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Welcome to another edition of the 1% Habits Newsletter!

This is where you’ll get up-to-date information on small wins to improve your habits, productivity, and life satisfaction. 

Let’s get to it.

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📈 When Plans Fall Apart: The Surprising Joy in Plan B

Travel has a way of testing your flexibility. You can plan every detail, book every ticket, and map out every activity, but the truth is, something will almost always go differently than expected. It might be a delayed flight, bad weather, or a sudden closure of the attraction you were most excited about.

The real test isn’t whether you can avoid these disruptions — it’s how you respond when they happen.

That’s exactly the situation my family and I found ourselves in on our current vacation to Canada. We’d been planning this trip for over six months, with the centerpiece being some incredible hikes we thought our kids would love. But when we arrived at our first stop, Bay of Fundy National Park, we learned that hiking in the province of New Brunswick is banned for the foreseeable future due to extreme fire risk. You can read more about it here: CBC article.

And unless it rains in the next week, the same restrictions will likely be in place in Nova Scotia — where we’re spending the last part of our trip.

In other words, the main thing we came here to do was suddenly off the table. If you’ve ever traveled with two highly energetic kids, you can imagine the challenge: how do you keep them happy and engaged when your carefully planned itinerary disappears?

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Slowing Down and Living in the Moment

When plans fall apart, the natural instinct is to scramble — to find a replacement for every canceled activity, to keep the schedule full so no one feels like they’re missing out. But sometimes the best thing you can do is slow down and see what’s right in front of you.

One afternoon, while driving, we passed a giant open riverbed full of rocks. By most tourist standards, it was nothing special — no guided tours, no souvenir shop, no “must-see” label on a travel blog. But to my kids, it was a giant natural playground. We pulled over, climbed down, and spent hours there.

We even invented a new game called Rock Ricochet — like skipping stones on water, but with points for how many times you can make one rock bounce off another.

Two days later, we visited Hopewell Rocks. Instead of treating it like a quick “check it off the list” stop, we lingered. We explored every small trail, saw the rocks at both high and low tide, and let the kids play life-sized chess with other children they met there. It turned into a full day of unhurried exploration — and they loved it.

When you slow down, you notice more. You give small moments the space to become big memories. You stop measuring a trip (or your life) by how many things you’ve accomplished and start appreciating the quality of the experiences you’re having.

Actionable takeaway:

• When plans change, pause before rushing to replace them. Ask yourself, What’s here right now that we can enjoy?

• Give yourself permission to stay longer in moments that are working, even if they weren’t “the plan.”

• Look for joy in small, ordinary experiences — they often stand out more than the big, planned events.

Teaching Resiliency to Kids

Life is full of curveballs. Vacations get disrupted. Events get canceled. Weather ruins plans. The question isn’t whether these things will happen — it’s how we respond when they do.

For kids, these moments are powerful opportunities to learn resiliency. They can see firsthand that while disappointment is real, it doesn’t have to ruin the entire experience. In our case, instead of focusing on the “no hiking” rule, we made a game out of finding new things to do. We explained to the boys why the rules were in place (to protect the forests and wildlife) and involved them in brainstorming alternatives. That way, they weren’t just being told, “We can’t do that” — they were helping create the new plan.

When kids are part of the solution, they feel a sense of control and ownership over the situation. This not only keeps them engaged but also builds their confidence in handling challenges.

Actionable takeaway:

• Involve kids in problem-solving when plans change. Let them suggest alternatives, even silly ones — it keeps them engaged and turns disappointment into a challenge.

• Model calm and positivity. Kids will mirror your reaction more than your words. If you treat the change as an adventure, they’re more likely to do the same.

• Highlight the positives of the new plan. Instead of saying, “We can’t hike today,” try, “We get to explore something totally different today — let’s see what we can find.”

• After the experience, talk about it. Ask them what they enjoyed most about the day and what they learned from it. This reflection helps cement the lesson that good things can come from unexpected changes.

Final Thoughts

The fact is, life is full of disappointments. But it's how you respond to these disappointments that makes all the difference. In a few months, my kids won't even remember the lack of hiking trails. What they'll remember is those random “fun” things they got to do — like Rock Ricochet.

And that’s the bigger lesson here: slowing down and living in the moment often creates the most lasting memories. Teaching resiliency isn’t just about helping kids handle disappointment — it’s about showing them that joy can be found anywhere, even in a pile of rocks by the side of the road.

Talk soon,

Steve

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