Planner or Reactor?...Do you make plans for life's situations, or just react as 'things' crop up?

Answer 1

Usually if I plan, then it doesnt work out "as planned"...so mostly I guess I'm a reactor....you never know if you're gonna be here for what you have planned anyway...I try to live for the day as if its my last...I'm not promised tomorrow so I try not to look ahead...btw good afternoon J♫♪♫.

Answer 2

I've been working backwards, and I just came from your question about flexible vs. routine. I tended more toward the routine.

But this is an absolute "both." Nothing gets done if you don't plan. But, you must be willing to abandon those plans and seize the moment -- if just to have a little fun. Unplanned things are cropping up all the time, and if you rigidly stick to the plan, you only do what you imagine you can do. If you react to new things, you find stuff you never imagined before.

I read once about Chinese astrology that there are so-called "bad times" where it's not lucky to start anything. But the philosopher said, this is a time to tend, and prepare, so that when the "good times" roll around again, you should be ready to grab them. I guess this isn't really about reacting, but about the importance of planning so you have a solid base from which you can react.

It's hard to launch a rocket from a swamp, after all. You need a concrete launch pad.

Answer 3

I'm easily a reactor, and take life as it comes without worrying (too much!) about the future.

Good Points: You can just have fun and enjoy life as it comes. A lot of people I know are so worked up about planning for the future, they forget about the day to day, the little moments that make life worth living.

Bad points: You can get swept along with what people want/expect of you. I spent 7 years in a relationship with someone I didn't love because I was just taking things as they came. The subsequent divorce don't look pretty. :o\

Answer 4

A reactor. But I don't feel that being a reactor is more 'laid back' - it's just that I'm a procrastinator. My husband plans very big things (like where to live) but goes with the flow for everything else.
If you only go with the flow you may miss many opportunties to do wonderful things in life. If you plan and it doesn't work out, you can get depressed. Can't win altogether whichever you are.

Answer 5

The 7 P's
Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents P**s Poor Performance.
No matter how well organised you are though Murphy's law dictates that whatever can go wrong will go wrong at the worst possible time so you either need a plan B or be good at reacting to unexpected situations.

Answer 6

First half of my life-since I am so organized, a planner with a big P-
Then at age 40 and rebirth-a reactor since I try to put life's situations in His hands (and sometimes I grab them back out momentarily) but if so, then that is showing I lack faith and without faith, you can not please God no matter what you do.

Answer 7

I think everyone has a little bit of both in them. I am mostly a planner, I have my whole life planned the way I would like it to go, but when things don't go my way, I am ready to be flexible and roll with the tides.

Answer 8

I try to plan for things. But situations change even as they happen. The really great benifit in planning lies not so much in being ready with a plan no matter what happens, as it is in forcing you to try and think about everything that might happen and what you --might-- be able to do about it beforehand.
But if you relied on always having a plan, you'd never have time to actually --do-- much of anything since you'd always be revising your plans to adapt to the new circumstances life had thrown at you.

As John Lennon so nicely put it, "Life is what happens to you while you're making plans for the future." ☺

Doug

Answer 9

I am a planner I don't like being out of control and I would feel that way if I let things crop up.

Answer 10

Bit of both, like most of us. But I think even "planners" do a lot more reacting than they'd like you to know.