Freedom is in the Planning

Annie & I had about 7 minutes left on our call back in September when I asked about her marketing plan for the holiday season.

She groaned & said she hadn’t thought about it.

I said, “Let’s bang it out now. We can hammer out all 10 weeks of content topics & a schedule.”

She was doubtful, but 7 minutes later, she had an entire plan laid out in front of her. She breathed a sigh of relief…

And I’ve watched her emails (I’m on her list) roll in every week without fail. She doesn’t have to think about it - she just has to work the plan.

BUT!! And it’s a big but 🍑…

She’s a high-level creative who finds planning V E R Y challenging. So planning is usually the first thing to go.

But when she has a plan…
And works the plan…

She gets to have a LIFE. And a business that thrives.

My clients get to choose:

Is it better to live in the discomfort of the chaos…

Or to live in the discomfort of planning so you can avoid the chaos?

Here’s the thing that Annie - along with most creatives - ALREADY KNOWS.

Freedom is in the planning.

You get more time every single day when you have a plan and work the plan.

There’s VALUE in the planning because it makes life EASIER in the long run.

But creative women tell me all the time how much they HATE PLANNING.

It feels restrictive to them!

I get it. I know this isn’t the way their brains work - it’s uncomfortable for them.

They have a story that their brilliance is in being SPONTANEOUS! They want to have freedom to do whatever they feel like that day. In that moment.

They’re often waiting for inspiration to HIT them – so they need to be clear on the calendar to allow for that.

The problem I’ve found? Creative women want freedom to create whenever the moment strikes, but they also don’t get as much done as they really want.

Those things they want to have freedom to do? They never get done. Because without a plan, NOTHING gets done. Or it gets done in a loopy, zig-zaggy way.

If you LIKE the loopy, zig zaggy way of living, then FANTASTIC!

But my clients come to me because they’re kind of burned out by the loopiness, and frustrated with the zig zagginess.

They want to accomplish MORE without doing more.

If this sounds like you, I’ve got another question for you, especially if you’re a person who resists planning, calendaring, preparing, or strategizing:

Even if you’re reading this, and KNOW planning is VALUABLE - is it WORTH IT TO YOU?

It’s all about your threshold for pain.

Personally, I loathe chaos. It makes me feel anxious. Loopiness, zig zagging, and full-on spontaneity aren’t my approach to anything.

I’d rather put in my time to strategize & plan, which leaves me room for change & flexibility.

Planning is the price I pay for my freedom. I pay up front.

Other people don’t like to pay that way - they pay on the back end, running around, feeling the chaos.

How about you? Are you a time & energy up front person?

My results are fantastic - FOR ME. I love knowing that I’m more productive - and I get the down time & freedom I crave.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not here to convince you one way or the other is better.

I’m here to ask you how much pain & discomfort you’re willing to put up with - and if it GETS YOU THE RESULTS YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!

For example, I have a client who loves to travel! She will forego all sorts of niceties so that she can funnel all her money to traveling.

Travel is valuable to her, and the sacrifices she makes are WORTH IT to her. She pays with her time, effort, and money.

However, she also wants to grow her business. And to do that, she really needs a strategy for expansion.

But right now, planning that strategy & growing her business isn’t of the highest value to her. So she puts off her strategic plan and is constantly in churn mode.

It would give ME a stomach ache, but it’s totally worth it to her. She pays for her choices, but it’s where she places her energy so she can travel right now.

What do YOU value? Do you value your freedom? If so, I argue that there is freedom in the planning - but you have to find freedom valuable before you’re willing to make the sacrifice!

Maybe to you freedom isn’t your highest core value. Maybe it’s CREATIVITY. Or Passion. You have to know what you want.

Creativity, passion, & freedom is why people start a business. In your heart, you may really, truly know that you have so much to share with the world.

You know you want to be your own boss, have freedom, and learn new ways of doing things.

So you start a business because you want to be able to pick up your sick kid from school in the middle of the day without asking permission or taking PTO.

Or you start a business because you never want to waste an hour of your time in a meeting listening to shit that could’ve been covered in one email.

Or you want to push your creative ideas out there & share them with like-minded people. You’re passionate about helping, giving, and changing the world in some way.

BUT here’s what’s happening to my clients before we work together:

Building the business starts to feel really painful – because it doesn’t feel like you’re getting anywhere.

You’re TRYING ALL the marketing. SERVING ALL the potential clients.

GOING TO ALL the networking events. Hitting ALL the social media outlets.

You wake up every day & have no idea what to work on to move your business forward (or you’re so burned out because you’re doing all the work & there’s no end in sight.)

The creativity is squelched. The passion is challenged.

And all of a sudden, you have no freedom or peace.

Freedom is waking up every single day in your business and knowing WHAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON – because it moves you toward the goal.

Freedom is being able to travel once a week every month, and work your business (OR NOT) from wherever you are.

Freedom is in the PLAN.

So – if you love the looping & zigging/zagging approach, that is GREAT with me. I just ask that you get real with yourself & ask if you’re getting where you want to go.

How’s your energy?
How’s your satisfaction?

Are you making money?

ARE YOU HAVING FUN?

You deserve all these things as you build your business.

If you’d like to practice seeing how freedom comes with planning, I suggest starting small – especially if you’ve never done this.

Choose one low-risk thing. See how It feels to plan it out.

What’s your low-risk, low-hanging-fruit THING you can plan out.

Start with this resource: Download the Business Checklist Roadmap to help you start planning where you’re headed! You’ll see how to break down ALL THE THINGS and start moving forward…by only lookin’ at what’s right ahead of you!

Maybe you can’t believe me now, but I promise you, FREEDOM is in the PLANNING.

Xo, Jen