Monday Motivation: The Planning Trap

We've all heard the saying "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail" and that's definitely true. Preparation is an important part of succeeding at any endeavor and a key component of preparation is planning. You can't turn a dream into reality without some sort of a plan. There's no getting around the fact that you have to put in work before you can effectively start pursuing your goals, and make no mistake, figuring out how to do things, who to speak to, where to get information and resources, and why you should (or shouldn't) do xyz is work in and of itself.

Because planning and preparation is work it's easy to get stuck there. As a writer, if I spend my time researching, networking, reading craft books, attending workshops, engaging readers on social media platforms, plotting, and plotting, and plotting even more, I'm putting in work. I see the results of that work when I look at the improvement of my technical or creative writing abilities, increased understanding of the business side of romance writing, meaningful relationships I've cultivated with other authors, bloggers, and readers, and increased social media visibility (it's easy to increase when you start with none lol). I've spent the last six months or so planning and prepping and planning and prepping. I've dedicated time, effort, and energy into planning a writing career and laying a foundation for it. I'm by no means "done" because a lot of this work is an ongoing process (such as engaging w/readers and learning about the craft) but I have put in work.

The problem is I haven't put down words. I've been stuck in the planning stage. Planning requires time, energy, effort, and pays off in tangible results so I've been feeling myself like my name is Nicki Minaj.  Like, yaaas queen, slay levels of feeling accomplished.

Well, y'all reality came in over the weekend and snatched every last one of my edges.

My "Well, damn" moment came when another author asked me if I had any books out, and if not when was my release date.

Y'all.

Fam.

After all my prepping, plotting, and planning...I was caught unprepared. The reason I was unprepared is because when it comes to actually writing my books I've done a maximum of preparation but a minimum amount of execution. I've read craft books, done writing exercises, taken online courses, listened to podcasts, subscribed to newsletters, watched tutorials and made all kinds of plans...but I've put very few of them into motion.

Now, don't misunderstand. It isn't that I haven't written at all. It's that I haven't written consistently. I haven't pushed forward with writing my book because I've been getting everything set up, you see. I've been making sure I'm prepared and have my plan in place. The perfect schedule. The perfect system. The perfect support network. The perfect way to utilize the various social media platforms. I needed all of the parts of my plan in place and then I could clack clack on the keyboard and make the magic happen.

That was the dream, anyway. The reality is something else altogether. Without even realizing it I've been procrastinating. Those of you who know me, know my tendency to procrastinate is something I've actively tried ridding myself of over the last few months. Evidently, I need to both try harder and get better at realizing when it dresses itself up as something else. Spending three weeks planning something that should have only taken three minutes isn't planning, it's procrastinating.

At the end of the day, preparation and planning has to be done with purpose. If I'm not executing, if I'm not putting all of that work towards achieving something, then I'm doing a whole lot of pretty procrastination. Yes, I'm working but I'm not moving forward. I can read all the craft books ever written and attend every workshop offered but that knowledge does me no good if I don't use it.

So, moving forward, I'm spending less time planning and more time doing. And keeping a sharp eye out for any other slick disguises procrastination slips into so I can make sure it doesn't slink its way back up in here.

What about you guys? Are you planning or are you doing? And if you're planning are you really planning, or are you procrastinating. And if so, why? Leave a comment and let me know.

XOXO,
Dylan