One of my favourite patients, Julia, came rushing in yesterday, late, as usual, exclaiming that she doesn’t know why she is just never on time. Usually, I usher her into my office, hoping to preserve as much of her appointment as possible. Yesterday, though, I decided to respond to her comment. I gave her an opening to talk about this issue.
Julia explained that she was having a tough day. She had woken up late and felt tired. She skipped breakfast since she was already running late, so she felt hungry and grumpy. In addition, she missed her bus, so she had to find other routes to get to her appointment. Julia was feeling frazzled!
I carefully commented on the frequency of her delay and asked if these morning obstacles happen often. This bad morning was a pretty regular occurrence for Julia, as I suspected. She often found herself late and frazzled.
Like many of us, Julia is trying to get through her day moment by moment. She rarely plans, so she faces the same obstacles each day. But, like many of us, Julia is setting herself up for daily issues. As Ben Franklin famously said:
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
The key to success for Julia is planning. Her success starts the night before. Julia reminded me of a video I had seen recently. Dr. Angel V. Shannon discussed this issue of planning. Take a look:
Planning for Success
Planning for success involves little thought. Your life is unique, so there are no automatic answers. When you start looking for personalized solutions, though, you will probably find ways to make life easier.
- Start by figuring out what obstacles occur in your life regularly. Julia gives us some common examples. First, she stays in bed too late. Second, she has no breakfast prepared. Third, she doesn’t have alternate routes prepared.
- Any of these would be a great starting point. Choose one, and only one, to work on first. The key is to build small successes into significant life changes.
- Brainstorm about the issue you are solving. Look at common solutions. Then dream up some attractive, personalized solutions. Expand your imagination by finding a couple of ridiculous solutions, too.
- Choose one or two small changes that will help you succeed.
Julia identified both sleep and nutrition as current issues. So she decided to have a nutritious breakfast ready when she got up, so she could grab it and leave. Julia consulted a nutritionist for advice on fast, easy, inexpensive, healthy breakfasts that she could make ahead.
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