Planning is in my genes

My approach to eradicating NET cancer relies on planning the same way every other aspect of my life does. Every December 31 every year I look back at the goals from the year before and check off the successes and the failures.

…failure is not an option.

The last two years have been hard. Jane’s death shattered so many of the plans we had that for a time after her death I struggled to see the point of any of it. But 21 days after her death I was such a creature of habit that I spent the plane ride back from Seattle looking at the year just ended and thinking about the year ahead.

Jane’s death shattered much

I have not been as successful at reaching my goals the last two years as I would like to have been. My personal life remains a shambles. I still find myself wandering aimlessly from room to room some days. There are both house and yard projects I have not yet been able to face.

I have begun the planning for the next phase of the journey.

Even my work on NET cancer has not been as successful as I would like. We’ve met some of the goals I set for Walking with Jane the last two years: We’ve generated close to $150,000 since Jane’s death; we’ve built this website and become a non-profit corporation; we’ve worked to build relationships with a range of cancer organizations and groups; and we’ve encouraged the people doing the science on NET cancer in a number of ways.

NET cancer quest: successes and failures

But we have failed to raise the profile of NET cancer in the general community to any significant degree. Nor have we pushed our fundraising much beyond the range of our friends and acquaintances. Indeed, too much of the money we have generated has come from timely donations that have helped leverage other money through matching grants.

I am pleased with the progress we have made thus far.

Still, overall, I am pleased with the progress we have made thus far. Beyond my hatred for the disease that killed my wife, I knew nothing about NET cancer or fundraising when I started this quest. And what I knew about media

and public relations had little bearing on the work killing NET cancer turned out to require.

Out of the NET cancer foothills

This year will require I take what I have learned over the last two years and apply it in new and unimagined ways. Until now, we have walked the foothills and approaches to the mountain that is the problem of NET cancer. And now, having seen the mountain in the distance, I know the most difficult part of the journey lies ahead of us.

We’ve met some of the goals…

I have begun the planning for the next phase of the journey. Some of it involves projects and partnerships already set in motion. But much of it involves thinking through a new batch of challenges I had not even conceived of when we started. For example, who knew how many different forms of social media existed or how important they have become to getting anything done.

Past, present and future intertwine

Planning requires constant thinking about the past, future and present. Ignoring any of those three aspects can lead to failure.

The last two years have been hard.

And where NET cancer is concerned, failure is not an option.