How to Reclaim Plan A
Four Steps to Inventing Your Future
Few us of get it right out of the gate. In our twenties, we find ourselves doing some kind of work and maybe, if we’re lucky, it evolves to be a fit with our flow — it nourishes and provokes growth. But most of us aren’t that lucky. Here’s what I’ve learned from decades of reclaiming my gifts and figuring out how to channel my mojo in concrete ways.
First, take stock with unflinching candor. Take an inventory of what is working and what is not in the day to day. Apply a work focus, for example, and bring your attention to it. Ask yourself:
What energizes, what is thriving? What enlivens you, what do you look forward to, what creates energy rather than depletes it? Think of those moments, situations, tasks, and projects that harmonize with you.
What do you dread, avoid, or reluctantly go along with? Life is imperfect and so are we. Each of us will have to make compromises and do things we don’t rejoice over — taxes, anyone? Not talking about those kinds of responsibilities that are immutable. Rather, identify parts of your days and weeks that are stultifying, the buzz kill that drains you of your spirit.
Next, envision your flawless future. Here, you will think about the evidence—the concrete specifics—that would make an ideal day, a juicy week, that would add up to a productive well-lived year. In our workshops, we invite participants to let go of the press of today and imagine waking up a year from now by inscribing a date one year out on note paper. “I wake this morning to a different life. I’m still me and yet I’ve been able to create a more rewarding and satisfying life this past year…
WHAT are you doing? When you scan this flawless year, use your imagination to note the concrete specifics of a typical day or week. “I have time to exercise, and I’m doing work that takes advantage of my analytical strengths…” Silence the internal critic and allow yourself to imagine what the flawless days look like using the present tense and an “I” voice.
WHO is in your life? Think about not only specific people you may want to call into your circle, but also the kinds of people you want to be surrounded by. “I spend time with other climate change advocates” …”I am part of a writing group, bringing pages every week” … “At last, I’m back to singing in a choir..”
HOW does it feel in this ideal future? Imagine how you perceive each day when you take stock in the evening and when you wake the next morning. “I have more energy…I am taking in nature, noticing birds …I feel there’s enough time to do stuff that matters …”
Read these words out loud to yourself. Say them, record them, play them back. You are creating an imprint for your future self. The writing and speaking are essential to rewiring your mindset to allow for an alternate future.
Third, craft key next actions. A proven technique is STOP-START-CONTINUE.
What can you STOP doing that is getting in the way of your ideal future? Be ruthless about the routines and clutter of the days that has built up around you. Drive out the urgent in favor of the important.
What can you START doing that will make a difference? Something as simple as taking the first 15 minutes of the day to reflect and plan before getting on email or social media changes lives. It may mean carving out protected time to build a network, to research career options, to take a class in something that beckons.
What do you wish to CONTINUE because it nourishes and enhances your life? This might be time with loved ones and friends, time in service to a cause that matters to you, time to read a book or hear live music.
Begin. And then Begin Again. There will be glitches, false starts, racing deadlines, and unanticipated emergencies. Always. Simply, begin again. Every day you make time for Plan A thinking or doing takes you closer to a new future.
Results, you ask? I was an internal auditor at 23. An English major with college debt, I worked for an insurance company examining travel vouchers among other fascinating tasks. It wasn’t what I dreamed of but I needed the work. And I was able to fashion a career, over time, that took advantage of some of my natural suits like training, problem-solving, and presenting. But still, it wasn’t my Plan A. Then I launched my own consulting firm. I’m proud of the work my partner and I do helping teams work better together and using storytelling as a way to focus the organization’s future. But still, not entirely my Plan A. So I went after some of my creative dreams, buried for years, and wrote a play that got an equity production and a NY Times review, began storytelling on stage, and, most recently, doing live stand up in my new hometown, Manhattan.
In 2023, I took the reins at Funny Over Fifty, creating hilarious shows featuring irreverent women doing stand up, telling stories, playing music. We’re drawing a crowd and getting huge feedback. In many ways, it’s the realization of many of my long term dreams incorporating performing, storytelling, and lifting up the talent and wisdom of women. It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t envision more spark in my days.
Share your success story. Here’s one from Annie Bartholomay who was searching for her own Plan A when she joined a workshop. She sent a picture of something she dreamed up in our 90 minutes together, a mini-bakery concept which is now alive and well every Saturday in Newtown, PA. Stop by and have a treat.
I can’t promise you’ll get a play produced, to host your own show, or a pop up bakery launched, but I can say this: Investing in your future self is a powerful, restorative choice that will pay dividends down the road. We spend more time planning our vacations, most of us, than we do the lives we want to live. We need to wake up and invent our own future and in doing so, fulfill our essential promise in our short gig here on earth.
