Don't let uncertainty hold up your life

You can make plans, even if you don't know what the future holds.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that you don't need to let uncertainty hold
up your life. Even if you are unsure what your

(00:24):
future holds, you can still make plans. You might need
to hold them loosely, but if you are respectful and transparent,
that can be okay. So there are lots of reasons
that people become hesitant to make plans for the future.
Maybe they're looking for a new job and don't know

(00:46):
when an interview opportunity might come up, or what their
daily rhythms would be at a new organization. Maybe they're
supporting a relative who is ill and can't predict when
they'll need to provide care or be a second set
of ears at a medical appointment. I know people who
are trying to start a family who've put long term

(01:06):
plans on hold for a long time because, well, is
that when there will be a newborn in the house.
Is that when the adoption agency will come through and
will need to drop everything. It is all understandable, and
yet life keeps going and we only have so much time.

(01:27):
It would be so much easier to decide to take
that long wished for a trip to California if you
knew you would find the perfect job in three months.
But when you don't know that, the trip planning gets
put off. Who knows when it happens. So here's something
to remember. Even if you can't carve your plans in stone,

(01:50):
you can still plan. You can make plans to spend
a weekend with your best friend who lives a few
hours away, but let her know that if your mother
takes a turn for the worse, you may need to reschedule.
You can make plans to have lunch with a friend
next month, presuming that you haven't started a new job
with a short and inflexible lunch break, but you let

(02:13):
your friend know that you are looking and that she
can hold the plans lightly too. You can look for
a new job or apply to graduate school, even if
you are looking to start a family. If it happens,
you'll figure it out. Anywhere that deserves you will be
excited for you. Now. Perhaps some folks listening to this

(02:37):
are wondering what the big deal is. They make plans
and cancel them all the time. But I'm guessing perhaps
a few more. Folks listening to this fall in the
category of what Gretchen Ruben calls upholders. These are folks
who aim to meet all inner and outer expectations. I
fall in this category, and I never want to cancel anything.

(03:01):
I am so loath to cancel things that I generally
won't agree to things if I think there is even
a small chance that I might need to cancel. But
the funny part of that is that when other people
cancel things and have a legitimate reason to do so,
I'm not put out by it. When someone tells me

(03:21):
I'd love to talk with you that day, but just
a heads up that I am interviewing for jobs and
might need to reschedule, I would totally understand. So if
you are facing uncertainty in your life, don't think you
have to forego all future planning. I mean, maybe by
the refundable plane tickets, but you can buy them. Quite possibly,

(03:46):
you will get to take your trip even if life
is uncertain, and you will probably be glad that you did.
In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

(04:11):
listening to before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback.
You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

(04:34):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.