by Janet M.
Shlaes, Ph.D.
“We must be
willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to accept the life that is
waiting for us.” ~ Joseph Campbell
Planning, an essential life skill, often
turns out to be a seductive and comforting illusion. I’m not referring to
critical planning that serves to generate a career- and life-vision, viable outcome
goals, a strategic path and the requisite systems and support structures. In
many domains, planning is essential; it provides essential functions and
decreases the likelihood of failure and unnecessary chaos. The illusion I
refer to is the sense that generating a plan also provides a guaranteed
relatively stress free outcome. I propose that sometimes plans that fail to
work out as desired can lead to something even better.
Looking back
on many of my life and career plans, I am extremely grateful that they often
went off course in unexpected ways. The missed flight, botched interview, relationship
that fell apart, wrong turns (literally and figuratively) and chance encounters
provided experiences, adventures and outcomes well beyond my planning mindset
at the time. With the wisdom of hindsight, every “off track” experience ultimately
led to something far better suited for me than the original plan. Over time, I
learned that optimal planning results from a blend of vision, strategy,
commitment, flexibility, resilience and openness to embrace the potential gifts
in “off track” encounters.
Janet
For addition insights and observations, check out the
following posts:
Learn Something New Breakdown to Breakthrough
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