How to Plan in a Pandemic (Or Any Uncertain Time)

How do you plan in uncertain times? How do you plan in the midst of a pandemic when the next few weeks feel uncertain, let alone the entire year?

It is a great feeling to have a plan in front of us. This makes sense because as humans we really like certainty - our minds really like knowing what is next. It feels great, not only to have a goal, & to have a direction, but to have this plan to enact that goal & direction. To have a plan that makes it feel like that goal will happen because we know how. But what happens when the “how” is uncertain, when the “how” is knocked out below us? What happens when it feels like we can't anticipate that how? Today I am giving you five steps for how to plan in uncertain times that will help foster a clear mind & compassionate perseverance, so you can roll with the punches & motivation to take action.

What I'm all about at Yes& is sustainable growth. The sustainable growth model is this blend of intention & the action of taking action toward our goals, while also staying intentional to what's feeling good with us, & being agile, depending on what's going on in our situation.

Send me the steps!

Scroll to the bottom of this page to watch the video, or simply read the transcript below (edited slightly for clarity).

The practices I teach, whether you are in my Experience, whether you are a member in my community, or joining us for free today are all about this model, & they are simple steps that work, they are effective.

I’m sharing two testimonials of what is in store for you if you apply this model, if you apply these steps today. One is from Annie, a full experience member. She shares, “I feel like I'm making progress & never falling behind because the steps are intentionally bite sized in nature.” & then Angie, also a full experience member, shares, “It's making me think & generating an energy that I can do this & I won't always be stuck where I am.”

You will not always be stuck where you are & today we are working toward a big goal of your greatest potential, no matter how uncertain the future feels, one step at a time. 

Diving into five steps for planning amidst uncertainty:

Step number one is to embrace the autonomy that you do have. In Positive Psychology, which I studied for many years, one of the core components of a life of satisfaction, of a well life, is embracing & owning & having autonomy. Autonomy is simply the perception & the reality of you being in control of what you can control. There's that wonderful quote of “let me control what I can control & release whatever I can't.” So, for sure there will be things that are out of your control & there are always some things that you can control. That might be your physical body in this moment, that might be the depth of your breath, that might be writing a plan & having it & letting it exist (whether or not it's the actual thing that gets implemented or not). So, look around you & ask yourself, what do you know for sure? Where are you in control? Where do you have autonomy & find this grounding so that you can have something to stand on, rather than everything feeling so uncertain.


The second prompt, clearly state your desire or goal. This builds off the first one in that you can know for certain what your desire or goal is & what I highly encourage you to do, especially in uncertain times is not only to state a desire or goal that is quantitative or that is surface level, but also one that you build a holistic picture around. So, what do you really, really want & how will it feel to experience this? What are the important aspects of this outcome? For example, “What do you want?” is not just “I want this amount of revenue.” 

It doesn't mean that you can't have that goal. However, to bring it back to what you really want to experience is to say “I want to sustain a lifestyle that feels expansive & feels safe.” Maybe those are the things that you desire, & then you could even take that a step deeper & say, “What does safety & sustainability & expansion feel like for me?” & really lock in that level of the goal. Because, especially in uncertain times when the “how” looks different than we thought, when the plan doesn't go according to plan, we can tune back into what is it that I really want, because sometimes the physical manifestation of our goal actually changes quite drastically. 

We still accomplish the goal, & maybe that feels a little out there. But what I'm getting at is, for example,  when I started this business, I was advertising yoga & coaching & evaluation, & I still didn't know how I was incorporating my graduate degree in Positive Psychology & I didn't know if it was online or who my clients were it all felt very uncertain. I did have the certainty of, “I want to live on my own terms & I want to empower others to step into their greatest potential.”

I may not have had that wording right away but I had that feeling from the start. & so, I can have that amount of certainty & that detail of the goal to continue to work with & let the “how” & let the plan shift without feeling like the ground is shifting below mebecause I always had that consistent foundation, that focus to help me feel stable, no matter what the “how” was & what the plan looked like.

I for sure went a lot of different ways before landing where I am today. So, prompts to state your goal clearly & not just on that surface level. Really feel it so that it can change forms without feeling unsettling.

Prompt three, invite abundant possibilities. List four different examples, two realistic ways for how your outcome could manifest & two extraordinary ways for your outcome to manifest. Once you have this feeling of the goal, once you have an idea of what could be in store for you, what you want to be in store for you, then think of what comes to mind logistically. How this could happen, what plan feels safe or feels traditional or feels expected. 

List two different ways, then list two more ways - extraordinary ways. So, back to the revenue example. If I had a revenue goal in mind I could say, “Okay, what makes sense logically? Can this many clients add up to this number?” Or what makes sense logically - is this amount of revenue that I need to create the life that I think I want? So, I have some guessing in there but it's very logical, it's very analytical & then I could say, “Okay, what's the what's the extraordinary possibility? Where could I expand my mind a little bit about what else is possible?” So maybe I have a new offer that suddenly gets created, & my client numbers completely change, becomes super easy & effortless. 

This example is true, part of Yes&’s history. Last year during COVID I started a group coaching program because the demand was so high, & it is so amazing in so many ways. I love the group, I love the community that is coming together for this. It was not part of the plan, I used to be just one on one coaching & that had a certain plan & pathway in front of me. The group added this dynamic where it changed the plan, but again, because I had the very specific goal still as my foundation it still felt very exciting & that was unexpected. 

