Leave Room For The Unexpected

It's the time of the year when a lot of people are in full swing planning for the year ahead.

Which, I admit, is slightly stressing me out as I don’t have a clear plan yet for 2024. I deliberately say “slightly” because these days I allow myself to be a bit less structured in my planning.

When I started my coaching business, I would always have very specific goals for the upcoming year and a detailed action plan. It’s a habit I took with me from my previous job where I would spend the best parts of November and December creating annual marketing plans for the clients of the agency I worked for. This habit served me well when I started my own business.

However, I soon realized that I missed out on opportunities that came up along the way because I was so fixated on my plan. Having a plan gave me a sense of security, deviating from it felt like failing or not being disciplined enough.

These days I try to find a balance; I have a few big goals that give me direction and push me out of my comfort zone. For the rest, I go with the flow. Going with the flow doesn’t mean hanging back and doing nothing (although from time to time, that’s a good thing to do, too 😀).

It means to leave room for the unexpected; for new ideas that form spontaneously, for inspiration that often strikes out of the blue, or for new opportunities that arise from connecting and engaging with other people.

In 2023, the most exciting things that happened in my business were not the ones I planned for. So for 2024, I’m planning to go more with the flow (pun intended).

How about your plans? How much room do you leave for the unexpected?

Written by Dominic Junghänel, Career & Leadership Coach
Photo credit: Unsplash