The order of things!!

What do you do when you organise everything for your day in your head the night before, and all of it goes to pot the following day?

That was the story of my day. I had it all mapped out. I was on a day off from the day job, and the plan was to get up and out quickly. Once out, the goal was to work on some writing at a local cafe. After a couple of hours of writing, I would return home and start working on the next video edit. I would take a mid-day break, get to the gym, something I have been inconsistent at recently, and then grab some food. The plan was to finish the day by settling down in front of the MacBook and completing and post the finished video onto youtube. 

That was the plan. But that plan was built around the weather forecast. The weather app that I used boldly stated the night before that there would be mixed weather for the first couple of hours and then clouds all day. Not a good day for getting out and about but a good day for being hunched over a Macbook and productive.

However, when I looked out the window and across parts of Beijing early in the morning, it was clear that the weather would be much better than just 'mixed' and clouds. The sun was rising, cracking the sky in the distance, and the sky was clear because there was some mild wind through the night that refreshed the air.

It was a cracker of a morning that was filled with the opportunity to create video content. Given winter is heading our way, you got to take up these opportunities.

So what's a man to do?

Adjust. 

My original plan went to pot. Admittedly it was a struggle to let the original plan go because I was behind with the things that I wanted to do. By putting them off, I would be adding more pressure to meeting my deadlines, which would not be good. 

This is where I had to adjust. The deadlines I had set were mine. I alone had put them in place, and I always said to myself that this content creation journey should not be pressured. I had set the whole thing up to learn, keep busy through the pandemic, and help my mental health as I am a person who enjoys the fulfilling aspect of creating something. This was not meant to be a second job, and it certainly was not meant to be something rigid and uncompromising. Creation is a fluid exercise, and I promised myself that I would make sure it remained a flexible and enjoyable process. The minute it became all tasks and deadlines, I would make the necessary adjustments and get back to this endeavour's original vision and purpose.

That was what I did today. I adjusted.

I control this part of my life, so I make the decisions, and I can make the call about what I do and what I don't do. This is my own vision for the long term - achieving financial freedom and getting ownership of my time back as quickly as possible - so I see this as a test. Today I said to myself that I am passing this test with flying colours by taking back control of the next eight hours.

I needed to take the correct course here to prove a point, and I had to prove the point to myself that I knew when to manage my time to get things done and keep control of the fact that the time is mine to do with what I wanted.

So the fix went in. I adjusted.

'The fix is in, there is a nag gonna dance home at Epsom. The fix is in, can't wait to see how it upsets em.

Elbow, The Fix.

The deadlines I set myself were removed, and the 'work' was kicked into the long grass of tomorrow because today's stupendous weather and opportunity were calling me.

I left the MacBook at home, grabbed the camera equipment, and headed off into the streets of Beijing.

Where was I going? I wasn't sure, but once I got going, and if I was off on a tangent, then I would adjust.

That's always the answer to what you do when your plans go to pot.

You adjust.

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