Is Plan B Your Secret Escape?

Ever wondered what would happen if there was no “Plan B” to fall back on?

How would that would impact your current and existing plans, actions, goals or aspirations?

The reason I am exploring this topic is because I see far too often how the notorious “Plan B” is put into place (too prematurely or unnecessarily so) and eventually used as the exit or escape strategy to railroad the existing goal or plan. Almost a self-induced sabotage plan that gets you “off the hook” or so you believe anyway.

What would happen if you didn’t have any plan to fall back onto or to save you from a current scenario? Any scenario.

Would that mean that you would or could fail totally and end up destitute as a result or that you would be prepared to or would have to further make an extra effort to have your current plan or goal succeed without an option to fail?

An example of this:
What if climate change was declared an international emergency tomorrow and without governments and their citizens adhering to certain principles, recycling and cutting carbon emissions immediately, we would only have six months to one year before it all came crashing down, only for us to perish in the process? Would we still stall and wait for things to really slide away from us before we considered using our so-called Plan B to action the required changes?

Another example:
You are a smoker, have diabetes and you are overweight. Your initial plan is to make some attempt at a diet and if that fails, Plan B is to stop smoking or to seek some help. So you see a medical professional who delivers the verdict: either stop smoking and embark on a healthy lifestyle with immediate effect or die within three months! Would you still stall or keep your Plan B in the peripheral whilst you are waiting for someone or some miracle to save you? Or are you still hoping for the best and believe that ‘it will all work out in the end’?! I bet you would implement an immediate change and stop smoking on the spot.

And yet another example:
You have a training programme to get yourself into shape or fitter for an upcoming event. The programme says you must strength train on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday and embark on your cardio programme on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Let’s say you had a heavy weekend from both a training and a social perspective and suddenly Monday is upon you.. This is where you start scheming and juggling balls to ‘better suit’ yourself. Now you bargain with yourself to give it a rest on Monday because perhaps you can double train on Tuesday (cardio and strength) whilst you juggle Thursday and Friday to suit you so that you don’t feel so tired again. The result: your week flies by without you putting in the necessary distance or time which you cannot catch up with.

Ask yourself: Did having a Plan B in this instance serve your goal/s and achieve the outcome you wanted?

My point is, that if something is important enough to you, whether it be weight loss, getting fitter, seeking psychological help, leaving a destructive relationship, giving up some abusive behaviour or changing jobs, your approach has to be one of not hoping to fall back onto or make use of Plan B at all or even having a plan Plan B that you hope will save you when Plan A goes horribly wrong or fails yet again! By having a Plan B from the outset, you are setting yourself up for possible deviation from your set course that will lead to failure, self-sabotage or an escape leading to non-achievement and regret.

The time to act upon anything is NOW, still today and not tomorrow, next week, month or year and your action does not depend or or include having any open back doors as part of that action plan. Imagine the irreversible damage, the wasted time and the regret you will suffer from when you have to haul Plan B out to save you from the failure of Plan A. Consider that you are not nearly as committed to Plan B as you were to Plan A so what are the true chances of succeeding at it?

Plan B or a backup plan should be for extreme emergencies only. And I mean EXTREME situations only. If you enter into a situation with an open back door, I’ll bet money on it that you will use that door as your escape. It’s human nature to look for the easiest way out of any situation or to search for an excuse to blame your failures on. All of this provides you with a false safety net and breeds more of the same.

Embarking upon any plan or goal without any other option to bail or cop-out, deviate from or escape the discomfort you find yourself in, will require you to work harder, test your true commitment, stick to the original plan (there was a very good reason you came up with it in the first place) and award you with real results. Yes, it may not be comfortable or pleasurable all the time but if you are truly present to the changes and shifts that you will undergo in the process, you will notice and experience what real change is and how it can positively impact your life. I am talking about the type of change that can only occur when you are seriously committed to succeed at something.

What would happen if you stuck to your current goal/plan without deviating off course? Think about what you committed to in the first instance? What got you excited initially? Your plan A or a plan B?

When you commit to a plan or a goal, you are required to act as if you don’t have any other choices. The reason for this is that you need to come from a position of having thought through the plan, strategised adequately, performed the necessary due diligence and planned ahead sufficiently to devise THE winning recipe BEFORE we get to the starting line. Then you follow through by being present to what or may not arise and adjust accordingly without trying to escape from an open or semi-open back door.

So what would your life, plans, goals and relationships look like without any back doors or plan B’s up your sleeve? Could you possibly be exposed to greater levels of peak experiences, have true commitment and be on the receiving end of so much more than you currently experience or deserve?

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Tagged as: achievement, aspirations, back door, commitment, escape strategy, goals, plan a, plan b, success