Stop planning and execute already

Some people seem to be always preparing for plans that never get done.

It’s like they keep re-packing the car and never actually leave the driveway. Even the best plans mean nothing if you never follow through.

The company where one of my clients works is like that. They announce a great strategic initiative or new direction, and they work hard to put everything in place for that new initiative. Then, just when they should leap into execution mode, they return to strategizing.

I had a similar observation about myself the other day as I was journaling to sort out my thoughts and brainstorm new ideas. I realized that some of my brainstorming wasn’t new. I was mostly coming up with good ideas I’d already had.

I was falling into a cycle of thinking about my good ideas instead of acting on them. A lot of people fall into this trap.

Once, a former boss complained to me about my predecessor: “The last guy spent all his time making lists of people to call, but he never actually called anyone. He just kept making new lists and re-sorting them.”

The best-designed plans mean nothing if you never act on them

I’m obviously not someone who fails to act on my ideas. I published two books this year. Coached over 100 people. Achieved my PCC certification. Moved to a different state. This morning I held my fourth “get published” workshop.

In fact, I’m more prone to act without a plan than to make a plan that goes undone… but it does happen. I do sometimes get stuck in a think-plan-rethink-replan circle that is hard to break out of.

Plans mean nothing if you never act on them. No one feels good when they have to answer “why is this not done” with, “Well, I planned on doing that, but…” (Also, Nothing before the but matters.)

We all do it from time to time, of course. We are only human. If you catch yourself in a cycle of rethink-replan when you should have already moved on to execution, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1. Which isn’t ready, the plan or you?

Something is keeping this from moving forward, so either the plan isn’t solid enough to act on, or you are not ready to act on it. What do you need in order to be ready to move forward with this? Is there some knowledge you lack? A set of skills you don’t have? Contacts you need? Insufficient funding? Identify the areas of need and fix them. Often, these require skills that aren’t in your top strengths, so instead of fixing those areas, you fall into redoing the things that are easy and comfortable.

Many years ago, a friend and I had a great business plan and potential interest from venture capitalists. Unfortunately, although my friend was definitely ready to be a founder of a venture-backed company, I was not. I simply did not yet have the business experience, gravitas, presence, and confidence it would take, and we did not have a strong enough network to pull together a complete team. We decided against pursuing it when two of the competitors we’d been tracking got hefty Series A funding, and we knew we did not want to start out from a position of playing catch-up.

2. Do you believe in this plan?

It’s possible you don’t really believe in this plan. Perhaps it was concocted by others, or handed to you by someone full of good advice. Or maybe it just has a flaw in it, or you simply aren’t interested in doing it. What’s holding you back from letting it go?

I went through a period where I almost quit writing. I stopped believing in the publishing industry around 2010, when the internet had begun to change publishing fundamentally. I ended up abandoning my old plan of trying to get published through one of the big houses, and I created a new plan: self publishing. Fifteen years later, I’m running my own publishing imprint.

3. What one step can you take right now?

Every journey begins with a single step. You have to start somewhere; very few things leap out of your sketchbook fully formed in reality. What one step can you take today, no matter how small, to get started? Buy a domain name. Open a bank account. Register your LLC. Write “Chapter One” at the top of the page. Whatever you can do right now, do it.

I started Gray Bear Coaching in early 2022 with a bunch of ideas, a lot of hope, and a mountain of unknowns. My plan was hardly what anyone would call fully formed. (Even today, it’s pretty squishy.) But I started with a single blog post because it was a step I could take right then. This is my 143rd weekly post. I couldn’t get to 143 without starting at 1. I know a lot of people who still haven’t taken that one first step, whatever it is. What happens afterward is never guaranteed, but you can’t go anywhere if you keep repacking the car and never leave the driveway.

4. What are you afraid of?

What about this plan makes you feel vulnerable or at risk? One of the hardest things in life is to discern whether that inner voice telling you to be careful is wisdom or fear. Fear is a powerful anti-motivator, and it’s often given too much power. What is truly at risk? Is your health, your livelihood, or something equally important truly at risk? If not, what are you afraid of? Say it out loud to a person you trust. Imagine the worst-case scenario and ask yourself whether you will have stronger regrets if that worst case comes to happen, or if you never take the leap in the first place.

As I write this, I’m trying to think back to the times when I let fear hold me back. I can’t remember those times. Not because it never happened—I am quite sure I’ve sabotaged myself by giving in to fear many times in my life—but because the memories I have are of the times I stepped out despite my fears. Looking back, the parts of my life I’m most proud of and remember most clearly are when I took risks. When I acted in spite of fear and vulnerability. Some of those times worked out. Some didn’t. In all cases, the worst was never as bad as my fears had promised.

So take an action—any action—today

Stop thinking about acting, and act. Stop re-packing the car, re-drawing the route, re-listing priorities, re-planning the plan. Do something. Take action.

Or don’t. It’s your life.

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