Wish For – Plan For - Grasshopper

I believe we’ve been conditioned as a culture to put the accent on the wrong syllable when it comes to accomplishing things. There seems to be too much wishing and very little planning.

People wish in different ways. For example, praying is a form of wishing for something. Sometimes our prayers are answered; most times they’re not. Hoping to win the lottery is another type of wishing that also has poor odds.

Reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend in the supermarket over the weekend. He told me that since he was in Catholic elementary school he has prayed every day for the conversion of people in Russia to Catholicism. That’s 60 plus years of prayers with no plans.

It’s kinda like the old blonde joke. A blonde woman asks God to help her win the lottery. She prays and prays but to no avail. Then one day in a fit of frustration she lambastes God for ignoring her prayer. She looks to the heavens and says, “God you have forsaken me, you know I need the money and you keep denying my prayer.” God in a thunderous voice comes out of the clouds and says, “You have to buy a ticket.”

Your ticket to accomplishment may begin with a wish but it has to be followed by a plan. I’ve told this story before but it fits here. There was a bank commercial that aired on TV when I was a kid and their slogan was, “Wishing Won’t Do It, Saving Will.”

What’s your plan?

How do you plan to go from where you are to where you want to go? A plan has better odds of getting you there. If your plan is to ask your fairy godmother for three more wishes, that has a snowball’s chance in Hades of happening.

This is not a recommendation to stop wishing, daydreaming, or praying about what you want, just balance those things out with something that has a lot more clout: Planning!

Planning can begin with one simple question: What are my options? You will get answers to that question. Take action on the option you deem has the best odds of succeeding and you have yourself a genuine plan.

Wishing and hoping are stall tactics. There’s no action attached to them. The longer you stay in wish mode, the more the fairy dust will cloud your vision and prevent you from seeing and acting on a plan. 

In closing, I will say this about a wish: If you are going to wish for something, wish for a plan.

All the best,