• Posted on Jan 9, 2024

Unpopular Opinion Alert….

Let me share a secret that separates the good from the truly great: It’s the courage to commit fully to Plan A, without the safety net of a Plan B.

Common sense often convinces us to keep a fallback, to play it safe. But what if I told you that the most extraordinary leaders and #soloprenuers I’ve advised didn’t just tiptoe towards their goals? They leapt with both feet, eyes fixed on the prize, hearts fueled by passion.

Holding onto Plan B can be like carrying an anchor — it may keep you from drifting, but it also prevents you from sailing freely towards your dreams. It’s not just about effort; it’s about focus, dedication, and the unwavering belief in your mission.

There’s power in being broke and without options. I attended a Madonna concert last month where she spoke about arriving in new York City with $35 dollars in her pocket.  She had no choice but to put 100% into being successful. She said, “I came here with $35 in my pocket. It was the bravest thing I’d ever done.”

I’ve heard similar stories from immigrants who came to the United States with “nothing but the clothes on our backs”.

Harriet Tubman was known to threaten to kill anyone on the underground railroad journey with her if they wanted to turn back. She knew people who returned could be tortured into giving away safe spaces that could put everyone else at risk. For her, there was no other option than to keep on the path to freedom, no matter what.

A mother of six decided that under no circumstance would any of her children die the day their home caught on fire. Emma Schols received burn injuries on 93% of her body, when she saved every one of her children from their burning home.

Putting any energy into a Plan B keeps us from leveraging the power of ‘lack of’ to inspire our deepest inner resilience and power. There’s creativity and drive that’s unleashed when failure simply is not an option.

Daymond John once said, “If you don’t educate yourself, you’ll never get out of the starting block because you’ll spend all your money-making foolish decisions.” Education is your Plan A. Equip yourself with knowledge and let that be your compass. Invest in yourself to learn what you need to achieve your goals. This could mean investing in a consultant, books, programs, and more.

I challenge you to embrace the risk that comes with going all-in.

Let’s not be those who wonder ‘what if.’ Instead, be the trailblazers who know the thrill (and yes, fear) of chasing a vision with everything they’ve got.

People who reached their big goals were afraid, but they pushed through it. They wondered about what would happen if they failed, but they didn’t; dwell on it. They kept these thoughts only for a moment before putting 100% into doing the nearly impossible. They deliberately shifted ALL their thoughtful energy into succeeding.

Some of you won’t like what I’m saying. I understand that this perspective is unpopular. I own it 100%. Some of you have all types of reasons, excuses, and logical arguments on why having a Plan B makes common sense. How a Plan B is the intelligent, less risky action to take.

However, when individual career consulting or organizational clients come to me with big audacious goals, they have already experimented with half-hearted attempts at achievement that didn’t get the results they wanted. I have learned that to get different results, we must show up differently. We must be willing to do things we wouldn’t normally do.

Having a Plan B might be sufficient for small and medium goals. But if you have a big audacious goal, you will need to put 100% or more into going full steam ahead. Otherwise, by the time you achieve that big goal, you’ll likely have little time left in your life to enjoy it or be able to start on another big goal.

Are you ready to commit to #CommitToYourGoals with #NoPlanB and #FullThrottleSuccess?

What’s your perspective and how do YOU tackle big audacious goals versus smaller ones?

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💜 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗘𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗖. 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲

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