LJI S11 wk1 Resolution

>> Daisy emails her friend Niall, who is by profession a Life and Personal Development Coach.

Hey Niall!

I've been thinking about goals lately. Like, how do you turn a nebulous goal into a workable action plan? How do you make a project plan that ensures you've remembered all the steps you'll need without forgetting any? How do you prioritize which goals you need to work on right now, or soon, or later? Any chance we could have lunch and talk through it all, please?

Daisy

>> Lunch was arranged for Friday just gone. A representative short version of their conversation is below:
 

Niall: Before we get started, can you define what you mean by "nebulous"?
Daisy: Well... uh...um...
N: Do you mean something that's hard to achieve, out of reach?... No? ill-thought-through?
D: ill-thought-through is closer. ill-defined, vague, unspecific, is more the thing I was thinking of.
N: Ok. Why do you need a workable action plan?
D: ...What?
N: Humor me. Why do you need a workable action plan?
D: Because how else would you get anything done?! You make the plan, and get it nailed down, and then you work the plan. It's the only way to not get so distracted that you never do anything!
N: Is it? The only way?
D: Well, I have noticed that a lot of people seem to employ a kind of stop-and-go method. A bit of planning, a bit of doing, a bit more planning. I've had to approach a few things that way lately, too. But I have to tell you, that feels culturally foreign to me. It feels so uncomfortable, so... backwards! What makes sense is to make the plan, and then work the plan. Well, until I change the plan on purpose because I got bored... .

>> Niall knows Daisy, so at this point he gives her an indulgent smile.

N: Are possibilities a problem for you?
D: Yes, that's exactly it!! Too many possibilities! Get halfway through planning something, or doing something, and then see ways that it could be even better. But that's the question. How do I see all of those things before I start?
N: Well, you don't. Sometimes you just don't know what you don't know, and that's ok.

>> Daisy gives Niall a skeptical look.

N: Think about it. I've made a lot of mistakes in this conversation. The first question I asked you, you said something different than I was expecting. Which means all the notes I took last night in an attempt to help you, are now not very useful. I needed to try a new strategy. But that's ok. Isn't it? We've figured it out together.
D: Well, yes, but... that's you.
N: So it's not ok for you?
D: Perhaps not. Are you getting any dessert? I need to go wash my hands.
N: Go wash your hands if you want, but think about this. Why isn't it ok for you to not know what you don't know? Is that emotionally unsafe for you?

>> Daisy does think, and whilst using the hand-drier, she fights back the tears.

...

D: This is quite a long way from where we started. We still haven't really made much progress about how to actually nail down a workable plan. But one thing that we can nail down clearly, are you going to get any dessert or not??