40+FAB Blog

What happened to the plan?

If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

It has been proven time and again that those with a plan achieve much more than those without a plan.
The research says that those with a written plan are even more likely to produce results that far outweigh others without a written plan.

Planning is about looking ahead and looking at options for a course of action to achieve an outcome. Because life is so dynamic, things could change and our plans could become irrelevant, so every good planner knows not to get stuck on a plan, but to be stuck on the outcome of the plan.

I had a flight to New York recently so I planned to be at the airport at least 3 hours before the flight as I was unable to check in online due to an error in my booking. On the day of the trip, there was unusual traffic that caused significant delays to my journey. This meant I would get to the airport after check-in closed (90 minutes before the flight). After much panic, I got myself together and with 20 minutes left before check-in closed, I called the airline and explained my predicament. They were able to resolve the issue with my booking and I checked in online while in my taxi. I got to the airport just in enough time to go through security and catch my flight.  
 
My outcome was to catch a flight and not necessarily to get to the airport on time. The plan to get to the airport on time failed, but my outcome was achieved.

If your plan doesn’t point you to an outcome, then something is wrong with it. The plan is only as workable as the outcome it seeks.

So, what happened to your plan? No need to analyse it too much if you haven’t lost sight of your outcome.