“People never plan to fail, but rarely do they plan not to.”

I heard this today in the context of church and faith, but I couldn’t help but think of how applicable it is into the rest of our lives. Especially when setting goals.

When I worked on a project in December, in the planning process, I was instructed to not only plan what I was going to do for the project but also plan for everything that could even remotely, possibly go wrong. Things that would prevent me from hitting my goals for the project at the end of the month.

This was a new exercise for me as I was so used to just picking something to do and going after it. That can work sometimes, but it leaves you wide open for unexpected struggles and often causes you to resort to excuses instead of progress.

“I didn’t plan to lose track of time, but it just happened. I didn’t plan to have technical problems, but they just happened. I didn’t mean to spend the whole day working on my car, but it just happened.”

These are all excuses that will probably be acceptable in school and for most people, but if you’re tired of having to use excuses, it’s time to level-up.

This isn’t an in-depth post about how to solve all of your procrastination problems, this is simply how you can make sure that when you say you’re going to do something, you take the steps necessary to get that thing done and in the time you said.

Here’s an analogy of what this might look like if you were a young prince in medieval times.

Okay, so picture this: You’re a young prince and your maiden is trapped on the other side of a dark, scary forest filled with all kinds of animals and dangerous obstacles. You are told that if you can make it through the forest in less than a month, you will find her and you will inherit your father’s kingdom. What do you do?

Step 1: Plan your progress

The more you can plan how you are going to do something, the better. If you have a huge daunting project, one of the most difficult things is to start. That’s why it’s incredibly important to make a plan for every day or every week what you want to accomplish. This will allow you to look at the scary forest you’re trying to escape from with a birds-eye view instead of being stuck in the middle with no sense of direction.

Step 2: Plan for your obstacles

If you just run into the forest trying to get to the other side and all of a sudden you run into a bear, you’re probably not going to make it out of that forest alive. However, if you take precautions on making sure you never meet the bear and make a plan of action for what you will do if you do meet it, you are much more likely to be able to complete your journey. Don’t only plan for what the reunion with the princess will look like, plan for what you will do when you have a 600-pound bear staring at you from 5 feet away.

Step 3: For goodness sake ask for some help

“But I don’t want my mother nagging me about reading my map incorrectly.” Guess what, if your mother is the best scouter in the land and she points out that you have your map upside down and there’s a bear 100 feet to your left, you can get over yourself. Who cares if it would look “nobler” to rescue the princess by yourself? If you die in the middle of the forest or get lost for weeks, no one will care if you “would have” been nobler. Succeeding with the help of others is always better than failing by yourself.

 

In recap: Plan the good, plan for the bad, and get someone who can keep you accountable.

If you play your cards right, you may never have to make an excuse again.