A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish - Financial Planning in Olympia Washington

 By Colleen Gillespie, CTFA, AIF®

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry had it right when he said the quote above. Benjamin Franklin also stated that a “failure to plan is a plan to fail.” Whether planning for a wedding, dinner party, vacation, or retirement, having a plan will reduce stress, and significantly increases the likelihood of success. No plan is 100% failure proof, but it’s easier to develop a “Plan B” if there was a Plan A in the first place. 

So, what gets in the way of our planning, and what’s the difference between planning and worrying? According to Frederic Neuman, M.D. and his December 4, 2016 post on Psychology Today’s website, entitled Planning vs. Worrying, “we plan every day for all those things we need to accomplish during the day. We worry about those things that are very difficult or impossible to plan for. Worrying is frustrated planning…To put it another way, we can plan for something important and not worry, if it seems to us we are in control. We worry about things we cannot control.”

But how much time in a day do we spend worrying about something? If we could track our “worry time” on a FitBit™ how much time would have been spent needlessly worrying about something you have no control over? I need constant reminders about this very thing. Carl Richards is a Certified Financial Planner™ turned Sketch Guy for a weekly column in the New York Times. Below is one of my favorite of his sketches, and a great reminder that nothing is really accomplished by worrying, but amazing things can happen when we plan ahead. Savings goals are met, kids graduate from college or vocational school, that new vacation home is purchased, or you retire when you want. 

How can we help turn your worries into a plan of action? Give us a call and an hour, and we’ll help turn your wishes into plans, then walk with you toward your accomplished goals!