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26 m a s s a g e & b o d y w o r k j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 1 8 MINDFUL MONEY best practices Have you ever heard Benjamin Franklin's quote, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail"? I've always rolled my eyes whenever I hear this saying. It feels too black and white for me. I operate in a more subtle realm. Life has shown me that staying open to the unexpected is fruitful and satisfying. Imposing too much of a plan on life feels restrictive. At the same time, I must admit that having a plan is helpful. Simple things are improved by having a plan, like having a list before going to the grocery store or reading the driving directions before starting a trip. But when it comes to anything long term or complex, planning can make me feel overwhelmed. There is almost nothing more long term or complex than business and financial planning, so what can someone like me do when I want to stick my head in the sand? The best answer is to find a way of planning that works for me. MY THREE POINTS Some people are good at drafting elaborate plans. They can break things down into little parts and say this will go here and that will go there. For me, a plan is much more about energy and where I want it to move. Because I am so inclined to flow with energy, I know that I cannot impose too much detail on what will happen, and that I must be open to each present moment as it unfolds. However, this does not mean that I can't set a strong intention and take the steps to promote the outcome I am hoping for. The best example I can share from my own experience comes from when I decided to stop working as a massage therapist for a chiropractor and opened my own practice. I researched what a business plan was and how to write one. I even met with local retired business executives who helped me formulate my plan. As I sat in my meeting with these two gentlemen, I began to realize that what they were showing me was not something I felt was necessary for my business. I was not asking anybody for a loan. I had saved enough money that I could pay my bills for a few months. I knew that mostly what I needed at the beginning was consistent work, and that meant what I needed was clients. I left the meeting with a sample business plan full of financial projections and forecasts that did not seem relevant to me. I went home and over the course of a few days struggled with the plan until I realized that my plan could be simple. I narrowed it down to three points: 1. Join and regularly attend a business networking meeting. 2. Create and regularly send out email newsletters. 3. Bill insurance. I had observed at the chiropractor's office that these three points seemed to deliver the most powerful results for finding and retaining clients. I put away the sample business plan, grateful that it had inspired me to write a mission statement and do some other deeper thinking about what I was doing, and jotted down my three-point plan on the inside of a notebook. Make a Plan that Works for You By Jennie Hastings