What happens if it doesn’t work out how I planned it?
This weekend my husband has a marathon planned. Its not the first one has done but he's going to be running right round Lake Windermere, so it'll be one of the more challenging runs he has taken part in! He's trained for months and we've booked accommodation so that we can all go down to the Lake District (even our dog, Bailey is coming) and cheer him on. But now he may not be able to compete.
So much planning has gone into this weekend. He has followed his marathon training plan religiously, getting up at 6am to fit in some of the longer runs before the rest of us drag ourselves out of bed. He researched and booked accommodation that was able to house 5 of us as well as Bailey and wouldn't break the bank.
He's got all the kit from his previous marathons so he’s ready and raring to go, however...2 weeks ago he hurdled the fence chasing a ball that he had thrown for Bailey but had gone astray. In the process he scraped his knee right down the fence posts causing a huge amount of swelling and some technicoloured bruising that is still apparent. The swelling has gradually migrated down from his knee to his ankle in an unusual manner and it's just as well we have an automatic car as it meant that he could drive himself around despite the limp.
All that planning has gone down the drain hasn't it?
Well...the knee is feeling a lot better so he’s still considering going for it, although he’s very wary of starting and not being able to finish. Even if he doesn't compete this weekend, we'll still have a lovely weekend in Cumbria, especially if this idyllic weather holds. My son is already looking forward to his favourite chip shop in Bowness on Saturday night and my parents have decided to come up from Liverpool and meet us for the day as well, which is a bonus!
Not only that, if he doesn't run this marathon, he will book into a different one in a month or two when his leg is further along the healing process. Since it’s only the start of the season there are plenty to choose from. The planning is definitely not going to go to waste.
Watch out, here comes the business bit...it’s the same with business planning!! Sometimes even the most careful planning gets disrupted by things out of our control. Perhaps you’ve organised an event but you get sick at the last minute, perhaps a proposal that you spent hours planning for doesn’t come off or I find that I occasionally spend time speaking to potential clients that realise they are happy to do the work themselves now that I’ve explained what they need to do. It’s often possible to redirect the work so that it hasn’t gone to waste. The content of your event is all there, ready for the next time even if there’s a bit of work in reorganising the location and ticketing. The work done on your proposal and the experience you have gained will no doubt be useful for the next one and you can make improvements along the way to make sure you win it this time. For my own part, if I have a meeting where it transpires the client doesn’t really need me, that’s ok. I take some satisfaction from having helped someone to do things themselves and then make sure that the content we have discussed is made into a blog post or a video so that next time I can direct them to the information more quickly.
It’s always disappointing when things don’t work out quite as we were hoping but if we look hard enough there’s almost always something to be salvaged from the situation. We just need to dust ourselves off and move on!
Update: My husband not only completed his marathon but managed to do it on a really hot day in May in under 4 hours, which is faster than he expected!
