I'm Kara. I create content about personal growth, productivity, and technology, faith, and my well lived life. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a fresh new article, a roundup of anything I published this week, and other fun stuff in your inbox (most) Monday mornings.
Plan for the worst...
Published 19 days ago • 4 min read
Plan for the worst...
Kona posing with our bags. The little duffle on the far end is his bag as he is off to my dad and sister's house for a visit.
This week's newsletter is the first of a 2-part mini-series on planning - especially for planning the "big stuff". Today, we're going to talk about when and why you should plan for everything to go terribly wrong.
I'm a glass-half-full kind of person most of the time. Yet, sometimes when I look at a situation, I see that there are ways that it could go wrong and so I choose to plan for some of those possible scenarios. Let me give you the current example - which Kona is modeling in the photo that opened today's newsletter.
When I turned over our trip countdown calendar on Saturday night to seven days before our next cruise, I thought, "Huh, well that would be nice if I didn't also have to go to New York for three days for work in the middle of that."
Don't get me wrong. I love the clients I’m going to see in New York. They are incredible people at a great institution. I love working with them. However, traveling three days this week only to come home, turn around and get on a plane again, is a lot nowadays. I've done my road warrior days and they are mostly behind me now.
Also, with the way flights worked out, I'm flying through Newark on the way home. If you watch travel news like we do in our house, you know that flying right now can be chaotic, but when you add Newark to a leg a trip - it can signal game over!
So, as Gayle and I talked through the plans for the coming weeks, we decided to plan for a few different scenarios, including one where I fly straight from New York to Florida and Gayle brings my suitcase for the cruise with her.
This was a no-brainer decision. First, just knowing that when I come home from New York, I now don't have to do a full pack for the cruise, puts my mind at ease from a workload perspective. And, given the two locales have totally different weather, it's a completely different set of clothes. Second, it puts Gayle at ease that I've prioritized the cruise to the point that I was willing to pack early and talk through this eventuality with her.
The third thing is a little harder to pin down which is the power of manifestation. I did a whole year talking about manifesting wellness. In that year I talked a bit about the power of our thoughts in creating the future. Some could say that by packing for the trip early, I'm manifesting flight delays or other trip chaos. I prefer to come back to my glass half-full thinking and manifest calm preparedness that will guide me through any eventuality. Put another way, by planning for the worst, only the best will happen. That fully packed suitcase is like a talisman that is warding off trip chaos.
While next week's newsletter is going to be the second part in this series (so that it can magically publish while I'm floating in the Caribbean), I'll let you know how things go in two weeks when we're back. It will be our monthly check in for the year of "Sail the Ship".
How do you plan for the worst? What triggers it for you? Do you see it as a glass half full effort? Hit reply on this email or click the Let's Chat button below to go to the Circle Community so we can discuss!
My weekly publishing on YouTube streak continues. My regular videos come out on Friday. That said, I also want to explore editing these on my own a bit so I added an article a video this week on Creating Linear Calendars with Excalidraw. There is a link to the accompanying article in the video description or you can view it on Medium here or in the Circle Community.
February 09, 2026 13:00
(Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Join us for the bi-weekly Obsidian Office Hours Session.
Office Hours are a time to ask questions about Obsidian. If you have a question, reply to the event with your questions - or attend live and you can get your question answered in the session.
When appropriate, office hours sessions will be recorded and the recording posted here.
February 16, 2026 06:00
(Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Do you want to get a better handle on your finances? If so, join me for a free one hour workshop to talk all things money. This is a great time to hold your own financial date with yourself (which I talk about in the Facts of Life Book Course). Get financial questions answered, see software tools like YNAB in action, or just chat about money. This is a judgment free zone so come with your questions.
Building Outside the Lines, Season 3
I think I have highlighted this show every season, so let’s keep the chain going. Jared Capps (aka Cappie) and his daughter Alex (aka Sprout) are a sweet, and highly skilled, father-daughter duo who like to “Build Weird”. Even better, Alex is a high schooler! They create one of a kind buildings for their clients using all sorts of reclaimed materials. I love home improvement and building shows, but I particularly enjoy this father-daughter duo’s take on the genre. This season, they are leaning much, much more into Sprout’s skills - and particularly how Cappie pushes her to do things outside of her comfort zone. I couldn’t find a trailer specific to this season, so I grabbed a full episode you can watch on YouTube - and this build comes full circle in the newest season.
I'm Kara. I create content about personal growth, productivity, and technology, faith, and my well lived life. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a fresh new article, a roundup of anything I published this week, and other fun stuff in your inbox (most) Monday mornings.
