The Power of Purpose For Small Business Planning That Actually Makes Sense
As we finalize our plans for the new year, remember that a plan without a purpose is nothing but a series of meaningless tasks that take up our precious time.
The templates are being printed on crisp new paper, the spreadsheets are being reset, the brainstorming is downright torrential, and journalers everywhere are burning holes in their favorite notebooks through nothing more than the sheer friction of their favorite gelly roll pens against the page.
It’s yearly planning time once more.
I've recently been diving head-first into the actual craft of writing a good story. (I'm writing a novel?! Which has for some reason been working for me?! Instead of just being an idea that I write down in a notebook and abandon because I decide it's not good enough or interesting enough or that I'm not a writer enough to actually write it?!)
In any case, I've been reading Writing Your Story’s Theme by K.M. Weiland and finally being given language to describe a thing that I GOT about stories, but didn't UNDERSTAND about stories. There was a part in this book where Weiland very simply stated:
"The theme provides a why to the plot's how.”
In other words: A plot without a theme is just a series of meaningless events.
We’ve all watched the horrible movies and DNF’d the awful novels that promised us so much at the beginning but then left us wondering: “why should I care about anything that’s happening here?…”
There’s a disconnect between what’s happening in the story and the people the story was really for: us.
And in my head, I immediately get an image of all us small business owners, sitting with our favorite notebooks and pens, papers strewn about us, 5000 tabs open, and planning for the year 2024.
When I think back on my worst laid plans, I realize that they really were just "plots without a theme." It was a series of events that followed a linear timeline, and they really only existed because I had to try and do something to make some money and grow this business I wanted to build.
And when I see planning exercises and templates that are meant to help us plan our best month or quarter or year, they largely do the same thing: force us to plan the doing of a series of tasks in a linear manner simply because there is blank space in front of us on the calendar, and according to the machine, blank space is meant to be filled. Immediately. All the way out to the corners. In squished together serial-killer-esque handwriting so as not to leave room for breath.
But the best, most fruitful plans I've ever made are the ones that are connected. They're not based on holidays to have sales for or offers that are only based off "moms thinking about summer break" or "singles feeling lonely around valentines day."
They're based in a uniting purpose. They flow from one month to the next not because time passes and technically they have to, but because they interact with and build upon one another in the service of that larger uniting purpose.
And this purpose is SO much larger that I both know logically and must accept emotionally that a single quarter or season or maybe even a full calendar year will not fulfill it. It is something that I am meant to carry out and illuminate in a continuous way because it has meaning.
Which then brings me to the idea of goals vs. purpose.
To me, this larger purpose exists to hone and anchor my intentions and drive me forward into action. It’s not something that can be achieved or fulfilled in the sense of “completion”. It’s not a box that I can tick off on my to-do list. It's meant to give connected meaning to the things I do as I continue to go about my unavoidably uncompartmentalized existence.
There is a state of being that I am striving for, and the pieces that make up the pie of that state of being will forever evolve until I am dead and my soul leaves my body (and then I guess something different happens maybe.)
The planning that we are encouraged to do is extremely goal-based. Make x number of dollars. Read y number of books. Write z number of pages. Check off the fucking box on the list, god damnit. Achieve it and be done with it.
And all of that is fine and well, but without the driver and connection of that larger purpose, these goals are a series of meaningless events that just occur for no reason.
So when you're sitting down amidst the holiday chaos and the countdowns and the gifting and the parties and the harried travel, trying desperately to find a quiet corner for yourself in order to go over your plans for the coming year, please ask yourself:
What is the purpose that's driving my actions?
What is the connected meaning behind my goals?
What am I building, why, and do these tasks serve that vision?
(These would also be excellent queries or positions for a Tarot spread!)
It sounds so basic, like "duh, of course I do that when I'm planning."
But I promise you: sometimes we think we do, but we actually don't.
Sometimes we let the end of year hype, the capitalist pressure, the societal expectations be the things that are driving our actions instead. We may not mean to, but it can be hard to see the air we're always breathing, y'know?
Remember also that Mercury is retrograde until January 1st. Rather than being the unholy clusterfuck that the internet attempts to convince you these next few weeks will be, this is a time of reflection and reassessment. A time to really consider your current path and whether you’re truly headed where you want to go.
The confusion and foggy thinking that often accompanies Mercury Rx is less of an outright impediment to progress and more so a necessary part of the journey where you may need to check your map more often, light an extra lantern or two and slow the fuck down to mind your passage.
Basically: pay attention to the road and doublecheck your GPS.
And as you do so while planning for your vision, consider this a gentle and friendly reminder: your actions are worth more when they mean something, your purpose is worthy, and you deserve to fill your business plans with something more than boxes to check off just because.
May you find your quiet corner and there, be led by purpose,
Zoha
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About The Author:
Zoha Abbas is a writer, Intuitive Tarot Reader and Business Coach who aims to explore the small business conversations around self-trust, critical thinking, reality checks and forging your (not so straight) path to success in the grey-area of real life. She is the CEO and Creator of The Ownership Method, a coaching practice where she helps fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners do business better through data, divination and dismantling harmful systems.
For inquiries, please email: zoha@theownershipmethod.com