"It finally hit me yesterday that the wedding is in two weeks." That was a client talking about his daughter's wedding. He obviously knew when the wedding is but he was explaining how it was actually going to happen and it is happening (relatively) soon.
This is the problem with long term planning and goal setting. If you're looking too far ahead the end goal can become too abstract. Like you know it's there but you can't make it out or see specific details.
Long term goals are great, but they're nothing without short term steps to get you there.
My client has had to do things leading up to today and has more stuff to do before the wedding. Things like scoping out venues and sending the names of the people he wanted on the invite list. Those are the short term steps that have gotten him too today. He couldn't have made it to today without those steps. Though when you think about them individually they're just items getting checked off a checklist.
Those steps don't give a feel for how the night's actually gonna go.
On the other hand, doing things like the seating chart and trying on your suit start to plant images of how the event may go. You start to imagine the epic fight that will start if you sit Aunt Sally within 10 feet of Uncle Jimmy. You might practice some dance moves while you've got the suit on. These steps start producing actual emotions. Shit (in a proverbial sense) get real.
This should be a good feeling. Not a stressful one. You should be able to enjoy these emotions and the moment without being overwhelmed.
That's where those short-term steps come into play. It's when people don't take those steps that they end up stressed.
