Why Learning to Plan Should Be Your Top New Year’s Resolution
Before we begin…
I’m a planner. My father instilled planning skills in us, probably unknowingly. I learned by observing him. He was meticulous and would literally sit down in the kitchen table and plan his days. So planning was not a new concept when I went to college, it was just structured. With that, I learned to hone the skill a little better. So planning has been part of my life— ever since I can remember.
Let’s Talk Leadership!
Planning is a skill, and like any skill, it gets better with practice. It’s a must to effective leadership. Planning sets the direction and framework for achieving goals. Effective leaders, envision the future, anticipate challenges, and map out steps to get there. Here’s how planning ties into effective leadership.
Vision and Strategy
Leadership involves creating a vision and planning turns that vision into actionable steps (strategies). Without planning, a vision remains just a vision.
Decision-Making
Planning helps you prioritize— time, effort, and resources. It ensures your decisions are aligned with your long-term goals.
Guiding the Team
A solid plan provides clarity. It aligns everyone’s efforts toward the common goal. It fosters accountability—collaboration.
Adaptability
As a leader, you often need to respond to unexpected changes. With a well-structured plan you can maintain focus while having flexibility.
Inspiration and Confidence
Clear planning, builds trust. It shows foresight and preparedness.
Do you know…
planning is not always good?
It’s like a double-edge sword. If you plan right, you reap tremendous benefits, but if you plan wrong, it can have the opposite effect. It can harm your performance. Yes, planning has its drawbacks. For example:
Planning can prevent change: Sometimes we get so caught up in meeting the goal with our plan that we fail to see the plan is not working.
Planning can create a false sense of certainty: There are times we think we know exactly what the future holds, and forget the plans are based on assumptions.
Planners getting detached: If we get detached, we will plan for things we don’t understand.
Remember, plans are meant to be guidelines for us to act. But if we want to create a plan that works— we need to be familiar with the details of the goal.
When setting a goal, let it be a S.M.A.R.T goal. This is a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely goal. It’s a target for which you can aim. It’s a standard of measure to your success.
When you set goals involving others, keep in mind that if they don’t care about the goal…there will be no commitment from them.
Evidently, it’s important to develop commitment to the goal.
Learning to plan is an excellent New Year’s resolution!
Here’s why…
Tangible Results
A focus on planning helps you break down big goals into actionable steps. It makes the resolution more achievable.
To make the goal into actionable steps be specific.
For example:
“I’ll create a weekly plan every Sunday night.”
“I’ll use a planner daily to track my tasks and goals.”
“I’ll dedicate 30 minutes each month to revisiting and adjusting my goals.”
Builds Momentum
Good planning creates small wins early on. This motivates you to stick with your goals throughout the year.
When you plan, you’re better able to prioritize tasks and make time for what matters most.
Reduce Stress
Having a clear plan minimizes the overwhelm of you trying to juggle everything at once.
Adapts to Any Goal
Whether your resolutions are personal or professional, planning is the foundation for success. It affects every area of your life—career, relationships, finances, and personal growth. Without planning, there is no direction.
Bottom line, planning is how you turn aspirations into results.
Have a good weekend!
—Dr. Aguilar
