If you’re a fast-thinking adult, the last thing you want to do is sit down and jot out a lot of plans, either for your business or for your personal life. You have things to do and opportunities to grab hold of.

But that’s just where planning comes in handy. Planning ahead allows you to grab on and ride rather than grinding out progress tediously. You’ll see the same opportunities, but with plans in place for everything else, you can pursue them more fully.

You’re going to be successful either way. But would you rather surf the waves, or stand up to them as they hit you?

So, if planning isn’t your typical style, make it spontaneous and fun. You have to get something onto paper, but it doesn’t have to be neat and orderly yet. Let yourself draw. Let yourself use colors. Walk around as you write in a notebook. Just get your plan to achieving your goal written down somehow, any way you can.

“A Recession Is Here.” “Companies to cut jobs.” “Fed Cuts Interest Rates.” Every few years the headlines give you reason to be afraid for your job and your lifestyle, and it seems that time is here again.

This is going to sound counterintuitive, but here’s my advice: Don’t worry about the headlines.

“What?” you’re asking. “That’s crazy.” But, for most people, closely following economic news is just an easy way to let things affecting other people cause you personal stress.

The truth is, jobs are being created and lost at all points in the cycle. You can be laid off in a boom, and you can find a fantastic new job in a recession. Respond to business changes and prepare for the unexpected, but, unless it’s part of your job, don’t worry too much about how quickly the GDP is increasing.