What's another example? Maybe I win a lottery. Maybe I win the lottery or I'm gifted this amount of money, maybe there's an angel investor or something happens where I reach that revenue without my doing. Think of the big possibilities. Think of all the things that feel “Oh my gosh, that would be completely wild to do or maybe something that you couldn't even plan for.” The point of step three is to expand your mind & right away, from the beginning, create this foundation & base of being agile, of when something doesn't go according to plan it doesn't freak you out because you've already thought of 10 other possibilities, or in this case three other possibilities. 

So, right from the start. Think of all the different ways that this could happen (some of them planned, some of them not) & set this pathway of thinking that any of this would be great, all of it gets to my goal. 

Step four is to take your best guess with the information you have, from where you are. Take your best guess as to which plan from question three feels best & then, what are your next 5-10 steps, your first 5-10 steps in front of you. What plan (take your best guess) feels really good to move toward, that clear goal you have in front of you & with an uncertain future in the midst of a pandemic - this might change. But, if we don't take action, then nothing is going to happen. We're not going to make progress & so, go back to step three, maybe it's “Oh, if I work on my mindset this is really going to help my goals. I'm going to incorporate mindset that's my best guess right now. I'm going to incorporate a practice that feels really good for me, & roll with that.” Roll with that until you have different information, until something changes or shifts. If it does, until you have more data collected & make a different informed decision. & then at that point, you'll just take your best guess with the information you have then, & maybe slightly shift or add on, or go a different pathway, or recognize that this one is great & it's reassuring & you continue forward. 

The point is to make a statement. To make a proclamation to yourself & start taking action forward & not worrying about it being the only decision you'll ever make because tomorrow or in an hour or in five months, you can make another best guess.

I have a quiz, a strengths quiz, where you can find if you're intention oriented or action oriented, & I have some tips. If you're one or the other here, if you haven't taken that quiz yet it'll also be linked below. So, if you're action oriented, then you're probably going to come up with a plan really quick & implement it really quick. My tip for you is to take a little bit longer in step three, & in the reflection piece of the step - to really think of what feels really good for you. Not just what plan makes the most sense or what plan feels safest, but what plan feels the best for you & then take action. 

If you are intention oriented, then you're probably going to think a lot & brainstorm a lot about all the different possibilities of plans. My tip for you in this step is to take action a little bit quicker, to know that you can make another decision later, to know that you have already done all the reflecting needed to make an informed decision & to trust yourself & to take the jump & step forward. 

All right, step five - last step of how to plan in uncertain times, is to take a few steps & begin again. So, we already hinted at this in step four as I was introducing this, it is to take action. It is to be honest with yourself. Be truthful with yourself & to honor what you've done already in steps one through four to know that you have the autonomy to do something right now, to know that there are expansive possibilities of how this goal may manifest in your life. But still, you can come back to that solid foundation that if you know how it will feel, the purpose, the underlying reason for this goal & that can be your foundation, & then take your best guess with the possibilities, the plans that you have outlined to what one feels the best in this moment, & step forward, take action. 

Once you have more information you can always make a new decision & take action in a different way. A client told me recently that a metaphor I gave inside The Experience was really helpful so I'm going to share it with you as well. & this is a road trip metaphor, so if you are on a road trip - going from one side of the country to the other side of the country, all the way, you will be bound to get to detours, to stop at stoplights, to stop at stop signs, to get off & get some coffee & anytime you hit this detour or the stop signs or the stoplights, or if you go on a county road, instead of the highway, you're not thinking, “Oh my gosh, I'm never going make it now.” or you're not thinking “Oh my gosh, I'm going backward.” Even if you physically go five miles backward, because you missed the coffee shop there still isn't this panic of “I'm not going to make it to my destination now, rather it's just this understanding that you are making progress toward your end goal.”

Sometimes you're on the freeway & sometimes you're on a slow road & sometimes you're going through a neighborhood & sometimes you're at a stoplight & sometimes you see the yellow light & you have to decide whether to keep going or whether to stop. None of this is a sign that you're not making progress, rather it is all just different seasons along that journey. & so with this, when you're planning in uncertain times, keep that in the back of your mind as well that if something feels like “Oh my gosh, this is a total detour” or “Wow, I'm starting over from scratch.” maybe it's just that you're getting on a new road. Maybe there is actually an even more efficient road, & for a little bit of time you have to go backwards to get to that on ramp, but then you get to the on ramp & you get there so much quicker. 

So keep that in mind, maybe that will help ease some of the feelings of uncertainty that are bound to come up in times like this. & again, as we conclude this video, as we conclude the five steps today, if you want to see these steps laid out in front of you - to have a physical certain form of these five steps I have a downloadable PDF that accompanies this video & you can access it wherever you're watching this. for sure on the Yes& blog & I invite you, if you enjoyed these five prompts to like this video, to comment what your goal is from step two, to proclaim your goal. When you write out your goals, whether it's a journal or in a comment box, they're more likely to happen. So, do yourself a favor & I would love to hear them. Lastly, subscribe to my YouTube channel for weekly alignment tips & practices & more prompts, just like this - every single Tuesday. 

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Video Length: 11 minutes & 9 seconds