So you know how good you are at coming up with solutions to things? And you know just how to fix your depression, and then everything you need to do to become a fire-baller… something or the other? And if you could just figure out how to start in on your plans, you’d be good to go?

Planning is procrastinating solving. And sometimes, it’s very useful or important to do. Because that way you take the time to fully weigh and consider your options, and determine the best course of action. Yet while it is certainly beneficial to do some thinking before acting, when you do some preliminary thinking, and then some more thinking, and then just keep doing some thinking instead of acting, that can be a bit less productive.

But it’s so fun. To come up with awesome plans and awesome stories about how everything will be awesome. And it’s hard then, when you realize that the world is awful, and will never be as awesome as all the things you thought and planned in your head. Thing about high expectations is that you’re really just setting yourself up for a bit of a dive. And all those plans you make, can become a prison when you’re afraid to take action because it might not fit into the grand scheme. Or you realize that reality just doesn’t measure up to how you thought everything would go.

And those plans become shackles, when you can’t deviate from them. Or when the guidelines you set for yourself become the measure of your success, and those guidelines just keep shifting so that success is just out of reach. Resetting your base zero helps. Still, those plans… sticky things those plans.

When the plans conflict, or when reality sucks, your plans get derailed. Then the process could start all over again with some new plans, or you could figure out a first step and try that. Then you could figure out a second step and try that after. Not to mention you could take a look at all those things you know you’ve secretly been putting off, and either put them off less secretly, or attempt to deal with some of that shit. It is useful to have goals, and a destination in mind for where you’ll end up after managing your depression. Still, it’s helpful to recognize that the path you take to get there is not likely to be as linear as you expected from the outset.

So you can go ahead and plan and plan away. Make all the plans. Make amazing plans. And when they get all fucked because of the bullshit life likes to surprise you with, that’ll be okay. Because you’ll make new plans. And because as long as you can figure out one next step, you can keep moving forward. Anything beyond that is bonus.