There is a popular, insane conception that the crux of success is a good idea. People think great art, inventions, and businesses are manifestations of a blueprint that existed in someone’s head. That all they need is a sound plan and then they can flow from execution to their goals in a pretty little line.
This is dead wrong.
Why we plan (and why we shouldn’t)
Plans provide a sense of control. We imagine an outcome. Plan the steps to get there. Then execute. We control our destiny.
It sounds wonderful. But truthfully, you don’t have a goddamn idea what the world will offer up. Whatever you think is coming your way – in five minutes or five years – you’re missing something. Our imaginations are so incredibly limited and the universe is so incredibly vast.
And yet all plans depend on your ability to accurately conjure the future. Which of course you can’t. There is no way to plan for the chance meeting at a party or the stroke of insight in the shower. Yet these un-plannable events regularly contribute to the success or failure of all our endeavours.
In short: Our plans are based on a version of the future THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER EXIST IN REAL LIFE. An alternate reality. No matter how good your plan is, if it was made ahead of time it is based on fiction. This is a recipe for disaster.
How to plan like a pro
We have to abandon the common notion of planning. We have to free ourselves up to operate spontaneously. We need to face the world as it ACTUALLY exists. To remain open to the opportunities thrown our way.
This is called improvising.
- It is how authors write books
- It is how improv comedians perform
- It is how I talk to women
- It is how companies are run
- It is how you should live
Now I am not saying that authors never have a story line laid out or that I never know what themes I want to talk about with a girl. Nor am I saying that predictions for the future should not inform our behavior.
We can still plan; we just have to know how to plan: so we need to stop planning minutiae and instead plan in broad strokes, develop resourcefulness, trust ourselves, and accept all outcomes.
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