The Most Important Multitasking: Aiming and Planning

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
Dwight Eisenhower

General Dwight Eisenhower talks with members of the 101st Airborne.

In the history of martial achievement, decision-making on the fly is often touted as one of the keys to victory. The leaders whose names live on through the ages–Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte–all had a knack for shifting men and materiel quickly in the fog of war.

Even with rapidly advancing technology, warfare will always be about completing objectives via swift adaptation.

Life is the same way. In the fury of day-to-day routines, we often lose sight of larger goals. Unlike the military, which has a command structure allowing officers to oversee dozens (or millions) of enlisted men, our brains must stop to refocus on the big picture from time to time in order to make it happen.

Blending an aim with a plan is crucial.

Every skirmish in history has been fought with a mission in mind. Without a greater purpose, soldiers would give up or retreat at the first hint of resistance. Having a target provides the impetus for action and galvanizes you when the going gets rough. There will be far more days of slogging through mud than skipping through meadows.

The dogged pursuit of higher ground is what separates you from the uncommitted and unwilling. Knowing you must finish your task, regardless of the challenges you face, gives importance to your endeavor. Your certainty will allow you to find the means to perform, even though it may be different than you expected.

The method must be flexible.

Any commander will tell you there are times of doubt where one misguided strategy causes an entire operation to collapse. The ability to chuck an ineffective policy in favor of new tactics is the hallmark of success in swiftly changing situations.

There is tremendous value in planning. When done in groups, it creates an exchange of ideas and insights to shape the ideal path. And, in the event of failure, it leaves a trail of fateful decisions that can be avoided in the future.

However, strict adherence to one design will make the road much more difficult to travel. Misguided approaches have lead to downfall over and over again.

The plan changes but the aim doesn’t.

Life is a long campaign through a series of battles. Of course, it is impossible to win or make perfect choices every time. Without something to strive for and the determination to do whatever it takes to get it, you end up oppressed by the overlords of “what might have been.”

What are you aiming at and how do you plan to get there?

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“God has a reason.”

In the midst of challenging times, someone is always there to remind you there is a grander design at work. At some point in history, someone decided hearing those four words would comfort the injured.

During crushing heartbreak, I can think of nothing I’d rather hear less.

I struggle with the idea that some of us are chosen to experience higher highs–and higher lows–than the rest of us. Why does one reach the peaks of life when another languishes in ruin? Does God like that individual better than me?

Pointing beyond this life is the next step.

Whilst your soul wails against the pain, you may feel like it’s wrong to wonder why you’re hurting so much. Years of conditioning led to you to believe you should be an unquestioning servant, yet you can’t help but ask “What good could this heartache possibly serve?”

And then you resent God.

Regardless of the answer, your despair would keep you from being satisfied with it. This is why the prism of hindsight is always clearest. Instead of looking at a tree, you’re able to see the whole forest because the wounds have healed.

I believe each of us has an ordained purpose, though we have the power to choose how well we live it out. Throughout our days, we are given forks in the road. It seems to me there is always an option to head towards “that thing” we’re made for and another to go our own way. Our degree of happiness and contentment is a good measuring stick for the righteousness of the way steered.

By accepting responsibility, you are more equipped to navigate the inevitable highs and lows of every alternative.

Over the last several months, as I’ve continued to look at the various outcomes throughout my life, I’ve come up with three questions that help me identify whether I’m on track or on my own tangent:

1. Are you suffering because of the choice you made three decisions ago?
It’s funny how picking one option leads you to stay on that same path when faced with the next turn and the ones after that. A stubborn tendency to pursue something to its end is a good thing, though you must be mindful of learning “at the end of a feather or a hammer.” The further you push along an ill-advised course, the harder you will be hit.

2. What feelings did you have at the time?
One thing I struggle with is trusting my intuition. As an example, I was talking with an ex one night about our relationship. She felt our love was unbalanced and was unsure she’d be able to make up the difference. Though she wanted to give it an effort, she intimated she “didn’t want to make any promises,” just as she had when the discussion popped up the first time.

I immediately felt a mental push to walk away, but ignored that instinct and gave her another shot. Two months later, we had the discussion again and parted ways. Unfortunately, I learned a hard lesson on the value of those flashes of certainty.

3. What can you do differently?
Avoid the temptation to let the results of a choice bring you down forever. Instead of constantly thinking you’re cursed and repeating mistakes all your life, understand the onus is on you and use that freedom to move in a new direction with the unhappy experience as a springboard.

Predestination is a convenient excuse to shed accountability, a means by which to say others are “just more blessed” or your time is “coming” while you sit idly by. The belief that you are drifting along and getting what you “should” is misguided, or at the very least incomplete. You have work to do. You have to develop your skills and abilities to do what you’re here for.

Stop ignoring your gifts. Quit insulting God.

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