Having a backup plan isn’t doubting yourself. It’s a seatbelt, and people with seatbelts drive faster.
REFLECTION
WHAT THIS MEANS
People avoid contingency planning because it feels like betting against themselves, as though preparation could summon the failure. The opposite tends to be true. Knowing what you would do if this does not work removes the catastrophic edge from the attempt, and without that edge you can take bigger swings.
Write one page describing what happens if the main plan fails: where you would live, what you would do for money, who you would ask. Then put it away. The point is not to consult it but to have removed the question from the back of your mind.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
Where would a backup plan let you move faster?
MORE IN MEANING & PERSPECTIVE
- Feeds refresh and forget. A book on a shelf, a mural on a wall, a song on a record stays. Make something that stays.
- Some of the most loved things in the world are ugly and useful. Function earns more loyalty than looks.
- A project too big to finish is a project too big to start. Shrink it until you can see the end.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.