Dear daughter, planning is an important topic in our journey to be successful. In this post, I’ll show you 21 benefits of planning, so you understand its importance.
1- Increased productivity
Planning helps you to focus your time and energy on the most important tasks, which can lead to increased productivity.
After you prioritize your tasks and goals, then it is time for planning.
2- Reduced stress
Planning can help you to reduce stress by giving you control over your life.
If you know what to do at any time, and have an approximate time frame to do it, you won’t stress thinking about how many things you have to do, won’t feel overwhelmed, won’t feel stuck. All of this will bring as a result less stress in your life.
3- Improved decision-making
Planning can help you to make better decisions by helping you to think through the consequences of your choices.
Remember, when you say yes to something, you are saying no to several other things. Planning will help you to see the impact of your “yes”. Also, when you combine planning with prioritizing, you will have a better view of your life, of how you (should) spend your time to achieve your goals.
4- Increased motivation
Planning can help you to stay motivated by giving you a clear path to your goals.
When you know what to do, and you celebrate every achievement, you stay motivated (and organized).
5- Improved communication
Planning can help you to communicate your goals and ideas to others more effectively.
Remember when I asked you “What are your goals?”, “How are going to achieve them?”
When you have a proper plan, answering those questions is a no-brainer.
It can help you also to communicate with your life partner, so the two of you are on the same track.
6- Achievement of goals
Planning can help you to achieve your goals by providing a roadmap for how to get there.
This is probably one of the most important benefits of planning. It helps you to achieve your goals!
7- Better time management
Planning can help you to better manage your time by helping you to prioritize tasks and set deadlines.
This topic of time management is similar to budgeting.
You won’t be able to answer how you spend your time, or even more importantly, you won’t be able to control how you spend your time if you don’t track it.
As you plan, you will see how you spend your time. Then, you can decide on better ways to spend your time.
Later on, this becomes a spiral of good things.
Knowing how you spend your time, helps you to plan better. Planning better, helps you stay motivated, have less stress, and so on. All the benefits before, help you to spend better your time. Spending better you’re your time, helps you to plan better. See the spiral?
8- Fewer surprises
Planning can help you to avoid surprises. It can help you to anticipate challenges and obstacles.
Therefore, you can plan how you are going to mitigate/avoid the challenges and obstacles.
9- More flexibility
Planning can help you to be more flexible by giving you a framework to work with. Also, it allows you to adapt as needed.
Flexibility is so important in life. Having a plan can provide the flexibility you need in your life.
10- Increased confidence
Planning can help you to increase your confidence.
Imagine how confident you will feel when you start achieving your goals (following a proper plan).
Every time you look at your plan, and see what you have achieved, it gives you confidence that you will achieve what comes next in your plan.
Having a proper plan, also makes you more confident because you don’t need to be nervous, or anxious because you don’t know what to do now, or because you are procrastinating, just sitting in front of the TV killing time. You will know what to do at any time.
11- Improved problem-solving
Planning can help you to improve your problem-solving skills.
It helps you to identify potential problems and develop solutions in advance.
This is a very important skill to have.
12- Better decision-making
Have a plan? Have a decision to make?
Assess how the different decisions will impact your plan, negatively or positively, and the decision will be clear to you.
13- More creativity
When you plan how to spend your time, you will have more peace of mind.
Thinking in advance about what problems or challenges you might have, will give you time to be creative.
You will be happening to your life. As opposed to what happens to many people “life happens to them”.
14- Better teamwork
Planning can help you to improve teamwork by giving everyone a shared understanding of the goals and objectives.
Remember what I mentioned about better communication? Even with your partner?
Yes, planning also improves teamwork because know you can communicate better.
15- Increased satisfaction
Your satisfaction will increase simply because you will see that you are achieving more things. You know what is important to you and how much time you have to spend to achieve those important things.
As you achieve your goals, and you have better results, your life will be more fulfilling.
16- Reduced risk
You will reduce risks by identifying problems and challenges in advance and having a plan to mitigate them.
Risks won’t just happen and take you by surprise. Instead, you will be ready to face them.
17- Better financial management
Planning can help you to better manage your finances by helping you to set budgets and track your spending.
Do you have financial goals? If you don’t have them, then write them right now, you need them.
Planning will definitely help you achieve them.
18- Improved Health
Planning can help you to improve your health. Are you including in your plans to exercise, to eat healthy?
If not, when are you starting?
Remember, you are creating wealth, and for you to enjoy that wealth you need to be healthy. Spend time on yourself.
19- Happier relationships
Now that you can communicate better because you have a plan and clarity about what you want, you will have happier relationships.
Everyone important to you will know what to expect from you, and what they shouldn’t ask you.
20- More peace of mind
Peace of mind is such important, special nowadays in this world full of stress, distractions, and procrastination.
Do you have a plan? Then you know what to do, and how to spend your time. Now you are achieving more of the things that really matter to you. It makes you feel better, happier, and have better relationships.
In conclusion, it gives you peace of mind.
21- A more successful life
As planning results in achieving more things, not just more things but the things that are important to you, it will give you a more successful life.
Remember success have different meaning for different people.
When you plan, you plan to achieve what you really want.
When you achieve what you really want, you become successful.
Here is the definition of success from Earl Nightingale: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal”. It is your goal, not someone else’s goal.
As conclusion of the benefits of planning, it seems like a great idea to start planning, all benefits or pros, and no cons. What a deal!
Do you already have your plan? Is there anything you are struggling with? Please let me know.
Love you, dad.