This saying was said to me by my father when I was a kid. At the time I just thought my life wasn’t organized enough whenever he would murmur the simple saying. It wasn’t until recent years that I’ve come to the conclusion that the simple saying is easy to understand, but hard to do. Like most things in life, you can do it yourself. Some things may take more time to learn and practice to reap from the self-improvement investment for a project. Whether you’re learning how to do a home improvement project, complete a degree or certification, or make healthier decisions about exercise and nutrition. You can do it with the help of a plan.
If you’ve ever heard of the Enneagram test, you would have me pegged at a 5. If you have no clue of what that is or would like a refresher, use this link to learn more about me being a 5. It basically means that I like to be prepared. Another simple saying that I have grown up with most of my life is Be Prepared, the Boy Scout’s motto. With being an Eagle Scout I have practiced being prepared for all types of things. As you can tell, the environment that I grew up in has helped me learn to appreciate the benefits of being prepared. And being prepared is about having a plan.
I’m not saying I have a plan for everything in life, because that would be crazy, or that my plans are better than other people’s plans. But, what I am saying is that it is important to have a plan when attempting to accomplish a goal. If you feel that you are not capable of reaching your goals alone, ask for help. It is up to you to either learn it yourself, ask a friend to help, or pay someone to help you reach your goal.
Have you ever done a project yourself and it didn’t turn out how you liked? Asking friends for support or guidance can help you on your journey, but not all advice is professional advice, and that’s a calculation I’ll leave for you to decide. If it’s a big enough project where asking a friend for help may sound like a big ask, and you’re unsure about their credibility or accountability. With me being a 5, I get kind of cranky when things go away from the original plan. I understand that minor deviations are okay, but routine behaviors are important for completing a task.
I’m a fitness and wellness guy, and my views are strongly focused around self-improvement plans and your health. But the planning and goal setting concepts still apply to life elsewhere. Staying on track with goals builds momentum elsewhere in your life to help find yourself being in control and identifying positive or negative changes in life.
Take a non-health example of painting the first floor of your home. Do you decide to do it yourself? Are you motivated enough to set a timely manner of how long it should take you and make adjustments accordingly? Do you have enough personal accountability, experience, and confidence in yourself to accomplish this goal? If you don’t, you’re going to either buy all the painting stuff to never start or start and not like the outcome. This is when you ask a friend to help you paint. And if they know how to paint or are willing to help, be grateful for the friendship and help. But beware, if your first floor is 5,000 square feet of 12 foot ceilings and the friend you asked paints for a living, that is when you offer your friend a deal to hire them to help you.
This same application can be used for any service or products provided that matches with your goals. For example; 1) you could fix your car yourself, ask a friend for help, or pay a shop to fix it, 2) you could invest money on your own, ask a friend for help, or pay a management firm to properly invest your money, 3) or, you could workout and make healthier decisions on your own, find a friend to offer guidance and support, or pay a professional coach or trainer.
Bottom line is that all plans need to have the motivation and confidence to get the most out of a goal. It is up to you to decide what new skills you would like to work on before considering asking a friend or hiring a professional for help. Do not be afraid of trying some things first to learn if you need help or not, but it is wise to ask about stuff you’re not confident with.
