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Rethinking Planning: Nature's Wisdom for Life and Business

The Urge to Plan in Wild Times


As the year draws to a close, there’s a collective pressure to plan—to map out the year ahead, to strategise, to hustle toward a future that feels tangible and secure.


And yet, these aren’t just ordinary times. We’re living through seismic shifts in the world around us.


Amid this uncertainty, the urge to plan can feel like an anchor.


But what if, instead of anchoring us, it’s keeping us tethered to old ways of thinking?


What if it’s time to redefine not just how we plan, but how we live, work, and imagine a future for us all?


Releasing the "More Is More" Mindset


Modern planning often feels like a race to do more, be more, and achieve more. Success is measured in linear terms: growth, metrics, visibility.


But nature teaches us that growth isn’t always about addition; sometimes, it’s about subtraction. Pruning a tree allows it to flourish. Letting fields lie fallow brings fertile abundance.


So why do we treat our businesses—and ourselves—as if we’re exempt from these cycles?


True growth comes from honoring the seasons of our lives, our work, and our inner worlds.


Here are some tips for releasing the “more is more” mindset:


  1. Audit Your Energy: What activities, clients, or projects feel draining? Consider what you can delegate, pause, or let go of entirely.

  2. Prune Your Goals: Narrow your focus to 2–3 key priorities for the year. Depth is more impactful than breadth.

  3. Measure Differently: Redefine success beyond numbers. Celebrate qualitative wins—like meaningful connections, creative breakthroughs, or feeling more aligned.


Metrics can’t tell the whole story. What about the quieter data: the wisdom of your body, the truths in your heart, the rhythm of your energy?


Planning isn’t just about logic; it’s about embodiment. It’s about aligning your head and your heart, creating a strategy that reflects not only your goals but your essence.


Lessons From Nature: A New Way to Plan


Nature doesn’t rush into spring.


Before the first blooms appear, there’s a period of deep rest and preparation.


Seeds lie dormant, drawing strength from the earth.


Roots stretch silently beneath the surface. The energy of winter is slow and reflective, not hurried or forceful.


Here are tips for planning like nature:


  1. Follow the Seasons: Delay your 2025 planning until late January or February. Use December and early January for reflection and rest.

  2. Nourish Your Roots: Ask yourself what foundational areas of your business need attention—your systems, your health, your personal growth.

  3. Plan in Cycles: Instead of rigid, year-long plans, try quarterly intentions that allow space for flexibility and evolution.


Your business is an ecosystem. For it to thrive, all its parts—your offerings, your clients, your systems, and you—must be nurtured. When we ignore our own well-being, we destabilize the entire system.


Planning isn’t just about strategy; it’s about creating a business that sustains you as much as you sustain it.


Wintering in the Silly Season


December often feels like a clash of realities. Nature asks us to slow down, but society demands we speed up.


Our calendars fill, our energy drains, and we’re left feeling stretched and scattered.


This year, I’m choosing differently. I won’t start my plans for 2025 until late January, ready for when the stirrings of spring begin to awaken. This is my invitation to you: honour the season you’re in.


Let yourself rest. Let yourself be.


Here are some practices to winter well:


  1. Embrace Stillness: Block out time in your calendar for intentional rest. Use this space for journaling, meditating, or simply doing nothing.

  2. Say “No” Bravely: Evaluate your commitments. Cancel or postpone anything that doesn’t feel essential right now.

  3. Simplify Your Systems: Reduce complexity where you can. Streamline your to-dos, automate small tasks, and focus on what truly matters.

  4. Reflect and Dream: Use this time to journal on questions like: What feels alive in my business? What feels heavy? What needs to shift in the year ahead?


Imagining a New Future Together


My work is about more than just strategy or growth.


It’s about redefining life and business—how we live with it, how we work alongside it, and how we dream up a future where businesses don’t just survive but become powerful forces for personal and collective transformation.


This is the moment to reimagine how we move through the world. Together, we can create businesses and lives that are in harmony with nature, with each other, and with ourselves.


You are enough, just as you are.


Let this season remind you to rest, reflect, and root deeply into your truth.



 

Hi, I'm Louise Walker a Visibility & Leadership Coach, Meaningful Marketing Strategist, Circle Facilitator & Systemic Consultant.


I offer life & business coaching, a business community and consultancy for heart-led Founders & Leaders seeking a resilient and authentic way of living and working in these times of seismic change in our world. Through intuitive coaching and systemic insights, I support entrepreneurs and leaders to step beyond the mainstream hustle, reconnect with their inner wisdom, and build businesses that are rooted in both purpose and well-being.


Curious about my work? Explore my Coaching, Circles & Community more on my website here.

 
 
 

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