Winging it with a plan
Upon first glance of the phrase “Winging it with a plan”, it sounds quite contradictory doesn’t it? It is. But that’s exactly how I kind of live my life.
If you get to know me as a person, you’ll quickly figure out that I don’t like making plans very much. I don’t usually stick to too many things if they’re laid out for me. I tend to like to just wander around in amusement parks for example and soak up the atmosphere and the environment instead of planning out everything I’m going to do. For example, I’ve been at Disneyland the past few days and yes Krista has shown me a general plan for things (which I’m really grateful for and it’s helped me identify things I should do) but I’ve discovered a lot of things just on my own. Like I wasn’t even planning on going to the Jedi Training Academy but I found it along the way. That’s the winging it part. However, like I said, Krista gave me a list of things I should hit during the week so I actually had somewhat of a plan on what I’m going to do. There’s the plan.
You can see this mantra of mine throughout my life. There are certainly times when I want to be more thoughtful and know where I’m going and what’s happening. Probably the most famous case for me is whenever I’m in a new place with Krista and I keep saying, “I have no idea where I am”. There’s the plan part of me. It’s also the annoying part because in reality, it shouldn’t matter where I am as long as we know where we’re going (most of the time Krista knows exactly where we’re going). On the flip side, I thoroughly enjoy just exploring most of the time. Whenever I was in Chicago when I had my internship with Nielsen, I spent many times just wandering the streets at all hours of the day and taking in everything around me.
Even at work, I think I follow “Winging it with a plan” but maybe just not as much winging it. I’m capable of leading a project and doing all the due diligence in a project plan. I can do the risk mitigation plans, the implementation plans and resource planning, etc. However, I know that things never go as planned and I’ve become very flexible and very comfortable doing things I’ve never had experience with.
My thoughts about life boil down to this:
You need a goal and a broad plan about how you’re going to get there. However, it would be foolish to think that things aren’t going to change so be prepared for bumps and unexpected twists and turns in the road. Be prepared to wing it at certain points and be comfortable with ambiguity. Enjoy what’s around you and move towards things that interest you even if they aren’t part of the plan. Sometimes the opportunities don’t lie in the doors in front of you, sometimes they’re behind you or to the side. Winging it with a plan. That’s what it’s all about.
~The Lermz
