Is Your "Contingency Plan" Getting in the Way of Your Success?

Having spent more years than I care to think about in — and around — the self-development industry, it has become quite evident to me that the predominant wisdom is that "You succeed at what you give your attention to."

Of course, that makes perfect sense.

What's also often true is that we humans are extremely adept at "getting in our own way."

The Best Laid Plans...

I grew up in a family that treated "being well-prepared" as being next to Godliness. 

Of course, a large part of preparedness was wrapped up in "contingency planning." Whether it was applying for college or starting a business, the inevitable question would be "... and what are you planning to do if that doesn't work out?" Often there would even be a third level "... and what will you do if THAT doesn't work out, as well?" question.

As such, very little was ever done without a "plan B" and a "plan C" fully in place.

Whereas that might sound a bit cumbersome, to my extended family's credit, they were often the ones who could step in and put the pieces back together whenever someone "fell" as a result of "Oh, I didn't think of that...," be it in business, or in life.

Giving the Habit a Face

Some years back, Mrs. Denmarkguy and I were sitting on the back patio with our coffee, talking about "having a plan B" and we gradually realized that we — and quite a few people we've known — have enjoyed relatively little success with our deepest dreams and ambitions because so much of our energies have been given to mapping the "what if" scenarios of life.

After a little bit of analysis, we realized that contingency planning is a great thing... but it can also become an eternal "distraction" that keeps you from ever reaching your goals.

In some ways, this behavior pattern is personified best by the stereotypical "I have to clean and organize my desk so I can do my work" caricature.

And it's surprising how often we do it, and the subtle ways in which we do it... which allows us to stay in a state of total deniability.

"Wait a minute... isn't that just procrastination?"

Well, not exactly. 

90% of procrastination is about creating distractions to avoid something unpleasant, like paying bills or doing taxes. It's not to avoid getting started on painting, writing or something we really love doing.

So Why do we DO That?

In most cases, we come right back to "preparedness" and "worthiness." And, of course, fear. 

The human psyche can be a strange place.

The mere fact that we are even busy making a "plan B" is a loud signal to our subconscious that we don't actually believe Plan A will work, or — sometimes — that we are worthy of having the benefits of succeeding with Plan A.

So we put all this time and effort into our backup plans to "make sure the backup is damn well going to work" as a result of which Plan A may remain an active dream in our minds, but otherwise is somewhat neglected.

And guess what?

Plan B "damn well does work!" Because that's where most of your focus went! Plan A? Not so much.

Of course, when that happens, it's easy to backslide into "nothing ever works out for me" thinking. Whereas that may be a partially fair statement, the truth is that Plan A never stood a chance. 

Charting a Course Forward

Now, I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't have a backup plan ready for life's major decisions. But we do have to be mindful of where we're putting our energies.

When we put too much energy into creating "a soft landing spot" where we can land if one of our dreams goes wrong, odds are we'll NEED that landing spot.

People who enjoy persistent successes tend to keep their eye on the main prize, all the time. When — and IF — they have a fallback plan, it is little more than an envelope tucked away in a drawer. They don't think about it.

So how do you know if you're an excessive backup planner? 

Just observe how you think. If you have a dream — let's say, start a particular home business — ask yourself how many unrelated things you feel "should get done" before you can give serious attention to the dream. If you spend more time thinking about peripheral stuff than the actual business, you may be heading down a wrong path. Same is true if you're eternally "gathering more information," rather getting started on your dream. 

Keep in mind that this is not something everybody struggles with! In fact, it most likely only applies to about 30-40% of the population. 

But that's still enough potentially lost dreams to warrant being discussed!

How About YOU? Are you a contingency planner? Do you find that you can rarely make a major life decision without first creating a solid fallback plan? Is your "Plan B" important to you? Have you found it difficult to reach what you feel are your "most important" goals? What do you feel stands in your way? Have you ever felt like you get in your OWN way? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

created by @zord189

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180519 15:23 PDT