PREPARATION VS PLANNING

 

Preparation Vs Planning

I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while.  They’re different concepts.

Planning assumes a fair amount of control and details logical steps to achieve an end goal.  At work we have these all the times.  We have project plans.  Step 5 is contingent on Step 4, Steps 2 and 3 can be done concurrently, each step takes different times to complete and there are measured milestones along the way.  Stack them together and a project plan emerges.

Preparation is conceptually different.  At work it’s a fast supply chain.  You don’t know what opportunities are going to present themselves, but with a short supply chain you can react to things you didn’t plan for. 

Another analogy is sailing.  During our 2018 race to Alaska race we took great care in preparing the boat.   Sails, some turbo charging of the boat, and other key things to have a fully found, capable boat.  We were aware of other teams, with faster boats, who put an enormous amount of work in to "planning".  “Chart work” as they called it.   Preparation seemed to be secondary.  We had no plan.  We were confident in our preparation and reacted accordingly.  It paid off.

Swinging back to a topic closer to home, Mom is 90 years old and we have a family member who is frustrated there’s no ‘plan’ as she ages.  Mom lives alone, is fairly happy and self sufficient, and I’m trying to get up there every other week and other family members are starting to go up as well.   Mom has a robust social group – and that’s better expressed in the plural, groups, that are engaging and full of some pretty cool people.

So while there’s no ‘plan’, Mom is "prepared".  She has a long term health plan that allows for 3 years of in home help.  There’s no plan to use it at present.  We don’t know if it’s going to be next Tuesday, June of 2025 or some indeterminate date far in the future.  Even using it is not a fait accompli.  But it’s there.  Ready to go if circumstances require it. 

At some point she’ll likely stop driving.  While there’s no plan in place there are plenty of options to use one of several taxi services or leverage one of her ‘helpers’ (she has 3-4 that visit the house if not every week fairly frequently doing house cleaning and outside maintenance).  There are options which really don’t yet need to be explored as there’s no current need.

So while there’s no ‘plan’, Mom has taken and cultivated the appropriate preparation for life's uncertainties.  With all the uncontrollable in life, preparation, not planning, is the key to happiness.   Things rarely go to plan causing frustration.  But confidence in your preparation means fewer things to worry about.

“Planning leads to awareness. Preparation leads to readiness.”

Both have their place, but as I age and accept all the uncertainties that life offers, preparation leads to better outcomes.  We don't have the control over events that we may want.  We never well.  It's not that planning is unimportant.  But preparation is more important.