#12 Space Odyssey 2012

August 20, 2009

Space Odyssey 2012

The future. Space Odyssey 2012. I have just finished writing and delivering my 3 year business plan and vision and it is exciting, scary, and daunting all at once. I imagine all the people I know who have sat in my shoes and have mapped out and planned the future. How many of them have gone on to become huge successes and how many have not made it. There are probably fewer who on the success list as the amount of work, dedication and opportunity that one must have on their side is enormous. But if you are on the success list, the future really is looking bright.

The future can sometimes be scary as it’s the fear of the unknown. Unknown and change. 2 things that historically people have trouble dealing with. But tackling the unknown and changing are integral parts to being successful. 3 years will go by in the blink of an eye. But who will I be in 3 years? This first year has already flown by and time is going even faster now. What kind of business woman will I be? What other lessons will I have learned? Will I still be someone that people want to work with? Will the success or lack of success affect how I view the world? Sitting here and planning out the future, I obviously plan to be incredibly successful, but sometimes the amount of success that I want and am planning on having scares me a bit. It’s scary because I would be naïve to think that it wouldn’t change things. Success and power always change things. Some people handle that transition beautifully, while others end up alone.

I was sitting on my own this morning and just thinking. We often don’t get much time to ourselves to just sit and think and do nothing else. No TV, no radio, no dog, no iphone, no distractions. Just me and my thoughts. I often wonder how I got here. If I am perfectly honest it’s not something that I planned. I love my life, but I didn’t set out any goals when I was 20 to be at any certain stage by the time I was 30. So now that I have set out goals and plans for where I want to be in 3 years time, it gets me thinking. Life will no longer be me flying by the seat of my pants. In fact, if I am honest with myself, it probably hasn’t been that way for a few years now.

Once you put plans in place, it’s up to you to make sure that those plans happen. It’s a commitment. I wouldn’t call myself a commitment phobe. I have been in a serious relationship now for 5 years. However, upon really deconstructing my tendency to rarely set definitive goals, or make plans, it does make me wonder? I don’t really like committing to too much. On the weekends I like to leave my days open and just see what happens and who we see. Sometimes when I travel places, I will purposely not book a hotel and just find one when I show up. I have always told myself it was the adventure of it all. But recently, I am starting to think that my lack of plans in my life so far have been more about being ready to commit to them and less about the spontaneity of it all. Which is why this 3 year plan is such a big deal to me. It’s one of the first times in my life where I have sat down and actually decided where I want to be and what I want to achieve in x amount of time. Not only that, but I can’t achieve it without my team which means that I have to rely on others to get to where I want to be. Another first for me.

So it really does feel like I am on a Space Odyssey. What does 2012 look like? I’ve got an idea in my head, but I have a feeling the reality will be so much better. I have a feeling that the sense of achievement that will come from hitting the goals and levels of success that I have set will be far greater than if I just stumbled across them. It has also forced me to think about what else I want in my life in 3 years time. I'm no spring chicken anymore, and am starting to think that I may have to put some plans into my personal life as well. Hmmm... maybe I should let my boyfriend know... :-)