Plan For The Plan To Not Go As Planned

There are 2 rules: 1) have a plan, 2) it’s not going to go as planned.

This article has been pulled from the archives. This week life has gotten in the way and has given me little time to write. This article seemed apropos.

You have a plan. That’s great! And now you are ready to put that plan in motion: kick some ass, take some names. But (and this is a big but) be prepared for your plan not to go as planned. That is a guarantee.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just the way it works. When you lay out your plan, you are proactively setting up future processes against the chaos of the world. Chaos happens. We know this. To expect it to cower and hide simply because we have a plan is rather… silly. Chaos is relentless and uncaring. Lean into it.

Your plan is a straight line between where you are now and what you want to achieve, with a bunch of waypoints in-between. It has to be that way. It is impossible to anticipate what kind of havoc the chaos is going to create, but the chaos WILL create havoc. However perfectly devised, your plan doesn’t stand a chance.

But here’s the thing: Luck (preparedness meeting opportunity) can only happen in the chaos. You can’t plan for luck. The weird events and circumstances that pop up to thwart our perfectly devised plans are where all the fun stuff is. Lean into it.

I drew up this fun little graph to illustrate how your actual plan might unfold (this is only a representation. Individual results will vary).

• When you first start out, you are full of enthusiasm and gusto and your plan seems to be taking off like a rocket! Woohoo, look at you go.

• But then something comes along to take the wind out of your sails and you wonder if following your plan to conclusion is even worth it.

• And then something spectacular happens. It sets you back on your timeline a little bit, but that’s okay because you’re willing to concede a bit of deadline for fortuitous happenstance.

• And then you get kicked in the sensitive bits again, and you think the whole thing might crash and burn.

• But then something really great happens again and you’re reinvigorated.

• And then you land just shy of your desired goal. 

You will hit your waypoints. You will. But not in the way you intended. A bunch of great and really awful things will happen along the way - call it luck if you must. But none of those great and/or awful things would have happened if you didn’t set your plan in motion. “Luck” happens in the chaos on either side of your intended plan. Lean into it.

If you expect the unexpected, you will be way ahead of the game.

You will also miss your goal. Maybe not by much, but you won’t hit it dead on. This is also perfectly okay. Don’t beat yourself up about it. When you set your goal you set it up as the most perfectly perfect thing that has ever been perfect - but perfect doesn’t exist.

You’re probably thinking, “well, why did you want me to aim for the most perfectly perfect thing that has ever been perfect if perfection doesn’t even exist, you jerk!” Fair point. If you were to aim for something reasonable or otherwise easy to hit, you would probably hit it - and leave untold possibilities unrealized. By aiming for “perfection” you push yourself to achieve results that you wouldn’t have considered if you had aimed lower.

Getting anywhere close to perfect, is close to perfect.

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