How To Improvise: Life is Better If You Don’t Plan!

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Categories: self improvement

I recently finished reading a very interesting book called Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up, by Patricia Ryan Madson. This book is an invitation to be natural, spontaneous and experience the gift of every moment.

In fact, improvisation is the best strategy to use after finding your purpose in life.

Almost all my life purpose coaching clients jump into goal setting and planning after they find their passion and purpose in life.

They believe that this is the best logical step to follow.

But they get surprised when they realize that I don’t recommend, and am totally against planning at this stage.

Don’t Plan NOW

When you find your passion and purpose, you experience one of the biggest transformational points in your life.

You enter a new ground that you still don’t know its shape, map and dynamics.

First, you need to get familiar with the changes on the ground, the new people you will interact with and the reactions of the people you already know.

That’s why you need to master improvisation.

How To Improvise!

  1. Learn how to best respond to life as it happens to you.
  2. Look for ways to make the best out of every moment.
  3. Just show up and do the next best possible step your mind can think of.
  4. Try everything. You still don’t know what works and what doesn’t.
  5. Be a YES man (or woman) and seize every opportunity.

As your understanding of the ground increases, you will begin to grasp the big picture of what you are heading towards.

Now You Can Plan

Only then you can set goals and lay out action plans to achieve these goals.

But until you reach this step, you only need to improvise and live in the NOW where everything really happens.

Improvisation is a great strategy for the new arrivals to the land of passionate living. Explore the ground and enjoy the now … that’s your first priority.

And when you are able to see the big picture, you can start doing some planning.

 

M. A. Tohami is on a mission to help unfulfilled professionals live with passion.

If you’re interested, visit his blog and get 3 FREE chapters from his book, The Pharaohs’ Code – Amazon’s #1 bestselling motivational book on May 19, 2009

Image credit: Wassily Kandinsky

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  • http://www.crackingconfidence.co.uk Dan O’Neil

    Great little post… it’s far too easy to go rushing headling into something new… forgetting that actually, a little patience is the best way forward!

    My natural way of being is to be too patient though, and I sometimes forget to take action!

    Cheers, Dan

  • http://dailybitsofwisdom.com Kyle Beck

    Spontaneity. Not just a quality that helps us live our passion, but also a trait created by what inspires us. When we can freely do what we love planning every little move no longer seems important. Mr. Tohami is absolutely right…when you stop fussing over how your passion comes to fruition you are more able to live in the NOW. Great post!

  • http://www.MisticCafe.com Rebecca

    Thanks for the reminder about planning. Alas, I’m a planner who’s been working on letting go more and more. I know I can’t ‘plan’ everything in my life; a higher power may have something better in store for me. If I continue to plan and plan, I could miss out on opportunities. Lesson learned.

  • http://www.davida-yemi-akanle.com Davida Yemi-Akanle

    I’m a person who would naturally want to improvise and get a long with life as it is. However, I’ve realized that when my effort is better channeled I achieve a lot more. I guess planning and leaving room for improvisation works for me.

  • http://www.clintcora.com Clint Cora

    To me, it’s all about planning and following the plan with some flexibility built in since you never know when great opportunities suddenly spring up. When these do, it’s often best to take advantage of them before they go away. The overall schedule should be flexible enough to move things around to accommodate the sudden opportunities.

  • http://www.balancedworklife.com/blog Bryce Christiansen

    Knowing how to improvise can be just as valuable as knowing how to plan.

    I see many executives taking improv comedy classes as a way to develop this skill.

    Excellent insights.

  • http://www.colon-liver-cleanse.com/ Sean

    Living in the moment, spontaneity, and improvisation are some of the best skills we can develop. It’s where true creation and inspiration spark, and where golden opportunities arise.

    Always acting like a robot planning and scheduling everything day in and day out takes this away from us. Sadly, it’s just how most of our current world runs at this time.

    Loved the article, thank you.

  • http://thebooksthatchangedmylife.com marc van der Linden

    I love improvisation as a way to express myself and planning as a part of walking through the different parts of the day …

    Thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.Mazzastick.com Justin | Mazzastick

    Life can be a wonderful and joyous experience or it can be a bummer. It is up to us to decide.

  • http://www.transformationalmotivation.com M. A. Tohami

    @ Dan: In fact, the improv stage is all about taking action. You’re patient on planning, but you’re active on exploring. I call this Active Patience.

    @ Kyle: I love your statement: “when you stop fussing over how your passion comes to fruition you are more able to live in the NOW”. Thanks for the great insight.

    @ Rebecca: That’s true. Planning makes us so attached to the track we set for ourselves that sometimes we can miss a better opportunity.

    @ Davida: The mix of planning and improv. is good at later stages. But at the beginning of your passionate living journey, improv. should be dominating.

    @ Clint: Planning is OK when you grasp the big picture and understand the basics of the new ground.

    @ Bryce: This is a very nice way to learn improv. thanks for sharing.

    @ Sean: Yes, sadly this is how the majority approach their lives. But we sure can increase the awareness of improv. and change that mindset.

    @ Marc: Improv. is one of the best ways to express yourself fully.

    @ Justin: Totally agree.

  • http://www.darrylburma.com Darryl Burma

    Hey M. A. Tohami,

    It makes sense to me, going through the right stages at the right times in life as they are meant to be as opposed to being forced or rushed. Thanks for this article!

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