Don’t Plan. Just Do

Stop Planning. Start doing.

The other day, a friend met with a consultant who advised her to “think bigger” if she actually wanted to make a mark in the world. We got to talking about how anything short of world domination gets a “meh” response these days. Every idea needs to be the next big thing, every business needs a million dollar vision (well, billion, actually, but I’m not even going to go there), and everything that needs to be done requires a rock solid plan – at least if you want to appear smart about it.

I once read a post that said “A plan is simply a guess you wrote down”, and I can’t quite express how light that made me feel. Not that I’m dissing planning as concept, but when planning becomes little else than an excuse to not do, it becomes a problem.

The planning stage can be a beautiful phase of exciting possibilities, or a scary one full of nerve-wracking contingencies for those of us on the anxious end of the spectrum. Either case makes it easy to stay in a state of inaction. 

We can’t really plan for everything, and things can always go to shit, and that shouldn’t stop anyone. Borrowing Mike Tyson’s words, “Everyone has plan until they get punched in the face”, and even then, you can’t give up. If success is your intention.

The simpler alternative therefore – start doing, and make those plans on the go.