7 Ps - Pretty Poor Planning Promotes Pretty Poor Performance

A whole lot of Ps there, but isn’t it true? Pretty poor planning promotes pretty poor performance. Those seven words can relate to just about anything in life, and are also true in philanthropy. If we are bad planners, how philanthropic are we going to be? I know this first hand as I got stuck in the motions of life so many times and did literally nothing philanthropic. I literally help nobody but myself and didn’t even do as much for my family as I should have. There is always more to do and that’s what I kept thinking when I didn’t plan and rationalized doing the minimum in terms of charity. It is horrible when you think about it, but it’s true.

The reason I am able to be so honest with myself and openly with others now is because my life has changed. When I retired I took some time to reflect. I took a few months to think about what made me happy and what gave me purpose. What I realized is that I was most happy when I was thinking and focusing on others. The more time I spent giving to others, the happier I became. It really is quite simple when you think about it. Lose the phone and all the fake tasks that we tell ourselves we are busy with and simplify life. If we think about others a little more and specifically think about how we can help others, we will be happier. As I began to change my life, I noticed the blessings that followed.

My family has told me that I am now the man that they knew I was deep down the whole time. Not only are they noticing it, but I notice it and feel so much happier. The stress levels are lower, my body is healthier, a lot of change is occurring over the past year. I have said this many times like a broken record, but I hope that we can make 2018 the year of giving. We are all so blessed and so anything that we give can make a huge difference here locally. I hope that we can all make this year the best one we’ve lived and that as we do that our lives and the lives of our family members will in turn be blessed.

This article was written by Ryan Van Wagenen from Cottonwood Heights.