How do you plan your goals?
The short answer? With a lot of lists, a fair bit of overthinking, and the constant suspicion that it’s all going to go wrong anyway.
I didn’t always plan like this. Earlier in my life, I made choices that didn’t line up with other people’s expectations, and those choices were picked apart, criticised, or flat out disapproved of. It took me years to realise I was living life through someone else’s lens. By then, I’d already been wired to believe that if I followed my own path, I’d fail.
So now, when I sit down to plan, I question everything. I don’t just write a list, I write lists about my lists. I’ve got notes stacked on notes, reminders that remind me to check the other reminders, and multiple versions of the same to do list floating around in my phone. It’s not because I’m super organised (spoiler: I’m not). It’s because my brain thinks if I plan for every possible outcome, maybe I won’t get blindsided.
Breaking things down into small steps helps. If a goal feels too big, I freeze. If I shrink it into something simple, send the email, open the document, write the first paragraph, then I can at least keep moving.
I plan obsessively, overthink obsessively, and question every step. It’s not elegant, it’s not spontaneous, and it’s definitely not foolproof. But somehow, it works, and that’s the weird part.
And yes, I probably spend more time planning my goals than actually achieving them. But hey, at least when future me inevitably messes it all up, past me will have a beautifully colour coded trail of evidence to prove I tried 💜
Lottie x
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