I had a plan. Life had other ideas.
When the plan doesn’t go as planned. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is adjust.
In September I shared with you about the wedding quilt I’m making for my son and his fiancée—nine groups, hundreds of tiny pieces, and lots of sewing one section at a time until I could finally see the pattern coming together.
Well, here’s the October update: the wedding is October 3rd, and the quilt isn’t finished.
The good news? They’re still getting married. 😊
I really did have a plan. I knew what needed to be finished and when I needed to work on it. Then I got sick and had to take some time to take care of myself. At the same time, a client project grew much bigger than expected.
Suddenly, the hours I’d planned to spend quilting weren’t there anymore.
I could have tried to squeeze everything in anyway, stayed up way too late, and made myself crazy trying to meet a deadline that, when I really thought about it, wasn’t actually a deadline.
The quilt can be finished after the wedding. They’ll still love it. And they’ll have it for many, many years to come.
It reminded me that the same thing happens in business. We make plans, set deadlines, block off time, and feel pretty good about how everything is going to fit together.
Until it doesn’t.
When that happens, I’ve found it helps to stop looking at the original plan for a minute and look at what actually needs to happen now.
Decide what "done" needs to look like. Does everything really need to happen on the original timeline? Sometimes moving a deadline is the most practical choice you can make.
Pay attention to what needs you most. A client project may suddenly require more time. You may get sick. Something unexpected may happen at home. When something more important needs your attention, it’s okay for something else to move down the list.
Give yourself permission to adjust the plan. Changing course doesn’t mean the plan was bad or that you failed. It just means you’re working with the time and circumstances you actually have now.
Pick it back up when you can. A delayed project isn’t necessarily an abandoned project. Sometimes it simply gets finished a little later than you originally pictured.
That’s where I am with the wedding quilt. It’s still important to me, and I’m still going to finish it. I’m just not going to make myself miserable trying to force it into a timeline that no longer makes sense. I’ll keep piecing it together—one section at a time.
Maybe something in your business hasn’t gone according to plan lately either. A launch got pushed back. A project took longer than expected. Something you meant to work on is still sitting on your list.
Take another look at it. Maybe you don’t need to work harder to catch up. Maybe you just need to adjust the plan.
And if the plan that needs adjusting is in your business, I’d be happy to help. Sometimes an outside perspective is all it takes to sort through what needs your attention now, what can wait, and what might be easier with a little support.
As for me, I’ll be celebrating a wedding on October 3rd!
