Experience shows us that our best laid plans can fail. But fear of failure is not a reason to keep us from achieving our dreams. To reduce the fear of failure of Plan A, one needs to develop a Plan B.
What’s plan B?
Plan B, as we know already, is what you will follow if Plan A doesn’t occur. Plan B can also be a corrective action against Plan A.
The trick is to have Plan B worked out at the same time you are working on Plan A. That way, you will be more courageous when facing initial hiccups. It also inspires you to take calculated risks. Moreover, when things in Plan A fail, you don’t need to be despondent. You have something to fall back on.
One of my clients asked me, ‘What if plan A and Plan B fail?’
Is this possible? Most certainly. 60% of start-ups go kaput in year 1. There is enough proof to show that most entrepreneurs were successful only with their 3rd or 4th ventures.
So I asked her what she would do if the worst happened.
What’s Plan Z?
She looked up, took a deep breath and repeated, ‘What will I do if the worst happened and the shit hit the ceiling?’ She thought for a while, finally smiled and said, ‘Plan Z. I will go on a world tour’.
Now, that’s interesting. She quickly wrote out a list of countries she wishes to visit and for how many years she has been putting off such a plan. She said no matter what happened, she was going to ensure she had enough money saved to go on a world tour if all else failed.
She was very excited about Plan Z. And just like that, she looked like someone who had finally let go of her fears and was willing to work from a place of love, not fear.
Having Plan B ensures you are not hung up on Plan A much longer than needed. Having Plan Z ensures you don’t get upset with failure. You are prepared to deal with it and are willing to move on.
But more importantly, having an open, positive mind can pre-empt failure. Being prepared takes away a lot of unnecessary worry. Remember, the fact is 95% of our fears never come true.
About the Author:
Sandhya Reddy is a leadership & transformation coach based in Bangalore, India. She is the Founder and Principal Coach at Chapter Two Coaching, a coaching consultancy that enables everyone from CEOs to work-from-home parents to achieve their goals by replacing self-imposed limitations with enabling stories.
Many of us in our thirties experience a disquieting realization: what brought us to middle-management may not take us to senior-management. This is true. To chart a new career path, one needs to think and do things differently. This is where Sandhya can help. She is a coach. Life coaching, executive coaching, business coaching, personality development, leadership coaching… they are all part of her forte. Her Executive coaching programs helps tomorrow’s leaders set new goals, make new plans to achieve those goals, get that elusive promotion through a blend of knowledge, action and image-building, enhance influence among the leadership team, be more productive, get more out of one’s team, and be known in the company as an indispensable performer and future leader.