Getting to Plan B: Road to Recovery

Day +8, roll on the days! My mouth is sore it’ll be difficult to eat and I won’t be talking much today. That is a shame as Susan will be my care nurse today. She is a lovely Irish lady and is married to an Australian and lived in Australia and loves to watch cricket. Last week Australia lost to New Zealand for the first time in 30+ years and off course Sri Lanka were completely outplayed by South Africa.

Even with some pain, I will try to keep my blog going as this is great therapy and helps to lift my spirits. It is strange, I have been in hospital in isolation for close to 3 weeks and it hasn’t been long, lonely or dreary. Denis and Mairead, thank you for encouraging me to start writing this blog.

I wasn’t woken up at 2 a.m. last night (don’t know why), but I got uninterrupted sleep for a change. I get cyclosporin intravenously for 6 hours every day (this is the immune suppressant drug) and these levels are high in my blood and they have temporary stopped it today. More freedom of movement just inside these four walls as my blood counts are too low to go outside. They are also slowing weaning me off the steroids.

Christine Commerford-Lynch in her book on entrepreneurship ‘Rules for Renegades’ talks about the 10 steps for ‘Getting Things Done’. When I teach entrepreneurship, I often talk about this. Yesterday it struck me that these ten steps apply not just for building companies, but is a blue print for living life to the fullest. In my case, I will call it Getting to Plan B (my new life)!

It is about maximising your forward motion while minimising your drag coefficient.

1. Take Responsibility. Say good-bye to blaming others because your life isn’t working or you don’t have what you want. You’re no one’s victim. Everything in our lives, good or bad, is the result of our actions or thoughts.
2. Get Visual. Set goals. Visualize them being achieved, and act on making them happen.
3. Solicit Superb Support. A supportive community of friends and family are key to Getting to Plan B.
4. Toss Toxicity. Move away from negative thoughts and feeling self pity. Stop being a martyr.
5. Pump up the Positive. Negative self-talk fosters a negative self-image. We sabotage ourselves far more than anyone sabotages us. Be positive!
6. Log on to the Law of Attraction. This is my favourite step and it has worked all the time for me.  I believe that “What you focus on, you become.” That’s the idea of the Law of Attraction. When you develop a clear idea of what you want, focus on it, and feel good about it, your mind will consider your wishes to be marching orders. The universe will conspire to help to make your dreams come true.
7. Persevere. Don’t let set backs hold you down. It’s okay to be afraid.
8. Pay Attention. Pay attention to what’s going on around you. While you’re concentrating on the cracks in the sidewalk, you miss the rainbow.
9. Continuously Course-Correct. We all make mistakes therefore be ready to change course.
10. Celebrate Success. Take time to celebrate and enjoy life.

I trust these steps will keep you on track, to your Plan A and help me get to Plan B! That’s all for now folks!