It’s that time of the year in which we make big plans and bold statements for the upcoming year. Have you thought about your goals yet? What are your plans and more importantly, are they actually plans or is it just wishful thinking?

Planning

Planning and Wishing are terms that are easily confused. A plan indicates that there is a thoughtful process. When you plan, a strategy is laid out, and with some work, a positive result will occur. Signing up to become a Supervisor Training Professional is an example of a plan to become a cornerstone trainer and coach for your bank or credit union’s supervisory success.

Joining us for Train the Trainer Boot Camp is another example of a plan. This plan skyrockets your training skills in an explosion of fireworks that your entire company will enjoy and benefit from!

Wishing

Wishing, on the other hand, is blind hope that everything will turn out okay by the cross of your fingers. Little thought or effort actually goes into wishing.

Yes, we can see the fun of wishing on a star, buying a lottery ticket, or blowing out candles. Unfortunately, life rarely rewards those actions. To grab the gold ring on the carousel is a fantasy. We buy Powerball tickets, we buy houses we cannot afford and then, the high dollar cars that have to don the driveway of the McMansion. I am sure we all know what it feels like to be driven by wishful thinking but ending up in a mess, hopefully small, unfortunately sometimes huge. Often these messes are a result of wishing instead of planning.

Making the Most of Planning and Wishing

Planning allows us to keep our eye on the ball and make progress. Planning is an important, sometimes painful, step in moving forward. Realizing that we don’t need a lot of the stuff we have can be a cathartic journey. What we really need and want are two separate issues. Getting real about necessities vs. essentials is an eye-opening experience. Real is having quality time with our families. Break out some board games instead of staring at smartphone screens. Have a family baking challenge instead of avoiding each other in the kitchen. Real is also buying what we need and can afford. An excellent way to kickstart this behavior is to change that little voice in your head from “I need…” to “I would like…”

Now, we’re not saying wishing is all bad. We all need dreams to inspire us and dreamers to look at things from a different perspective. Wishing gives us inspiration and helps us to think outside of the box.

All of us at InterAction Training hope you’ll be able to combine your plans and wishes to create some true magic in 2017!

Happy Holidays!

Honey Shelton

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