With the New Year upon us, planning is everywhere.  Everyone is talking about it.  New Year’s resolutions are like the ultimate peer pressure for success.

The “Success Drug Dealer” on the playground coaxing all of the kids, “Come on, everyone is doing it, plan some goals.  Just try it.  Johnny planned some goals yesterday…you want to be like Johnny, don’t you?”

We have heard all of the success quotes on planning.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

“To be prepared is half the victory.”

“It pays to plan ahead, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”  (that is assuming you believe there actually was an ark but that is another story entirely!)

Planning is essential.  Planning is important.  Planning supports the effort and energy you put out.

But I want to caution you to not get stuck underneath the weight of your plans that you lose your ability to follow creative inspiration, intuition and purposeful impulsiveness.

Just like anything in life, planning has a dual nature.

Planning can be liberating and it also can be restricting.

It is entirely up to how you relate to your plans.

Can you stay committed to your plans while providing the space to follow your intuitive guidance system?  Remember, we can never dream our biggest future by focusing on our past.

Unfortunately, most of us plan by looking backwards.  We look at past results and experiences and see how we can tweak, change and improve.  It’s a very male dominated, left brain, analytical approach to manifestation.

Well, we live in a quantum world that isn’t linear.  Our lives don’t exist upon a straight line.  That is to say, they certainly don’t have to.

I’ve used a process of setting up core values for myself and my business for years.  These core values create a foundation under all plans and they drive my daily activities.  In my coaching with Success Coach Lisa Jimenez, we built our entire business plan on top of these core values.

My core values are: Freedom, Self-Mastery & Playfulness.

These values underscore everything I do and if a project, plan, activity, relationship or anything, doesn’t bring those three values alive, I generally don’t do it.

Chris Brogan is another one of my favorite online writers.  He uses a process that he calls “Three Words.”  This is a bit different than core values and I like them both.  These three words are structural reminders of your primary business plans.  They don’t have to mean anything to anyone else but yourself.

My three words for 2010 are: Authenticity, Tribes & Beauty

These are reminders for me, guideposts if you will, to support how I interact with my surroundings and what I am up to for the year.

Authenticity is about keeping it real, making it real and living real.  If I am not honoring what is real for me at my core then what’s the point? ‘Nuff said.  Or as Forest Gump says, “That’s all I’m gonna say ’bout that.”

Tribes is about growing my network and always focusing on providing real, tangible value for the people I am in relationship with personally and professionally.  It reminds me that people follow me not because of ME…but because of THEM and the contribution they feel in their own lives.

Beauty for me is honoring the natural simplicity, grace and value that is inherent in everything.  I choose to keep things simple.  I don’t mind difficult, but I want simple, uncomplicated, straight-line approaches.  I strive to continuously look for ways things can add value to my situation and it prompts me to explore opportunities at a deeper level before deciding on my direction.  It’s about knowing that I am attracting amazing people & resources to my life.

So what does all this have to do with Ready, Fire, Aim?

It’s simple. (see, beauty is abound!)

If you haven’t already, go plan your ass off.  Lay out your goals for the year and put plans in place under each of those goals.

I encourage you though, to stay open to the natural flow of life and allow yourself to also feel your way through your plans, actions and activities.  If you set your goals and plans up, craft your core values and choose your three words, you are well on your way.

Inevitably, though, you will be presented with opportunities throughout the year that you simply can’t plan for.  There is no way you could have anticipated them.

Often in life, it’s what you choose to do in these moments that make the difference between moderate success and massive success.  It’s in these moments where you may just need to go for it without the benefit of any real plans.

Ready, Fire…

You can always go back and adjust your sites once you have the benefit of feedback from your focused action.

Fire away, baby, Fire away!

What are YOUR core values and what are your three words for 2010?  I would LOVE for you to share.