Stop Waiting for the Perfect Plan: Take the Next Right Step

How many times have you told yourself, “I’ll do that once life settles down”?

Once work isn’t so busy. Once the kids’ schedules calm down. Once you get through this month. Once you have more energy. Once you finally figure out exactly how you want to do it.

I’ve said it too. But I’m beginning to suspect that “once life settles down” might be right up there with “the laundry is completely finished.” It sounds lovely. I’m just not convinced it actually exists. 😂

If you’ve been waiting for the perfect plan before you start something, make a change, or take the next step, you might be waiting a really long time. Because a good plan isn’t one that predicts exactly how everything will happen.

A good plan gives you enough direction to move forward—and enough flexibility to change direction when life changes.

And life will change.

A Plan Is a Roadmap, Not a Contract

I think my relationship with planning has changed a lot over the years.

There was a time when I could look at an unfinished to-do list and immediately focus on everything I didn’t accomplish. If it was written in the planner, apparently Past Teresa had decided it needed to happen, and Current Teresa had some explaining to do. 😂

I don’t see my planner that way anymore. Now I see my plan as a roadmap based on what I know when I make it.

I have priorities. I have goals. I have things I know need to happen. So I make the best plan I can with the information, time, and energy I have available.

Then life gets a vote.

Something takes longer than expected. An appointment gets added. Work requires more from me. Someone in my family needs me. Or maybe I simply realize that I’ve planned more than I realistically have the energy to do.

The plan is allowed to change.

When that happens, I try not to immediately start moving every unfinished task to another day. As much as I can, I give myself a little room to breathe and reevaluate first.

What still needs to happen? What can move forward? What isn’t a priority anymore? What needs to go into the parking lot?

Changing the plan doesn’t mean the original plan failed.

Sometimes adjusting the plan is the plan.

RELATED READING: What Your Calendar Says About Your Boundaries

Sometimes You Have to Start Before You Feel Ready

If I had waited until I felt completely ready to start my podcast, there probably wouldn’t be a podcast.

And here’s the funny part: I still don’t always feel ready. Yet, most weeks, an episode gets published.

I’ve learned things by recording episodes that I couldn’t have learned by sitting around thinking about recording episodes. I’ve gotten more comfortable by doing it. I’ve figured out what works for me, what doesn’t, what I want to change, and what I want to keep.

Could I keep tweaking things? Absolutely. Could I find something about almost every episode that I wish I’d said differently? Probably.

But there comes a point when more preparation isn’t actually preparing you anymore.

It’s keeping you from beginning.

Confidence doesn’t always come before the first step. Sometimes it grows because you took it.

And yes, I need that reminder in smaller areas of my life too.

Journal setups, I’m looking at you. 👀

Sometimes I’ll have a blank page in front of me and hesitate because I haven’t decided exactly what I want it to look like. What layout do I want? How am I going to use it? Where should everything go?

Meanwhile, the page stays blank.

The ridiculous part is that the journal exists to be used. If the layout doesn’t work, I can turn the page and try something different tomorrow.

That’s true of a lot more than journals.

You don’t have to know exactly how something will turn out before you’re allowed to begin.

But “Not Now” Isn’t the Same as Waiting for Perfect

There’s another side of this conversation that’s important, because I don’t want you to finish reading this and think I’m telling you to start doing every single thing you’ve been putting off.

Please don’t. You probably have enough going on already. 😂

Sometimes the most intentional decision you can make is not now.

I’ve had to recognize that in my own life, particularly when it comes to health and routines. There are things I’d like to do and goals I could set around activity, but I also have to look at the season I’m actually living in.

Right now, with my other priorities, putting pressure on myself to meet certain activity levels simply isn’t realistic. That doesn’t mean I’ve decided my health doesn’t matter.

I can still be intentional about drinking water. I can pay attention to my food choices. I can make choices that support my health without creating another set of expectations that makes me feel like I’m falling short.

Some goals may need to sit in the parking lot for a while.

That’s very different from saying, I’ll start taking care of myself once life settles down. One is an intentional choice based on my current priorities and capacity. The other keeps me waiting for a version of life that may never arrive.

Planning with purpose means planning for the season you’re actually in—not the season you wish you had.

Pause, Prioritize, Plan, Practice

So what do you do with that thing you’ve been meaning to do?

Maybe you’ve been waiting for more time. Maybe you haven’t figured out the perfect routine yet. Maybe you keep rewriting the plan. Or maybe you’re carrying an expectation that simply doesn’t fit your life anymore.

Instead of automatically telling yourself you need to try harder—or convincing yourself you need a better plan—try moving through these four steps.

PAUSE: Give Yourself Space to Decide

Before you add one more thing to your to-do list, pause.

Ask yourself: What is actually going on here?

Am I hesitating because I truly need more information? Am I afraid I won’t do it perfectly? Am I waiting for life to settle down? Or is this something that simply doesn’t fit the season I’m in right now?

