Should you give up your Plan B?
Today I was scrolling through social media when I came upon a quote: “Want massive success? Give up your Plan B”
For a minute I felt stunned. Then I thought of all the people who did this. I hear this advice a lot about starting a business.
This is one of Julia Cameron’s sayings, “Leap and the net will appear.”
Most people have a safety net in place, even though they say they don’t.
I met someone who insisted she started a business with no backup. But she was a licensed real estate agent. She had successfully sold houses and she could do this again.
Another person leapt without a net but he was escaping a successful corporate career. Still another was willing to do anything — and I mean anything! He was willing to clean houses, paint houses and weed gardens in the smallish town where he lived.
They’re like swimmers who dive from the high board. They’ve got the skills to keep going.
They have a Plan B in their back pocket They don’t want to admit it, but they do.
Some people do better when their back is to the wall. Some don’t.
Some people get motivated when there’s no light at the end of the tunnel;. Some have a deer-in-the-headlights reaction; they feel paralyzed and stop doing things. Some people behave self-destructively when they face a leap with no place to land; they panic and look for the nearest place that feels safe, which may be highly illegal.
The bottom line is, whenever you hear a big pronouncement, it’s a good idea to add a “maybe.”
I once had a friend who told me, “Lawyers always say, ‘It depends..’ Ask them what time it is. They’ll say, ‘It depends.’”
He was exaggerating a little to make a point, but overall that’s good advice. Take everything you hear with a large grain of salt…and if it seems right, add a “Maybe.” Or, “Maybe for some people. Not for me.” It helps to know your own limits. Not everything applies to everyone.
