How a trip to a far distant country changed my perspective on THE PLAN... The 5 Year Plan.
The dreaded 5 Year Plan. Why do we need one? What exactly is it? Well, if you're looking for scientifically backed answers to this question, then I'm definitely not your girl. But, if you want my perspective on the whole idea, then you've come to the right place.
When I started KLADO, I used to get asked THE question from all angles: "Jen, what's your 5 year plan?" "What's your 5 year business plan?""Where do you want to be in 5 years?" The answer to all of these were the same - independently wealthy, happy, healthy and alive. Unfortunately for me, I don't have a crystal ball, so I always struggled with understanding:
Why do I need to plan that far ahead?
Why is 5 years the magic number?
Why does it matter?
Having spent over a decade in corporate, we never planned further than a year. Yes, we had "roadmaps," some spanning years, but I just saw that as job stability for senior management. There is NO way that we can map out anything 5 years from today. Heck, I can barely plan a week in advance. Yes, my planning skills need some refining, but we'll defer that topic for another discussion.
Anyways, my project plans were 12 months or less. I had a clear destination and it was my job to fill in the steps required to arrive there (while making sure the team stayed on track). We always delivered, but the biggest thing I learned is that a plan should be fluid. So how in the world could I plan where my business and I would be 5 years from today? I have no clue, but I decided to give this "5 year plan" a try.
Here it is:
Year 1 - Launch Klado
Year 2 - Expand Klado ... Oh wait! COVID showed up and didn't give an eff about anyone's plan.
Point proven. I've always had lofty goals and ideas. Some completely unattainable, such as having 6 pack abs (you just can't "sit-up" genetics) to others being "doable" (creating a business from scratch). Honestly, I had never planned any further than graduating college. I knew from a young age that I had to graduate high school, get into college, graduate said college and get a job. The End. I never thought about marriage, kids, or what I wanted my life to look like after I turned 21. Maybe it was because I played too much Oregon Trail as a child or simply because I've had a lot of disappointments in my life. I would rationalize that I could plan for the certain. The things I could control. The rest, I avoided planning or being hopeful, since 9 times out of 10 whatever idea of a plan I had would be destroyed by reality.
I'm not a pessimist, but a realist. I'm practical. I try to plan for the worst case scenarios, this way, I'm not caught off guard when it comes true. I try to protect myself and the little bit of sunshine I see on a cloudy day. It must be the Czech in me!
A couple of years ago, I was fortunate enough to piggyback off my husband's work trip to Prague. I had no clue where Prague was located. I had never heard of it, but it sounded exotic and I assumed it had to be somewhere in Europe or one of the many tiny islands in the Pacific. When the husband asked me to come with him to Prague, I did a quick google search to see where Prague was located (it's in the Czech Republic, part of the former Soviet Union).
I was stoked, even though it was a 9+ hour flight (I hate flying) and there was no beach, or any body of water, anywhere in sight, but I'll never say no to a freeish trip. So there I was, flight booked and ready to explore this new land. I had never met anyone from Prague or from the Czech Republic.
When we landed, I realized, I had found my tribe. My people, the Czechs! They were hardened by life and were realists. Yes, they had dreams and hopes, but the reality of life made their dreams more realistic, more attainable. I couldn't relate more. We spent a few days in Prague, where I had the fortune to meet my Czech spirit person, Blanca.
After spending a couple of days walking the entirety of downtown Prague, I decided to check out some of the tourist tours being advertised at the hotel out of curiosity. I hate organized events and "tours", but I decided to give one a try. To my surprise, there was so much more than castles and astronomical clocks to the Czech Republic. There, on the outskirts of the tiny city of Prague, laid home to a world of historical areas from concentration camps to a bone church.
So, I book us for the bone church visit since the pictures on the brochure looked intriguing. As the tour van pulls up to our hotel the next morning, we're greeted by an angry-ish, spunky, energetic woman. Her name, Blanca.
Blanca was not much taller than me, maybe 5'1'' on a good day. She had a dark sense of humor and seemed "lived". I could relate. She explains to us and the other 7 foreigners on the tour about the history of the bone church, the impact the Soviet Union had on the country, etc. She was a wealth of knowledge and knew a little of a lot (there's my renaissance woman on full display). Then, one of the guys on the tours asked her how far the church was. Blanca says, "It's about an hour away...if nothing happens." Silence. The man doesn't know how to respond and seeing his confused and worried look, my homegirl Blanca explains that it's just the Czech way. "If nothing happens."
Moral of the story is that yes, some high-level planning is good, but don't get so enamored in the details. Life can't be fully planned out and you have little to no control on where you'll be in 5 years. You can plan for tomorrow, take the steps needed to attain your goals, but ultimately life can punch you in the face and take you swerving in a different direction.
So, go out there. Have big goals and aspirations. Make a plan using a pencil, so this way you can easily update it. Don't confine yourself to a set timeframe. Be nimble. Be fearless and chase your dreams. They might just make come true... if nothing happens.
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