Planning is one of the foundations of reaching your goals. If you do not have a direction on where you want to be, however way you run or walk or swim, it wouldn’t take you there. But, if you have a clear end-goal in mind, it’s easy to reverse engineer the process and think of a strong strategy to get there.
Plans are like large-scale to-do lists. It should account what you believe you should be doing and accomplishing in a specific period of time. However, we have to know that an extremely rigid plan could hurt us as well.
There’s a fine line between pushing yourself to exceed your limits by giving your plans a stronger approach. If you say you’re going to hustle for the weekend and sell 100 t-shirts during the ball game, then that’s a good goal. You then think of ways and strategies to reach your 100 t-shirt sale. Do you get a booth in front of the court? Do you advertise your sale on Facebook and Instagram so your friends would know you’re selling tees this weekend? Or will you be providing discounts for those who will purchase more than 3?
Planning takes time and mindful thinking. However, we always have to remember that unexpected external factors could occur. Yes, you’re a very dedicated lad. You are determined to make the 100 sales. With your skills and selling strategies, you can actually make it work. Then, life throws a curb ball. If that happens, what do you do? Do you stick to the original plan or improvise?
Fluidity Should Be a Part of Planning
Most people who only have Plan A fail to take into account the external factors in our lives. Sometimes, it would be caused by a person and other times it would be because of a phenomenon. If we’re going to look at the example above, if you’re planning to sell the t-shirts on a public booth and it rained, the original plan of attracting customers may not be as realistic now that everyone is dripping wet.
With this, your ability to adapt and improvise would be a better skill to have than just being good at making plans and presentations. You should know what to do with what you have at any point in time and still act on it based on your instinct.
Yes, you can create strategic Plans B & C, but there is still no telling what will happen out there.
Summary
Fluidity should always be incorporated in any planning. It’s the same thing as having an emergency fund for any reason. You set aside that $100 per month to prepare for unexpected events. At the end of the day, this could be your Plan Z for when your original plan/s don't work out.
Lastly, you just have to be ready for whatever happens and expect with no absolute certainty. You have to be able to anticipate changes and adapt quickly when the time arrives.