One of the magnets on our fridge is a quote from Teddy Roosevelt: "Do what you can, where you are, with what you have!" To plan for the future, you have to start with the present. Where are you now? What skills and resources do you have now? It doesn't matter if you don't like your current situation. Ignoring a problem or difficulty, won't make it go away -- it might just make it worse. Far better to know what is the status quo rather then pretend it to be different. To plan a trip, you not only have to know the destination, but you're starting point as well. If you are trying to get to Carnegie Hall, it's a completely different trip to plan if you are starting in Florida, Peru, or lower Manhattan. Trying to fly there from lower Manhattan makes as much sense as trying to walk there from Peru. Sometimes the preferred means of progress (flying in this case) might not be the best option. The only way to know is a thorough evaluation of the current state of affairs.

Despite many people's fascination with the law of attraction, I think one of the other key points from Teddy Roosevelt's quote above is the first word: Do. Newton formulated the law in physics that tells us a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Wishing or planning how to accomplish something is not the same as doing. Even Yoda urges us to action: "Do or do not. There is no try." Our modern day GPS devices are excellent at getting us from point a to point b, as long as we are in motion. If we miss a turn, it will recalculate and adapt. If we stop moving, I've seen many GPS devices get confused and start giving very odd instructions. Just like pilots on a long-distance flight, we need to start moving in the general direction, and then make adjustments as we approach our destination. While planning can be an appropriate action, just don't expect it to get you to the destination without starting up the engine and moving.