Whether you’re planning out your career goals, looking at different vacation ideas, or evaluating what schools you want your kids to attend, you’ve always got a Plan A.
But as many of us know the feeling, Plan A doesn’t always work out.
Actually to tell you the truth, whatever your Plan A is right now, will probably not work. It’s just the way it is.
So, do you want to save yourself a lot of time and trouble particularly when it comes to making an income?
Create Plan B when you create Plan A
I will almost guarantee that Plan B is more valuable to you than Plan A. I’ll go so far as to say go ahead and sketch out a Plan C too. It will come in handy, trust me.
My son, for example, loved baseball. The whole family did and our lives revolved around it. He did heroic things in Little League, was a star pitcher for a high school state champion, and pitched at the college level. All along the way, teammates, coaches, opposing players, parents, you name it, would say “see you in the majors.”
Professional baseball was Plan A.
Two arm surgeries and an elbow ligament injury slowed him way down but didn’t stop him. Last March he signed a professional contract to play for a team in Poland. His dream, Plan A, was alive.
His departure date was set but he never got to go. The world was in lockdown. The dream is over.
It’s a shock and hard to get over.
Our most carefully laid out plans simply don’t pan out much of the time.
Your heart will say please, just hold on …but your brain will try to step in and tell you to leave it go.
Allow your brain to save the day on this one. It’s never a good feeling to hang on when you know it’s over..
I’ll bet you’ve heard all this before, but, as the poet Paul Simon wrote “one hears what they want to hear and disregards the rest.”
Here’s what is important to know right now… It is brave to recognize things as they are, to change course, and take on the unknown to better ourselves and our families.
In my son’s case, he’ll make a fine Officer in the US Coast Guard or a fearless Firefighter. Standing alone in the middle of a diamond, with the world seemingly on your shoulders, prepared him for Plan B and C.
It may not be enough anymore
If you have a Plan B right now to shore up your income, you’ve got to be feeling pretty good. If you don’t, I’ll bet you wished you had put some time into exploring one.
Even in times when life made more sense, it was always the best idea to assume that your Plan A won’t work and to always have Plan B available to ensure that you won’t get yourself into trouble.
Relying solely on Plan A as we have our mind set on something, like becoming a doctor, and sticking to the plan never considering a downside, can backfire..
What if you don’t get into medical school, get that job you were sure was in the bag, or your kids missed out on the school of choice? Life can become tricky very quickly.
As in, what do I do now?
Most of us are so sure that Plan A will carry through that we become preoccupied with it, not even bothering to look into other options.
No Plan B
Having Plan B in our back pocket was something we thought of as nothing we need right now. It’s a luxury, a kind of protection, like insurance, just in case something random happens.
No one wants to think about buying insurance, right? We’re optimists, nothing random is going to happen, so why bet against ourselves.
OK… So, you might have been stubbornly positive about promotions and pay raises with your company and that was enough. You never felt the need to consider alternatives.
Who could blame you for clinging to your comfort zone?
After all, nothing could really come out of the blue to disrupt your world. Right?
Wrong.
If you’ve been passed over for positions or even rejected a couple of times, you wake up to realize you’ve wasted precious time in your life solely chasing a dream when you could have been working on something else.
Today, however, it is well past the ordinary promotions and pay raise factor.
Your company could very well downsize, or what if your spouse or partner loses their livelihood. What is there to fall back on?
These are not normal times. It’s getting close to being more about hanging on to keep a salary and benefits.
In these times it is anything but foolish to assume that Plan A may not work. From this point forward you must always have a Plan B.
It’s Common sense
From what we’ve experienced recently, diversifying to have additional income besides your 9-5 should become a priority.
There are also reasons besides money to do this.
Finding greater personal freedom and independence is reason enough in my book. You may want to build a legacy for your kids to inherit.
A part-time side business could fit that bill.
Whatever your reason, these shaky, unpredictable times alone should be enough to wake you up to the need for a backup Plan B
.
All else being said, the more options you have in life, the happier and less stuck you will feel.
It is no good to feel trapped in a situation. If you have a plan B you can confidently turn to or even Plan C, you won’t feel trapped. On the contrary, you will feel liberated and safe.
As with anything in life whether it’s your job, career, your wardrobe, schools, even your home…it’s good to have options.
It works
I’m not clairvoyant or a visionary. But I did start side a business back in 1998 which has done very well over the years. It helped support a family, paid for college tuitions, and a whole lot more.
It’s come in very handy right now, still delivering income in rocky, uncertain times.
If you’re interested
I help women to pursue starting a business like mine by offering my Princess Party Business Kit. I demonstrate and teach you everything I know about running a successful Princess Party business so you can do it yourself to build a reliable second income stream.
You may have just found Plan B. CLICK HERE
