Plan B – May Be My Stumbling Block

I have always prided myself on having a plan B. Whether I would be driving from place A to place Z or starting a business, I always had a plan B. All my life I considered this characteristic to be a positive one and a good success strategy. Having a Plan B sounds like a sensible, intelligent and logical thing to do or at least I thought so.

After reading Kent Thune’s blog: Entrepreneurs: use your delusion sell Illusion, I realised that there is a very dark side to having a plan B. Why do I say this? Well, success at anything requires total commitment, focus and some luck. The funny thing about luck is that you usually get it when you have total commitment and focus but that’s another matter altogether. Plan B’s if done correctly also require commitment and focus, not as much as plan A, but some. If we only have a finite amount of commitment and focus to give, that means we have to share it between plan A and plan B. In so doing we are in fact diluting plan A. It is hard enough to succeed at anything and in order to give ourselves the best chance possible we need to be completely committed and focused on Plan A.

I have also realised that a Plan B provides me with comfort, less stress and renders me emotionally subdued. But to make a plan succeed, you need to be completely invested in it, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually, there should be no leftovers. To only have a Plan A requires that you put your all into whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. To be completely committed is a very difficult thing to do but also your best chance at success…