Stop Planning on Doing Things

I am a planner. I love to know what's going on BEFORE I get there, or understanding what is going to be expected of me somewhere down the line, but I think here is where I can learn from my more spontaneous friends. Sometimes we planners are so good at mapping things out on paper - you know, the calendar, the to-do list, and all of the organization that follows - that we are not as skilled at actually doing planned activity. The easiest example is everyone's mad dash to make exercising their new year's resolution. Maybe you'll write down the days of the week that you will work out, and even look up the gym class schedules for Zumba. But all plans fail when they don't get executed. And soon you begin to make excuses - you're hungry, forgot your workout clothes as home, haven't joined a gym, blah blah blah. And the difference between PLANNING and DOING is all about enabling yourself to eliminate those excuses, so that if you consciously decide not to do it, it is because that is what you chose. So, for someone who really wants to work out, well, just keep gym clothes and a granola bar in your car trunk. Then you are consciously deciding to skip the gym each time you drive by and can no longer blame your excuses.

So right now, I am working on those enabling activities that hinder me from doing all the things I plan to do. I'll be the first to admit that I don't like to cook. But that's not the real reason. The real reason is that things don't always turn out perfectly the first time and I am impatient. Well, nothing I can really do to fix the impatience, but what I can do is pick a recipe and follow it from top to bottom. And over time I'll find out what works and what doesn't work. But sometimes as a busy person working it's hard to find the time to cook. And to make the time you need to have the right ingredients. In order to have the right ingredients you need to know what you are making before you go to the store. So, today in fact, I picked out a recipe and bought the stuff I needed. And then I made it (yup, didn't finish until 10pm, but hey one step at a time).  To the left are the ingredients I used: vegetable oil, peanuts, cilantro, ground beef, red pepper, soy sauce, egg noodles (couldn't get rice noodles), onion, bouillon.

And the final dish on the right, was just like  the picture on the recipe. It didn't take 30 minutes like the recipe said (probably took me 1.5 hrs) but I enjoyed the process. I felt good using my hands, and I saved some money by making my own food instead of buying it. Plus, I'm sure it's healthier than any restaurant style of cooking with loads of butter. And I even have leftovers for lunch.

So, this is just one example where I just had to bite the bullet and get things done, because I've been talking about cooking on Sundays FOREVER, and only know I stopped PLANNING to do it and actually did it.

Part of this realization for the need to DO things is also due to the fact that my time here is short (I'm not being morbid, I am actually moving in 3 months or so [most likely]). And I really want to be able to say that I took advantage of where I am while I was here. I am in a great location, near my friends and family, and there are a lot of opportunities to try new things. I don't want to regret not getting to try something when I had the chance.

With the Olympics coming up too, it's a great time to feel motivated. The Nike motto "Just Do It" seems to have even more meaning right now. So other things that I plan to move from Planning to Doing? Well, my writing for sure!! And it's always motivating to get fellow bloggers support - check out my friend here and show her some love. I want to get this fitness regime back on track. I want to read more, get my apartment in tip top shape and minimize (as I've been talking about for years). I finally want to pick up my ukulele, and of course, step up my cooking game. I think we those things I'll be really excited and enabled to do even more things.

So, my challenge to you - pick 1 thing you want to do this week. And then do it. (Tell someone so that you are accountable). It takes 14 days to break a habit I read somewhere. It all starts with 1 step.

Uber Excitement

Thanks for all the comments on my previous post!! I love your feedback.

Ok, so I feel a little like I just joined a 12 step program:

First there's denial - " I'm ok, I'm really ok "

Then there's anger - "People suck!! "

Then there's acceptance - "Everything will be ok."

So maybe my last post was an angry jab at the sucky people in the world (step 2), but now I've accepted it and I'm moving on. (Ok, maybe it's more like a 3 step program). I AM the new girl in town - on my own little island. 

I can do just about anything I want - I can visit various organizations and stay if I like it and not go back if I don't. I was VP of an organization before - here I have no responsibilities just yet, so its all about finding what's right for me. 

Now to the fun part. I am so excited to try all the new things that I've just realized I could do. I am a big supporter of Meetup.com - if you've never checked it out it is a Great (and Safe) way to meet people when you are the new person in town. (Summary of meetup - it is not a match making site. It is for people to meet with others who like doing the same thing; i.e. if you like baseball but have no one to go to the game with you find a baseball meetup, and suddenly you have people to sit with; or if you want a gym partner, someone to try new restaurants with, someone to go to the movies with, etc, you just find a group on the website that fits your need and you meet those people in a public setting).  So, through meetup, I am finding tons of things that are going on within a 30 minute radius of where I live. And this is an improvement than the 60-90 minute radius I had before.

So I'm excited to go to Zumba, and try a pottery class, learn what permaculture is (something to do with plants I think), learn Japanese, watch foreign films, try tap dancing again, kick someone's butt in kickboxing, write a novel, become a mentor to a child, build a house;  the possibilities are endless. And of course there's the good ole wide world web and Google. So there's so much to do that getting out there and trying it is the only logical option.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. So I choose to think that this whole weeding out process and going through these hard lessons over the past 5 years, has only taught me the skills that I will need in this new process. Of learning who you can and can not trust, about the people that will say one thing and do another, or of the people that will use and abuse just to refuse. So everything is an incredible lesson, and that is what I choose to take from it.

I am woman world, hear me ROARRRRRR!!!

Photo: Paradise Island in the Dominican Republic
(All photos are mine, unless cited in credits)