We all have goals. In fact, this gives us vision and motivation, and that’s what keeps us alive. But how to achieve these goals and dreams? It is said that a goal without a plan is just a dream. So what is planning, and why is this so essential to success? Here I am going to write about 5 good reasons why planning is important!
What is Planning ?
Planning is about what steps you need to take to reach your goal, how to use your resources and opportunities, what changes and difficulties to anticipate to finally be where you want to be.
Shortly, a goal is where you want to be at a specific time and planning provides directions for how you are going to get there.
1 – Planning gives direction and reduces uncertainty
Before you begin to plan, you likely have an idea about what you’re hoping to accomplish. Planning helps you refine that goal and determine if it’s realistic or not. Moreover, it allows you to be sure you focus on the right things.
Many projects and goals in your life will be complicated, which can be overwhelming. But planning helps break down the big issue into smaller pieces. Eventually, this enables you to analyze every step you will accomplish, reducing uncertainty.
Uncertainty is part of every new project, and this creates fear and worry. Certainly, no one can predict the future, and there will always be surprises, but planning gives you a clearer idea about what lies ahead.
When you take the time to plan well, you’ll see your goals right in front of you with every step already planned. Obviously, this makes planning very helpful in reducing the uncertainty of the future and avoiding risks.
2 – Planning eliminates wasted times
Sometimes we follow a random direction for our goal without necessarily planning, thinking that the goal is simple and clear enough to get there. But once there, we may then realize there was a much easier way we could have taken if we had planned the journey properly. Worse, we can even find out we are going in the wrong direction. Yes, this is frustrating.
Constantly making emotional choices without thinking through our actions will cost us time, money, energy and may even make us lose the opportunity entirely.
Eventually, the lack of planning means it took more resources (time, money, energy) than necessary to reach the finish line. Meanwhile, having a clear idea of the exact steps we need to take allows us to allocate all these resources effectively.
Planning well increases efficiency and prevents waste.
3 – Planning improves decision making
Breaking a big goal into small parts, analyzing the weaknesses, and finding ways to reduce risks make an excellent recipe for innovation.
When you plan, you gather the information necessary to make a thoughtful decision. Furthermore, you’re aware of the challenges and possible problems, which helps you make better decisions each step of the way.
The planning process forces our minds to conduct thought experiments while we visualize the route and steps we may take. In this process, we will naturally identify scenarios and problems that may present themselves as obstacles to our progress. Then, we can formulate a response to resolve these problems in advance or choose to take a different route altogether. Although we can’t evade all these issues, many can be avoided. And those that do occur regardless of our efforts, can be managed far better in terms of resources if planned for in advance.
Moreover, creating a plan is more than just listing out a set of objectives between our starting point and our end goal.
In most cases, there will be many different routes we can take, and we need to decide what direction best fits our strengths and abilities and gives us our most excellent chance of success. Eventually, identifying what’s possible and how it can best be achieved can be an extremely creative experience.
4 – Planning allows us to measure our progress
Having a plan and knowing each step required to achieve our goals enables us to measure our progress. This is important, as having a clear indicator of how far we have come and how far we have to go can strongly influence our motivation and well-being, especially when times get tough.
Measuring your progress is essential to set a practical goal because it can help you prioritize tasks and estimate the amount of time it may take to complete each task.
Knowing how much you can in an amount of time will help you plan the next steps according to your performance. Measuring your progress can also help you identify how to adjust your plan of action, which may speed up your progression.
5 – Planning gives satisfaction and motivation.
One of the most important reason why planning is essential is that it gives peace of mind. Every project is stressful and overwhelming. But seeing all the steps you need to take to succeed, the pros and cons, the resources you have to use without waste, and reducing the risks and uncertainties from the future will boost your confidence and motivation.
In fact, planning will organize all your life. Stress won’t disappear, but you will feel better than you were before planning because you’ve thought through everything.
5 Reasons Why Planning Is Important
I hope this post can help you in your professional or private life! Believe me, you will see so much improvement with planning, and you will feel so motivated!
Time seriously fly! Don’t wait to achieve your dreams! While taking care of yourself and your loved ones of course.
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5 Reasons Why Planning Is Important