Planning vs. Preparation

I have a confession ..... and an announcement - during the past month I have been meeting with a Life Coach.   This past month for me has been both exhilarting and off-balancing.  Let me explain.....

enlivencoaching.com

A life Coach, or those I have worked with, is an individual who helps draw out that which is already within but gives it clarification, direction, or voice.  This is my experience.  About seven years ago I had the opportunity to work with a life coach - and the one thing that stuck with me was eliminate tolerations.  I have attempted to do this.  My current Life Coach, who I would highly recommend, has worked with me through several different avenues.  We began our session with forming a personal mission statement.  We then followed that with a personality profile and discussing what that looked like.  We then moved on to discussing a values system and our last meeting included looking at how that all plays out and where does that lead.
Part of our discussion brought an awareness in me that my personality lends itself to being a planner.  I am a great planner.  My calendar is synced to my phone, my computer and is imprinted in my brain, it is color-coded and detailed -  I have a plan.  My discovery this past week was .... although I have a plan I may not always prepare.

For example - I may plan all the days of the week, all the field trips, all the parties and all the events - what I have not planned for is the preparation required to fulfill all these plans.  You see I am a launcher - I have great ideas, I can put them on the schedule and then I forget or have no desire to make sure there is time to accomplish all that was "planned".  How does knowing this help me?  It helps to know that I can plan and in that plan I need to plan time to prepare.  I need to acknowledge that great ideas and events come with a price of time.  I need to recognize that a plan does not equal completion.  In order to complete a plan I must prepare to complete.

As I write this I am reminded of the boy scout motto "Be prepared".  As I desire to fill the life I am living and improve the legacy I desire to leave - I realize it is not enough to plan, I must prepare.  I must decide to be intentional in my thoughts and actions and allow enough margin to handle all the things I have planned.  I believe in doing this I will become less frazzled, less frustrated, more easy going and possibly less controlling - because I have prepared for the plan vs planning with no allowance for  preparation.

The Bible states God has plans for us for a hope and future (Jer. 29:11) but more importantly He prepared a way through Jesus Christ for us to have eternal life (John 3:16 and 14:6)  both planning and preparation are important - I must follow after the example that was given and not just have great ideas but prepare a way to carry them out.

plan |plan|noun1 a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something : 2 (usu. plans) an intention or decision about what one is going to do
prepare1 make (someone) ready or able to do or deal with something : • [ intrans. ] make oneself ready to do or deal with something :