What to Do When the Year Isn’t Going How You Planned
Sometimes the year doesn’t unfold the way you pictured it in December.
You picked your One Word.
You mapped your goals.
You bought the planner you were sure was going to fix everything.
And then real life showed up.
Plans changed. Energy dipped. Priorities shifted. The system that felt perfect on January 1st suddenly feels annoying, heavy, or completely wrong.
If you’re staring at your planner thinking, “Well… this is not how I thought this would go,” you’re not failing.
You’re living.
And there is a way to move forward without scrapping the whole year or panic-buying another planner (although I deeply understand the urge).
First, let’s normalize this
Very few years (or days) go according to plan.
Not because you planned badly, but because:
life changes
people change
needs change
energy changes
Planning is not a contract.
It’s a tool for navigating change.
I was talking to my sister yesterday, and that conversation is what inspired me to write this post. She made amazing plans for how she was going to conquer her goals for the new year. But yesterday, her water heater went. They’ve had it for years, so it needs to be replaced.
Discovering the water heater problem, waiting around for an estimate, and scheduling a repairman took all day. Later in the day, when I talked to her, she said she’s now disappointed because now, she’s behind on her goals.
However, I reminded her that she just needs to shift those items on her to-do list to today or another day. She’s not behind at all; she just had an unexpected life event that made those plans change.
Unexpected changes are what mess so many of us up! How we handle them is the key.
You need to adjust your plans and your expectations.
It doesn’t mean your planning “didn’t work.” It means you’ve experienced life, which is full of lots of twists and turns.
And you can still achieve your goals and work around those events.
Step 1: Stop treating this like a failure
This is the moment where a lot of planner girls spiral.
We tell ourselves:
“I should be further along.”
“I already messed it up.”
“I need to start over.”
“Maybe I picked the wrong planner.”
Pause right there.
The year not going as planned does not mean:
you did it wrong
you wasted time
you need a clean slate
It means your plan needs an adjustment, not an obituary.
Step 2: Ask what changed, not what went wrong
Instead of replaying what didn’t happen, ask better questions:
What does my life look like now compared to when I made this plan?
What’s taking more energy than I expected?
What matters more now than it did a few months ago?
What no longer fits the way I’m actually living?
This is not about judging yourself.
It’s about updating your plan with current data.
You are allowed to plan for the version of you that exists today, not the version you imagined in January.
Step 3: Decide what still matters (and what doesn’t)
Here’s where things usually get clearer.
Some goals still feel important.
Some feel heavy.
Some feel… irrelevant.
That’s okay.
You don’t need to keep goals out of loyalty.
You don’t need to finish something just because you wrote it down months ago.
Try this:
Circle the goals that still feel aligned.
Lightly cross out the ones that don’t.
Put a star next to anything that feels like it needs a different approach.
This isn’t quitting.
It’s editing and adjusting to life as it happens.
Step 4: Shrink the time horizon
When the whole year feels overwhelming, zoom in.
Forget December.
Forget “by the end of the year.”
Forget the big picture for a moment.
Ask instead:
What would make the next week feel better?
What would help the next month feel steadier?
What do I actually have the capacity for right now?
Planning works best when it meets you where you are, not where you wish you were.
Related Post: What to Do When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed
Step 5: Reset the system, not the year
This is where planner girls often go nuclear.
New planner.
New layout.
New color scheme.
New everything.
Sometimes a system change is helpful.
But most of the time, what you need is simpler than that.
Try:
simplifying your weekly layout
choosing a smaller daily priority list
using one notes page instead of rewriting everything
letting old pages stay messy and lived-in
You don’t need a brand-new year.
You need a system that feels supportive again.
Step 6: Give yourself permission to pivot
This one matters.
Changing your plan mid-year is not a character flaw.
It’s self-awareness.
You’re allowed to say:
“This isn’t working anymore.”
“I need something different now.”
“I’ve learned more about what I need.”
The goal was never to perfectly execute a plan you made months ago.
The goal was to create a life that feels manageable, supportive, and aligned.
Related Post: What to Do When Your To-Do List Is Too Long
If you need a reminder
A year that doesn’t go according to plan is not a wasted year.
It’s a real one.
Planning is not about controlling the future.
It’s about responding to the present with clarity instead of panic.
So if the year feels off?
Pause.
Adjust.
Simplify.
Keep going.
You’re not behind.
You’re just recalibrating.
Happy planning.
