10 Year to 1 Year Planning

I just finished Part II of the Summer Loving Workshop, and I had a question arise after filling out the 10-year, 3 year and 1 year plans. While I was answering the prompt for a 10-year vision, I loved imagining where I could be. I tapped into my imagination, let go of any boundaries, and just wrote.
Here is some of what I wrote: I want to be rooted in a place—I dream of being connected to the rhythms of the land and being integrated in community. Ideally I would love to be somewhere near the sea and the mountains. I would also love to be doing work that addresses healing on a local and global scale (following Jeanine Canty’s principles of practicing globalism and localization). I would like to be making a difference in the community where I live, and also be connected to the larger global healing movement. In my community, I could start a decolonizing ecopsychology practice. I could work 1 on 1 with people and/or teach long-term classes. These classes could be centered around decolonization, what it means to be anti-racist, discuss the environmental justice movement & tangible actions we can take. The 1 on 1 support could be therapy, coaching, and offering the students in my classes more support. Another parallel dream is groups/classes on healing eating disorders alongside the natural world. Highlighting how body dysmorphia stems from disconnection from the earth. How so much of our food obsession/disordered thinking comes from our broken food system. I would also love to write more, and maybe in twenty years publish a book.
After writing about my 10 year plan, I transitioned in to writing about my 3 year plan. It was more challenging to think about tangible actions I could take to work towards my 10 year vision. After the 3 year plan, I had a very hard time with the one year plan. I noticed anxiety arising as I thought about tangible steps and making decisions for the next 12 months. I have three possible options for this upcoming year, and I feel so stuck with deciding what to do.
So my question is how can I start taking tangible steps to achieve my 10 year plan? I am also wondering if my 10-year plan is too broad? I keep stumbling into the problem of knowing the ideas/fields I’m interested in (decolonization, ecopsychology, social justice, addressing climate change, embracing the roots of yoga), but not knowing how to take action.

 

Answer:

Notice how you were able to really allow yourself to dream and be confident about your ten year plan because you believed there were no boundaries and you could use your imagination.

When you came to the 3 and 1 year plans, you think there needs to be a tangible plan. Your thoughts around it are:

It’s challenging.

It’s hard.

I don’t know how to take action.

These are not facts.  These are thoughts your brain is offering you because the brain loves to conserve energy and it loves staying exactly where it is in familiar territory. It is ok with you playing in your imagination but once you start wanting to make changes, it will give you all the reasons you can’t. Instead of seeing this as a problem, what if you had compassion and understanding for yourself. “Thanks, brain, for trying to protect me, but I’ve got this.” you could say. Then list out all the obstacles your brain is coming up with and create a strategy to overcome it.  Why do you want to do this? Find your why and keep coming back to it when doubts and indecision come up.