A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.
George S. Patton
1885 – 1945
A few years ago, there was a feel-good show called Leverage, in which former criminals used their unique skills to help people in need. In the pilot episode, things start going wrong on a job and the leader, Nathan Ford, changes the plan. One of the crew asks if they’re going to Plan B. He replies, “Technically, that would be Plan G.” Which prompts another question: “How many plans do we have? Is there, like, a Plan M?”
I’ve written before about the importance of having a back up plan. But clearly, you can get carried away with planning and take that practice to extremes.
Some people use planning to avoid acting, either because planning is easier than doing things or because they’re afraid their plans will fail. Other people will plan excessively in an effort to feel more in control of a situation. But that’s just another form of fear-driven behavior. You can’t control life; we live in a chaotic world where there are dozens, if not hundreds, of factors that play into every decision made. There will always be influences you didn’t account for or developments you didn’t expect. And if there’s so much uncertainty surrounding your plans that you need a Plan M, you might want to reconsider whether you should be pursuing that avenue at all.
Facing uncertainty makes us uncomfortable. But you won’t succeed at anything by being comfortable, any more than you can succeed by making endless plans. Comfort holds us back; the desire to stay in our comfort zone keeps us from sticking our necks out and trying something that might end up being wonderful. It’s only by risking a little discomfort that we make any progress and achieve real gains.
Instead of giving in to fear and planning endlessly, accept that your plans might not succeed and ask yourself an important question: what’s the absolute worst thing that could happen if your plan fails? If you can’t live with those consequences, then you need to re-evaluate your goal — not keep strategizing until you hit Plan M.
Uncertainty is where things happen. It is where the opportunities — for success, for happiness, for really living — are waiting.
Oliver Burkeman
1975 –
Copyright © 2015 John Chancellor and Cheryl Chancellor