Plan Ahead or Plan to Fail

I'm not sure who came up with the saying, "Plan ahead or plan to fail" but I could literally apply it to EVERY aspect of my life. Every. Single. One.

Example - Parenting

Besides the obvious of never forgetting diapers and wipes, parenting in general requires quick action, fast thinking, and ALWAYS being at least five steps ahead of your kids. For example going to the grocery store cost twice as much with children because the thought of a tantrum over not buying the stupid toys they put hanging from the aisle is most of the time not worth the fight. However, IF you plan ahead, there are ways around this.

1. Offer your husband mind-blowing sex if he lets you go by yourself, this isn't an option? See all options below
2. Talk to your children, offer a treat at the end of grocery shopping if they are on their best behavior. Example: "If you show Mommy how behaved you can be in this horribly busy grocery store, we can make chocolate chip cookies when we get home" 
3. Explain this is a looking trip for the child and shopping trip for mommy to buy food. Sophia likes to make mental notes and then pretend to write them in our brain for what we want later.
4. If all else fails find the insanely massive shopping cart that has the race cart on the front, you know the one, shove your kids in it, wear dark sunglasses and hope NO one sees you. 

Example - Eating Right

Every Sunday, after this embarrassing shopping trip that your husband either opted to take a nap or watch the game so you had to take both kids, I prep all my food for the week. I have two kids, and often have two kids hanging on each leg while I try and prep dinner. Cutting up all my fruits and veggies at the beginning of the week literally cuts my dinner prep in 1/2! Not only that but I also prep healthy snacks for the week. I have found this to be the best way to cut out unwanted added calories that often creep up throughout the day - My kids goldfish.

Example - Excersise

I have an obsessive problem with writing everything down in my planner. Especially excersise. I do not have hours to spend at the gym. I can't even go to the bathroom by myself, let alone excersise for hours a day. Which is why a program like Focus T25 is literally the best thing that happened to me. 10 weeks of 25 minute high intensity workouts, 5 days a week. On Sunday night, when I write whats going on in the coming week in my planner I make a promise to myself that each day I will take at least 25 minutes, 5 days a week, for ME. Sure sometimes things come up during the time of day I had originally planned but at the end of each day when I looked at what I is left to do, I will move T25 to the top of my list.

At the end of the day, remember planning ahead and preparing for the worst leaves less wiggle room for failure.