You don’t have to immediately turn every thought, goal, or idea into action. Sometimes a little space is exactly what you need to figure out what comes next.

PRIORITIZE: Decide What Matters Now

Once you’ve paused, ask: Does this matter enough in this season to deserve my time and energy?

If the answer is yes, great. It deserves a place in the plan.

But if the answer is yes, just not right now, put it in the parking lot. You’re not giving up on it. You’re choosing to focus on what matters most in this season.

And if you realize you don’t actually want it anymore? Let it go.

Sometimes we keep carrying goals, expectations, and ideas simply because at some point we decided we should do them. You don’t need to create the perfect plan for something that no longer belongs in your life.

PLAN: Choose the Next Right Step

If you’ve decided this really does matter, you still don’t need the entire roadmap.

You just need to decide what comes next.

Make the phone call. Write the first paragraph. Put on the shoes. Open the blank journal. Spend 15 minutes on the project.

Your plan doesn’t have to account for every possible obstacle between here and the finish line. It needs to give you enough direction to take the next right step.

PRACTICE: Let Action Teach You

This might be the piece we forget most often.

At some point, you have to stop planning and practice.

Try the routine. Use the journal page. Record the podcast. Follow the schedule. Take the step.

Then pay attention.

What worked? What didn’t? What did you learn? What needs to change?

You’re allowed to adjust as you go. In fact, sometimes you can’t know what needs adjusting until you’ve actually tried something.

That’s why you don’t need the perfect plan before you begin.

Practice gives you information that planning alone never can.

You Only Need the Next Right Step

We often want planning to give us certainty.

If I can create the perfect schedule, choose the perfect routine, find the perfect planner page, or think through every possible outcome, then maybe I can guarantee that everything will work.

Except planning can’t do that.

What it can give us is direction.

You may not know exactly what the next six months will look like. You may not even know what next month will look like.

But you can ask:

What’s the next right thing I can do with what I know today?

That’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately—and it’s one we’re going to spend even more time exploring as we move into our next season inside the Purpose & Progress Place.

Our next book club will be reading The Next Right Thing by Emily P. Freeman, and I couldn’t think of a better conversation to carry us toward the end of the year.

Because growth doesn’t require having everything figured out. Sometimes it looks like taking one step, paying attention to what you learn, and then deciding what comes next.

You Don’t Have to Figure It All Out Alone

There’s another reason we can get stuck waiting for the perfect plan: sometimes we simply aren’t sure what the next step should be.

That’s where support matters.

Sometimes you need someone to ask the question you haven’t considered. Sometimes you need a little accountability to actually do the thing you said mattered. And sometimes you need another woman to remind you that adjusting the plan isn’t the same as failing.

That’s a big part of what we do inside the Purpose & Progress Place.

We’re not there to create perfectly executed plans or fill every available hour with more things to accomplish. We’re learning how to keep our purpose in front of us, make realistic plans, take meaningful action, and give ourselves grace when life inevitably changes those plans.

This Week, Stop Waiting for Perfect

Think about one thing you’ve been telling yourself you’ll get to once life settles down. But don’t immediately add it to your to-do list.

Instead, give yourself a few quiet minutes and PAUSE.

PRIORITIZE: Does this actually matter in the season I’m in right now?

PLAN: If it does, what’s the next right step—not the entire roadmap?

PRACTICE: What can I actually do to move forward and learn what comes next?

And remember, prioritizing doesn’t automatically mean do it now. You may decide to move something to the parking lot or let it go altogether. That’s still an intentional decision.

There isn’t a wrong answer. The goal isn’t to squeeze one more thing into an already full week. It’s to make an intentional decision instead of leaving that thing floating around in the back of your mind waiting for the perfect time.

If you decide it deserves your attention now, you don’t need to figure out the entire plan this week. Choose the next right step and practice it.

Then pay attention to what you know that you didn’t know before.

Because the purpose of planning isn’t to predict your life perfectly. It’s to help you move through the life you’re actually living with a little more clarity and intention.

You don’t need the perfect plan. You need enough clarity to take the next right step—and enough flexibility to adjust when life changes.

That’s more than enough to begin. 💜

Keep Planning With Purpose 💜

If this hit a little close to home, you don’t need another complicated system. Keep exploring what it looks like to make plans that actually fit the life you’re living.

Planning Tools to Help You Take the Next Step 💜

You don’t need the perfect planner—or a whole new collection of supplies—to start making progress. Use what you have and let it support the life you’re actually living.

But if you’re looking for planning tools that can help you pause, prioritize, plan, and practice, I love the flexibility of Tula XII Paper Co. There are planner inserts for keeping your week visible, project pages for breaking bigger goals into manageable steps, journals for reflection and brain dumps, and plenty of fun extras for making your planner feel like yours.

The products aren’t the plan. They’re simply tools that can help you put your plan into practice.

As a Tula XII Paper Co. affiliate, I may earn a commission when you shop through my link, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting The Blended Mama! 💜

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