I’ve been working to a plan recently to improve my circumstances since I decided to stay at home and look after the children.
In my quest to set a good example to my children and be a positive role model, I’ve identified that I have some shortcomings that I want to address..
I’ve been trying to address some of these issues over the last few weeks and I’m happy to say I’ve been making progress – but I haven’t got it quite right just yet. I am encouraged by what I’ve achieved so far and I’m determined to continue.
Last week I told you how I’d made an ugly plan. The plan is still ugly but it’s still in place and I’m refining it as I go. If you’re wordly wise, it won’t surprise you to learn that I haven’t stuck rigidly to the plan.
I’ve remained flexible and recognised that it’s appropriate to change plans to meet the circumstances as they arise.
For example: If my youngest child is feeling a little under the weather and is clinging to my trouser legs there’s no point in killing myself to try to get the housework done to meet an arbitrary deadline.
The demands in that situation are conflicting and the right choice is to hug and squeeze my little girl until she feels better again. At that point I can get on with what I was doing (even if it’s over an hour later).
There are times when I haven’t stuck to my plan simply because I’ve lost my way – yes, even with a plan!
The thing is, my plan is not a detailed map of everything I want to do during the day to ensure I meet the goals set out in the plan, it mainly gives me the notion of what I’m trying to achieve in broader terms.
So, often during the day I’ll get side tracked and struggle to get back on course.
In another rare moment of clarity, while enjoying a soak in the bath last night I didn’t have a eureka moment exactly, but I found myself daydreaming about the time I was able to afford flying lessons.
(Incidentally, I took the picture at the top while I was flying above Shoreham Airport on the south coast of England)
(The picture immediately above was taken as we were just about to land at Le Touquet in France following a short hop across the English Channel – click to enlarge both images)
So anyway I then got to thinking how complex it was flying an aircraft safely. I mean you’re in a high-pressure situation, you’re at the controls of a fairly complex vehicle and a mistake could see you in big trouble (and very quickly too).
I won’t labour the analogy, but I recognise that pilots use checklists to minimise the chance of an error. These checklists are indelibly imprinted on their minds because they use them every single time they fly. The truth is the experienced pilots probably don’t need them, such is the habit the checklists have helped them form, but they do it anyway because of what’s at stake.
At the moment I’m pushing the flight envelope and I’m worried about stalling and falling from the sky – plus I’m not a very experienced pilot (sorry I lied about not continuing the analogy 
).
So ‘Checklists’ it is for me. Over the weekend I’m going to write one (in draft to begin with), in order to make sure I do all the things I want to do each day.
But it’s not a ‘things to do’ list. I’m not going to be a slave to the list.
I won’t always need or even want to do everything on the checklist, but at critical times during the day I’ll just refer to it to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. If I decide not to do something, then fine, I’ve made a conscious decision rather than making an unconscious omission.
All of this reminds me of the time I very nearly did fall out of sky in a light aircraft. I’ll keep that story for another day though.
In the mean time I need to get some fuel into my tanks, so it’s chocks away and tally ho!
Have a great weekend and if you have time, let me know whether this approach has worked for you, or failing that, just have some fun with me in the comments section.
Thank you.
Dave.
