What if you didn’t always have a plan and knew your next step? This approach might make people around you nervous, but it could work really well for you. It’s something that I discuss a lot in leadership coaching sessions.
When I decided to leave UBS at the end of 2018, I was constantly asked, “What’s your plan? What jobs have you applied for?” Someone even told me, “It’s high time you knew your travel plans, you’re leaving the company in a few weeks!”
But that was the point.
I did not want to have a planned next step. If anything, my plan was not to know what came next. I wanted to have time to step away from work and think about what was really important to me.
And it was such a freeing moment. I still remember how much I enjoyed those first mornings. Getting up, having coffee, going for a walk and knowing that I didn’t have to rush. I could just be and do whatever I felt like doing that day.
Ideas come, plans can be made. But I did not want to do them while I was stuck in my old habits and my old environment. I needed new ideas and new perspectives.
Sometimes breaking a habit and stepping out of a comfort zone can be just that: Not having a plan.