We had plans. Good plans.

That internship was going to lead to that job, that job to that promotion, that promotion to a big move and a dream job and a butler named Max who would iron our clothes and cook us something organic every night.

But then college went. A Great Recession came. And all our expectations and plans and butlers named Max went up in smoke faster than a flaming rum cake.

What happened to the secret-success-sauce we were sure we had the patent on, and how do we get it back?

Original Photo by Darwin Bell — Creative Commons

3 Reasons Our Plans are Failing

1. Crappy First Draftdom

I think most of us went into our 20’s expecting a box office smash, when instead our twenty-something story is not even going to make it to the theaters. At least not yet.

Our 20’s are about writing a crappy first draft. Getting words down on paper that we’ll edit later.

To write anything worth reading you have to write quite a bit that’s not. Our plans are failing because that’s part of crappy first draftdom. Three re-writes later, we’ll lean back and say, “Wow, that’s actually not too bad.”

You can’t have a story without the struggle. Will you have the courage to write a crappy first draft?

2. Lost Explorers

Christopher Columbus thought he was in Asia, when he was discovering a whole new continent. Some of histories biggest discoveries came from failed plans.

Sometimes you have to allow yourself to get lost if you’re going to explore.

3. Failure is the Best Clarifier

Nothing exposes terrible plans like failure.  When your plans fail is when you find out why you’re in the game in the first place. Were your plans built on hopes of praise, prestige, money, and more money? Or something more substantial?

Is it worth it for you to pursue your plans when all the voices of praise have grown mute?

I don’t think you will ever get close to truly finding and working in your passion until you fail at it first. Failure is the great clarifier.

Problem with our Plans?

Maybe our plans aren’t the problem. Our timeline is.

We thought the red carpet was going to be rolled out on Day Three when God had that penciled in for Day 3,333.

Maybe our plans are going exactly as planned. It’s just going to take a tad longer to get there. And if we keep walking, stay patient, and hold on, our plans will be smothered in more amazing than we ever could’ve planned.

Please share your story below. Have there been any times in your life where you can see how your failed plans have turned out way better than planned?

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