The Plan You Made in August Needs You Again

Hey Coach, 

Remember all those things you were going to do differently this year? 

You were going to stay ahead of recruiting. Work out consistently. Get home earlier. Be more organized. Spend less time in your inbox. Protect time for your family. Maybe even stop doing work every night after everyone else went to bed. 

Then the season started. 

Practice changed. Someone got hurt. Your recruiting list grew. Your AD needed something. Travel started. A recruit wanted to talk at 8:30 p.m. Your carefully planned week lasted until about Tuesday afternoon. 

If that sounds familiar, I want you to hear this: 

The problem may not be that your plan failed. You may simply need to recommit to it. 

Commitment Has an Expiration Date 

I recently listened to a training that made me think about this differently. The idea was that we tend to treat commitment like a decision we make once. 

I'm going to keep working out. 

I'm going to be more present with my family when I get home. 

I'm going to stay ahead of recruiting this year. 

But the initial motivation eventually gets buried underneath the day-to-day demands of our lives. 

I experienced this constantly when I was coaching. 

I could have the greatest plan in the world on Sunday night. Then coaching happened. 

What I've learned is that the busier your season becomes, the more often you need to remind yourself what you said mattered before everything got busy. 

Your Calendar Is Telling the Truth 

Here's a simple test I want you to try. 

Think about the three things you keep saying are important to you right now. 

Maybe it's recruiting your next class, developing your staff, getting healthier, or actually being present when you get home. 

Now look at your calendar. 

Can I see evidence that those things matter? 

If recruiting is a priority, where is the protected recruiting block? 

If your health matters, when are you working out? 

If your family matters, what time are you committed to leaving the office? 

This is one of the biggest lessons I've learned through Busy Coach: Your priorities need appointments. 

Otherwise, the urgent stuff will eventually consume all the space. 

Decide What You'll Do When the Week Falls Apart 

There's another piece of this I love because it's so relevant to coaching. 

Don't build your productivity plan around the fantasy that everything will go perfectly. 

Assume something is going to go wrong. 

The recruit won't answer. Practice will run long. Someone will interrupt your Power Block. You'll get home exhausted. You'll miss the workout. 

Then what? 

Instead of waiting until that moment to decide, decide your response in advance. 

If I lose my 90-minute recruiting block, I'll protect 30 minutes later. 

If I miss my morning workout, I'll walk for 20 minutes after practice. 

If I get pulled off today's biggest priority, I'll put it first tomorrow instead of abandoning it for the week. 

That's a very different standard from, "Well, this week got crazy. I'll try again Monday." 

Recommit Before You Add More 

Before you create another system, download another app, or decide you need to become more disciplined, go back to what you already said mattered. 

Ask yourself: 

What did I commit to before the season got busy that I've quietly stopped doing? 

Then put one piece of it back on your calendar this week. 

You don't need January 1. 

You don't need the start of a new season. 

You don't even need Monday. 

You can recommit today. 

That's part of learning how to Win the Day. Some days you'll execute the plan perfectly. Plenty of days you won't. 

The goal is to get better at coming back to what matters before another week disappears. 

Have a great week. 

Win the Day. 

Mandy Green
Helping coaches win at work without losing at home.