Blair Waldorf-ing Life

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned on Facebook that I was tired of Blair Waldorf-ing everything in my life. Blair Waldorf  is a character in a show that I am a little embarrassed to admit I just watched all six seasons of in January. I didn’t mean Blair Waldorf in a  blackmailing, yogurt throwing, mean girl kind of way. I also didn’t mean I wanted to give up headbands, colorful tights, Valentino, or macarons (my absolute favorite). I meant that I was tired of over-forcing and over-planning every aspect of my life.


Blair was famous for thinking she had to plan and manipulate everything that would happen to her, and she could accomplish anything with just the right amount of plotting. She went after everything that way and hardly ever took a break between plans. 

Like any good type-A person, I am a little like Blair Waldorf. I am often so busy planning the next step or the new goal that I forget to enjoy any steps I have accomplished, or I fail to have the flexibility to deal with any setbacks. It is like planning to lose 40 pounds, losing 10 the first week, and being upset that you didn’t lose the whole 40. Or, thinking that if you could just get on the Biggest Loser, pick up mono, or buy a new scale, you would have to lose the 40 pounds. Ridiculous and unrealistic, and you will always be disappointed with the results (or lack thereof) of a plan like that. 

This is why I know I deeply understand the drive and needs of entrepreneurs—but I will probably never be one. A new venture almost never goes according to plan. People who over-plan almost never become successful entrepreneurs. A person who over-plans takes a personality test in college that says she should be a lawyer, takes the LSAT when she is two years from graduating from college, and then promptly becomes a lawyer at 25. True story.

I know people like their lawyers to be planners, and I am certainly not advocating less planning. Don’t forego the buy-sell or the succession plan just to “see what happens.” My point in this is that I know there is another side to my brain that I too often neglect. I used to love to paint, I was a great figure skating choreographer in another life, and I am a Pisces for gosh sake. I know I have some creativity and a free spirit in me somewhere that is begging to be used at least some of the time.