Kitchen Collapse: Small Planning, Big Results

A personal reflection on my 2025 mistakes and the hope I’ve found for 2026

 

🔥The Day I Tried to Cook Everything at Once

Picture me in my tiny kitchen at the beginning of last year, every burner blazing, countertops covered with ingredients for five different recipes. Reminder : I lived in a studio.  I had volunteered to cook for a family reunion – 10 people expecting a feast. I had this elaborate plan to meal prep like a champion – soups, stir-fries, pasta, vegetables, and bread all at once.

I thought more planning meant better results. I was wrong.

Three hours later, I stood surrounded by chaos: burnt garlic, overcooked pasta, bread that never rose, and a screaming smoke alarm.

I ordered pizza and cried.

This is exactly how my career planning went – elaborate strategies that created chaos instead of results.

 

🌪️When I Over-Planned My Way to Failure

Fresh out of university, I approached my career like that disastrous cooking day. I created detailed spreadsheets, elaborate 12-month plans, and complex strategies. Apply to everything, everywhere, all at once. Marketing roles, finance positions, tech startups, nonprofits – I planned for every possible scenario.

My planning was impressive. My results were not.

I spent hours ladling out applications like soup from a giant pot. Job boards, company websites, LinkedIn quick-applies. “Look at me go!” I thought, “I’m serving up 20 applications a day!”

Three days passed. Then a week. Two weeks. Radio silence.

I grabbed my guitar and played the blues. Hope felt like burnt toast – completely ruined. I was following every career planning guide I could find, yet everything kept coming out wrong.

The truth hit me: More planning wasn’t the answer. Better planning was.

 

🤯The Five Ingredients That Ruined My Dish

Here’s what went wrong:

I wrote for computers, not people: I stuffed my CV with keywords for algorithms. Forgot real humans would read it.

I stuck to job boards: Spent 80% of my time where only 15-20% of jobs actually come from. Real opportunities were in conversations I wasn’t having.

I made everything bland: Tried to appeal to everyone. Ended up appealing to no one.

I messed up the basics: While planning complex strategies, I made stupid typos. Hard to claim attention to detail when your CV has spelling mistakes.

I forgot about humans: Got caught up in online strategies. Forgot work is about relationships.

 

✨ My Mini Planning Revolution

After months of this mess, I stopped. I threw away my elaborate plans and asked one simple question: “What do I actually want?”

Instead of planning for every possibility, I chose three companies that genuinely excited me.

Instead of complex strategies, I made three simple moves: research each company deeply, craft one thoughtful approach per company, start real conversations with real people.

Instead of hoping my plans would work, I tested them quickly. Reached out, got feedback, adjusted immediately.

The result? Within six weeks, I had two job offers and clarity about my career path.

 

🎯 The Three Principles of Mini Planning That Changed Everything

Focus Over Coverage	Choose three things that matter instead of thirty things that might matter.
Testing Over Perfecting	Try small, get feedback fast, adjust quickly. Better than perfect plans that never get tested.
Connection Over Planning	Real progress happens through relationships and rapid experiments, not elaborate strategies executed alone.

 

🌅 Your Mini Planning Blueprint for 2026

The world will keep pushing elaborate planning systems at you – 12-month strategies, complex goal pyramids, detailed quarterly reviews. I tried planning everything and nearly burned out completely.

Here’s the truth: you don’t have to repeat my mistakes.

The question isn’t how much you can plan.
The question is: what three things will you choose, test, and refine?

Pick three priorities. Test them quickly. Adjust based on what you learn.

I learned this the hard way so you don’t have to.

Sound too simple to work? Here’s how real people did it:  FINISH 

• How Alexa Natori went from a medical researcher international finance between US, Finland and France
• The Software Engineer Who Conquered Social Anxiety and became a nomad entrepreneur
• Building cross-cultural skills with an Adult TCK Hans Lohmueller
• Finding your job in Switzerland with Angie Weinberger
• How Captain Gini built a global business, grows clients and stays a digital nomad for 10+ years
• How Kris Morrill went from Minnesota to founding and managing global ophthalmic teams in Strasbourg, France
• Yev
• TCK Expert

 

🤯 Why I’m Sharing This Planning Revolution

My kitchen disaster taught me that behind every success story, there’s usually someone who learned to plan less but execute more.

That’s why I’m doing this. I’m collecting stories from people who figured out how to succeed through mini planning and quick testing instead of elaborate strategies.

Maybe you’re that person. Maybe you learned to focus when everything demanded you plan for every scenario. Maybe you found your three priorities when the world told you to want everything.

 

🔍 Ready to find your own mini planning approach?

Take a look at the stories I’m collecting from people who learned to plan less but achieve more. Find what clicks for you, and let their encouragement give you the hope you need to start testing instead of just planning.

Your three priorities are waiting.

What’s your story?  Let’s chat and make your 2026 beautiful!