At this very moment I have about $5000 in the bank, $63,000 in student loan debt, a car note, a couple of thousand dollars in unpaid invoices, some running room on my credit cards, an always-hungry 7-year-old, and I just dropped two grand on biz classes to help me kick things up to the next level.
If I can continue running headlong toward my dreams, without even thinking about what I will do if this whole thing doesn’t work out, you can too.
Because here’s the truth of the matter:
When it comes to your goals, having a backup plan means you’re going to fail.
Or as Will Smith once said, “Your Plan B interferes with Plan A” {click to tweet this out}
Think about it.
If you were dating someone you really cared about and could see yourself with for the long haul, how would you feel if you found out they had a backup boo (or worse, YOU were the backup boo) just in case things didn’t work out?
Would you think they were being responsible? Would you commend them for being sensible? Or would you want to karate chop them to the throat for even thinking you were only good enough to be an option? (*cue Drake*)
If you believe you’re better than being someone’s backup plan, don’t you think you’re better than cheating yourself out of possibly reaching your goals?
I mean I get it. We’ve been conditioned to be prudent. We’ve been told that we need to have our lives neatly mapped out complete with contingency plans in case things don’t go how we hoped.
It’s why theater majors are business minors. It’s why people go back to school when the economy tanks. And it’s why writers become English teachers even though they don’t want to be anywhere near a classroom (wait…that was me).
When it comes to realizing your dreams, there’s no country for people who have backup plans.
None.
If you want to know what separates the successful people from those who are constantly dreaming about making it but never do, it’s their mindset. Period.
Successful folks have a relentless drive to achieve their goals, no matter what may come their way or who may think they are living in a dreamland.
It is irresponsible? Perhaps.
Irrational? Most times.
Crazy? Pretty much.
But does it work? Ask Bill Gates.
In the book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill studied some of the world’s most successful men from Henry Ford to Andrew Carnegie and found that each of them had one thing in common—their ability to be fully committed to their dreams.
As a matter of fact, in order to be successful, Hill advises you “burn all the bridges” behind you.
He explains:
“Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a BURNING DESIRE TO WIN, essential to success.”
Or in other words, pare down all of your options, all of your plans, all of your energy into one thing: getting what you want.
After all, there is no Plan B for life. We’re here for however long we’re blessed with then we die.
No contingency, no in case sh-t happens plan for avoiding death, no do overs.
This is all we got.
So instead of wasting these precious years wishing you could realize your dreams, plan on getting them done. Burn every other sensible plan, fully commit to meeting your goals, and get ready to live an awesome life.
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Great post Britni! Needed this today, for real.
Britni Danielle, you are my idol!!!! I beleive in taking the dive and going for what I know. My friends have classified me as “crazy” but you know what??? I’m still good!!! Thank you for serving as an inspiration. Xoxoxoxo!!!
This. gave. me. LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!
Wow. This post put me right in my place! I need to let go of my “plan b” and do more focusing on my “plan A” which is my ultimate dream. Let me get to work….
Wait…
*clears his semantics voice*
Do you mean plan B in the sense…
“I have a burning desire to make this plan for my business work because I don’t want to entertain just running the rat-race for the rest of my life”
OR
“If this doesn’t work, I don’t want to do anything else and I will just go poor?”
I think it’s perfectly fine to have a plan B in the sense that life isn’t over if your plans fail.
Plan B for some people could be:
– Asking for help from family/friends
– Getting a job just to keep the “lights on”
…Until, you concoct another winning idea.
I’m a husband and a father, so I have this gut need to provide. Sure, I have ideas and plans. I’m also working on building that “burning desire” to see those ideas and plans to the end. But, in the back of my mind, my innate instinct to provide for my family will always keep me from running out of options “If this [blank] doesn’t work out”
Am I reading too much into this, or is my drive not strong enough?
Great question Terrance. When I say backup plan I mean a whole other alternate plan (or path or job or career) on the chance that your chosen plan does not pan out.
