Fuck the plan. The plan never really works, anyway.
You need to take the plan and throw it out the fucking window. Or at least file it away with your other Mickey Mouse memorabilia.
Of course, before you do that, you gotta have a plan to begin with. Which is to say, you shouldn’t run into anything half-cocked, and expect to succeed. You might succeed. You might fluke it and pull it off. But generally, going into anything worth doing without a fucking plan is a plea to get sideswiped upside the head in some way or another.
The thing about making plans is that they force you to think about what the fuck you’re about to do. They force you to think about implications and outcomes, and your own goals. They help prepare you for the arena that you’re about to step into.
Of course, things never go as planned; but plans are still useful because when things do deviate or go to shit, they help you keep tabs on all the moving parts and stay focused on what matters — on what you’re trying to accomplish.
Businesses do it all the time. They write business plans with SWOT analyses, and that outline target demographics, operating budgets, and go-to-market strategies. And then when shit gets real, the successful ones adapt to unanticipated market conditions and find a way to make it work.
Start-ups do it all the time, too. They launch (in beta), see how people actually use their product or technology, and then “pivot” so that they can actually validate their business model, or turn a profit, or get acquired (by Google or Facebook), or attract enough VC that they can keep pivoting without being turned out on the street like a bunch of altruistic, starry-eyed sycophants.
So fuck the plan. Bend it over and shove it right out the door head first. But never forget it. Never forget the time you spent together and what you learned from it.
