Intentional Actions - Plans
“We do not hope, we plan.” - Benejeseret Mother – Dune
Too many of us simply hope we will get better or hope that things will improve. While hope is beneficial and important for each of us, it is not the solution when times are difficult. It is not the answer to your most challenging times. Hope can provide a belief that things will improve, but it will not give you the direction or path to achieve your goals and objectives.
My first extended stay in the hospital was in December of 2021. I had just had my 4th chemo and was sicker than I had ever been. I couldn’t keep anything in my system. The previous chemo days had made me so sick that the doctors decided to give me additional steroid shots to help me recover. The results were not good. The steroids gave me uncontrollable hiccups for 3 straight days and nights. While this was somewhat entertaining and amusing at 3pm, it was annoying and depressing at 3am when you couldn’t sleep.
After several days of no sleep, I ended up on my hands and knees in the shower unable to keep anything in my body. It was then that Katie decided we had to go to the emergency room. I assumed they would give me fluids and send me home. Instead, I spent the next 2 weeks in a hospital room trying to recover. I spent countless hours walking around in circles in the hallways of the hospital pushing my IV stand just hoping to go home.
I remember very clearly one of the doctors coming in after several days. I was tired of being in the hospital and I wasn’t getting better. Finally, my approach changed. I began to ask, “What do I need to do to get out of this place. Tell me what I can do to help.” For the next several minutes the doctor outlined the plans for me to get healthy and go home. She laid out what I needed to do. In that moment everything changed, I now had what I needed, a plan. I had a path on how to get home. All I had to do was my part.
We all need a plan. We all need a path. Often when life gets hard, we forget just how important a plan of attack is. Yet, you can’t get anywhere without a plan. Life doesn’t improve or get better on accident or by happen stance. Have you ever known anyone who’s won the lottery? I have friends who buy tickets and talk about what they will do if they win, but that’s simply a gamble (or faith language hope). That’s not a plan for long-term financial stability. You see no one arrives at their stated goal without a plan or intentionally taking steps to move that way.
No random actions, none not based on underlying principles. - Marcus Aurileus – Meditations – pg. 37
A couple of thoughts regarding Plans…
Clarity in plans – Overcoming your obstacles requires clear and well-defined goals with well-defined and actionable plans. It requires the kind of plan than can easily be followed through.
Those of you who have had surgery on a knee, hip, or shoulder know that physical therapy is not an option if you hope to gain your strength, flexibility, and activity back again. When you attend PT, you know that the physical therapist always has a simple and clear plan for your work that day. Those who fail to follow the plan never quite achieve the level of movement or goals that they had before.
Small Steps Lead to Big Things – Likewise, while goals can be audacious the steps needed to achieve those goals must be simple and clear. If your steps are too big, you’ll never accomplish the task.
In each round of chemo my goal was simple and achievable, I wanted to walk a mile each day. After every chemo treatment the oncologist office would send me home for 48 hours with a pump that continued to dump chemo in the port connected to my chest. The hose that connected my port to the pump allowed very little freedom, but I was determined to achieve my simple goal.
Sometimes when the weather was good, I would take the pump place it in a pocket of a jacket and wrap the hose up and walk my mile around the neighborhood. When the weather was bad, I would simply walk a loop in our living room, kitchen, and dining room until I achieved my mile. The goal was simple and the steps where small, but I achieved my goal.
Measure what matters – John Doerr – taken from Change your World by John Maxwell – pg. 151
Keep track and know the path – You can have a goal, but if you don’t keep track of it, it’s hard to know where you stand in reference to your goal. Peter Drucker is known for his quote, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” You must measure or track your efforts if you hope to achieve your goal.
For years I have kept track of my goals. I have kept a weekly list of disciplines that I want to accomplish each day. Those goals continued through cancer. Clear goals and simple steps allowed me to maintain my mind, my overall health, and attitude. I could track, recognize and even celebrate my steps and simple achievements.
There are many things that will beat you down and discourage you when you face the difficult things, but recognizing and celebrating the simple steps will help you to achieve your ultimate goal of health, wholeness, and the best you. Choose the best!