I don’t consider bridge jobs or side hustles or taking a and 2nd job or borrowing money to pay your bills while you continue to work on your dream to be a backup.
Having a “safe” job that you default to or never leave to pursue your goals because it is so safe? That’s a backup plan.
I appreciate you clarifying this. My thoughts were on the same line as Brotha Tech’s: What if you are not the only one you have to provide for? I think showing your kids it’s possible to pursue your dreams is great, but feeding them is better. To be honest, until you made this clarification, I thought the post was foolhardy. Debt, poverty, and public assistance are nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of (financial situations change in a heartbeat; you never know), but they are serious, and you need a plan for how to face them while you pursue your dream.
Just seeing this clarification now – this helps me to understand your point much better, cause I completely disagreed at first. Thanks!
LOL! I’m glad you feel me now Shareef 🙂
Someone had better have a plan B. What if you write the book and no one buys it or not enough people buy it.
In that case you learn from the previous experience & write another one. 🙂
Failure could break your back or set you up for success. It’s how you respond to it that matters.
If I wrote a book that no one buys, then I chalk it up to a lesson learned and create a new plan A. What I got from BritniDanielle’s piece is that if we operate in a manner in which we don’t fully commit to a plan A because our Plan B is always there to cushion our fall, then we never really push ourselves to our fullest potential.
P.S. After this post, it was an immediate subscription.
YES! This exactly!
I’m glad you found your way here & I’m happy to have you as a subscriber!
Bless.
This post was right on time for me. Just this week I was so focused on finding a “safe job” that I didn’t spend ANY time working toward my goals. I just need to push through until I make it. Thanks for the confidence booster Britni!
Some people have difficulty grasping this concept because they confuse commitment to a path with commitment to a goal; the two are vastly different. For example, if you establish a goal of “financial security through self employment” commitment to that goal means solely investing in things that will lead to financially viable self employment; not a 70-30 split between investments that will draw towards self employment and those that will market you to outside employers. The first investment gives your all to Plan A; the second limits the potential of Plan A because of Plan B divestiture. Pursuit of this goal may mean multiple start-up ventures, researching vastly different ideas, strategies, business models, etc. The variety isn’t a host of alternate plans, they’re simply a broader range of pathways to the ultimate goal of “financial security through self employment”. Commitment to a goal doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind and marching forward without preparation – it means investing all resources in a a goal and marching forward with proper preparation, support and expectation. Many find it hard to live this kind of commitment to goals because they focus on the assumed outputs of happiness and not the actual condition of happiness. Picture happiness first, then back into the deletions that would alter your state and the things that you would choose to invite/remain in your life – those “non-negotiables” hold the key to the goals that you should hurl all of your life towards.
I think this is the mentality of the “starving artist.” Most celebrities will admit to living in their cars, or waiting tables before they became stars. They were what we call “hungry,” and ultimately are the ones who end up achieving their dreams. They remained true to themselves and what they wanted to accomplish. For them, plan A failing is not an option, and so for them, things fall in place. Everyone cannot operate this way, but the ones that do, usually have a great success story because they made it.
I am admittedly cautious, but I commend those who have one goal, one plan, and they stick with it. These are risk takers and typically highly successful people.
Good point. But to be clear, I have ZERO desire to be any kind of starving artist lol. I got bills and a kid and I like to eat.
I do believer, however, that you need to do anything you can to make your dream come true. If that means taking a second job to make ends meet while you work toward your goals…take it. But don’t give up. Keep pushing.
Lol right! And neither do I. That’s why I stated that I commend people who CAN do this. I cannot. But, I do try to pursue my dreams while doing a less desirable job in the meantime. Starving is not an option!
BLESS YOU! lol. Seriously. And bless For Harriet for sending me here. I’m a college student, an aspiring writer, in the middle of doing what college students do: panicking about my major, wondering if I should switch to something more lucrative. But this post was JUST the reminder I needed. Definitely subscribing. : )