Life as we know it, as we plan it changes every fraction of a second without us being able to control any of it. We all know this and yet we sit and demand that life goes according to our calendar and the vision that we have painted for our future. No matter how hard we try life will always throw a curveball and here are five things to do when your plans fall short. Let’s follow an example: Sarah’s sister is getting married in 3 months and she plans to go down 3 dress sizes and fit into the perfect maid of honor gown. She buys this gown in advance as motivation for this massive transformation.
Sit
First thing first. You have to take a seat, breath, and think about exactly what has happened. The damage might not be as big as you initially thought… or it might be bigger. But either way just figures out what happened from every angle possible.
Following the example:
Sarah only went down 2.5 dress sizes and there are only 1.5 weeks left before the wedding. She is just a little bit bigger than her dress and does not know if 1.5 weeks is enough time to fit it especially as she had planned to party in the week leading up to the wedding.
Breathe
Second, breathe. I do hope that you do this without me having to remind you…but let me remind you anyway. Do not panic. It’s okay if your plan did not work out the way you planned it… life happens. Just relax….
Following the example:
Sarah starts to panic a little but then realizes panicking at this moment would be a waste of time so she goes on a destressing run. She listens to music, clears her head, and takes a nice cold shower.
Reflect
Now that you are past the panicking stage, you can start to think. Why did you fall short? Did you plan to get too much done in too little time? Was your plan not efficient? Reflect on why this has happened? Sometimes when people get to this stage they realize that it’s not even that big of a deal.
Following the example:
As she takes her relaxing cold showers she thinks about how she is falling short. It’s just half a dress size and she still has 1.5 weeks to go so she is not completely off. She has been keeping strict with her diet and workout and enjoys this to the point where she has no fallbacks on sugar. This could just be that weight loss is not linear. It’s not Sarah’s fault.
Plan
Now that you know what went wrong and how much damage there really is to recover from, you can come up with a new plan. After each shortfall on your plans, you have to bounce back stronger. Draft up a new plan a new timeline if needed and start to implement it right away.
Following the example:
Sarah quickly jumps out of the shower and decides that she is going to first get a larger size on hold. She going to ask her mom for a good tailor. Then she is going to alter her eating schedule so that she eats most of her calories before 2 pm. She is not going to stress over it or wallow, or drown in self-pity because she is .5 dress size away. She is going to be proud of her accomplishment and party the week leading up to the wedding, as she should.
Let others know
The steps above for most will include talking to another person to figure their way out of the problem. For some, they might have to talk to someone from the first step as they will be needing reminders to sit and breathe. Whereas for others it might not be till the last step when they have already made their new plan of action. Do not be afraid to ask for help whenever you need it.
Following the example:
Sarah decided to reach out to the store and ask her mother for help finding a tailor. She was not confident that the store will be able to get a larger size or if it will be able to alter the dress on time. So she decided to call her mother as well.
