’ll be more likely to succeed, while also maintaining work-life balance, health and happiness…and less trips to the doctor!
Preparation is simple: Make a plan and follow it. Most people, unfortunately, don’t make plans, and the people that do often don’t follow their plan. Your plan is like a map, it is simply designed to guide you from one point to another. Good planning includes goals that are specific, measurable and attainable, and they also have a challenge involved. Challenge helps you to stretch, gain strength and become even more adaptable.
Of course, a necessary part of planning includes having your plans out of your head and onto something you can look at, read and check off. Writing your plan either on a piece of paper or digitally on your computer seems simple enough but people often try to juggle their plans by memory, which usually turns out disastrous.
Write out your plans and check in with yourself daily. How are you doing? What did you accomplish today? What needs to be a priority tomorrow?
One other very helpful resource will be your support system. Those are the people who support you, offer encouragement and also brainstorm with you, as well as who will hold you accountable to your plans. While accomplishing your goals on your own without any help might stroke your ego, remember that all successful people always rely heavily on their support systems.
People often bail out on their plans when they run into discomfort or unfamiliar circumstances. Part of realistic preparation includes a reminder that unfamiliar and uncomfortable scenarios will often arise. You cannot successfully succeed if you’re not willing to step out of your comfort zone. This is where your willingness to adapt comes in.
Part of preparation includes the foresight that things don’t usually turn out the way they are planned. Variables and unknown factors can turn the best plans into a twisted pretzel of confusion and frustration. But if you’ve prepared yourself to adapt, then these sudden shifts are easier to handle. “Expect the unexpected” might be a good and realistic mantra for everyone to have in their back pockets.
Effective adaptation simply means to have the willingness to change your plans, including scratching them completely and starting over if need be. It’s been said that both Einstein and Edison had many more failures than successes but since they were prepared for these outcomes, they found it much easier to start over again.
This is the attitude of flexibility and the acceptance that sometimes the journey proves to be more fruitful than the outcome.
Everyone who makes a plan wants to accomplish the goals included in the plan but those who have the most flexibility, the least amount of ego and the perseverance to keep on going, are the people who are most likely to succeed with their plans.
These people also know when to take a break, thereby creating more balance in their lives. Yes, everything is changing faster than ever, but when you have the resources to keep yourself in balance you’re much more likely to achieve your goals and maintain your health.
Prepare and adapt to succeed with your own work-life balance. Start today by making a plan for the remainder of the week.
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