Why Having No Plan Can Be The Best Thing To Happen To You!

Notice I say ‘can be the best thing.’ Not ‘may be’ or ‘will be.’ There is no assurance here. Just an attempt to lead you to an aha-moment, which hopefully allows you to make it a reality.

Like I inadvertently did for myself!

Let’s start at where it all began. More so where I started to face a peculiar dilemma that most people around me didn’t seem to be facing at all!

High school.

Was it my lack of proactiveness, utter ignorance, or just plain old indifference, I’m not sure. But I just didn’t have a life map! No five-year plan. No clue about where I would go past my school days. Nothing. And I was okay with it. At least for some time.

Of course, no one around me was as accepting. Everyone would be shocked, give me disapproving looks, or look plain old worried if I admitted to not having any plan. So I made up stuff.

Computer engineer was what I went with for the most part. And no, I had no clue what that meant either!

But then, as expected, I started feeling insecure and uncomfortable. It led me to the place where people usually end up when they want their most private questions answered - Google!

Here's a list of key searches, as I remember them:

• what should I do next

• the best career for me

• how to know what I want to do

• what to do with my life

• what's my purpose

How I even expected Google to answer such existential questions, I don't know. But the real revelation came from someone closer. My godfather!

Chalk it out to fate, but without thinking much of it, my uncle said something to me on a random day. One line that changed my perspective forever!

“People with no plans actually have it better!”

And 7 years later, I’m here to tell you why I agree (for the most part)!

No Plan = No Limits

Yes. Plans give you vision, a roadmap, and most of all a purpose. But when you define something as strictly as a plan does, you also create boundaries.

While people around me had chalked out their next steps and I felt more jealous of them for having done so, I also saw another side of the picture.

When those plans failed, they also felt like they had failed.

If they didn’t get into their top college preference, they got easily dejected. Some even felt like they couldn’t as quickly or as successfully achieve their end goals.

I on the other hand was ruling out what I didn’t want to do, but also leaving a lot of options open. So if one thing didn’t work out, I was okay with it. It was easier to see myself and my future without any limitations. I didn’t realise it then, but I was building up my tenacity for failure right then and there. Maybe also redefining what failure looks like!

The World Is Your Oyster

I admit, with a concrete plan, you are bound to establish larger goals, and possibly find faster ways to reach there. But one thing most people don’t realise is a plan often takes away flexibility from the big-picture.

Think of it like this. You are a painter who has pictured exactly what they want the canvas to look like when they are done painting. Yes, some colours might be less vivid, you may have to play around a bit to reach there, and maybe even refurbish old tools. But with enough preparation and will, you can get at least 85% there.

But what about the art that could have come alive if you had taken the abstract route? That’s a lot what living life without a big-picture in mind felt like to me. It gave me the opportunity to change my steps midway. If I didn’t like the colour I had first chosen, I decided to pick a new colour and experiment away. The brush didn’t have to be my only tool. I could paint with my hands for all I cared.

Because when you don’t have a concrete end goal in mind, you are more flexible with your plans. You feel comfortable changing direction mid-way. There’s not much to lose, right?

You Define What Success Means To You!

It’s pretty straightforward. When you don’t have your life mapped out one particular way in your head, you are freer to define success. It doesn’t necessarily have to mean getting into that one college, or getting that one prestigious job, or even becoming an influencer with 1 million followers. Success can mean all of those things and more. Sometimes you chance upon surprising definitions, other times you may even create completely new definitions unique to you!

So even if you don’t have a roadmap, it doesn’t mean your path won’t lead you anywhere. We all will eventually reach the end of the road. And we get to decide what that journey looks like for ourselves!

But wait! All this sounds too rosy. Yes, 7 years later, having no concrete plan, I have carved a pretty interesting journey for myself. But it wasn’t without learnings. So, before I leave you, I thought the least I could do as a fellow person with ‘no plan’ was to let you in on some of these secrets. So here goes!

1. Rule out what you don’t want to do: I have done this every step of the way! Just because I’m not too sure of that ‘one thing’ I want to achieve doesn’t mean I don’t have clarity about what I don’t want to do. If you don’t have that clarity, introspect. Think what saps out all your energy. What makes you feel like ‘not yourself’. It will lead you to those answers.

2. Be flexible: This dilemma offers you unique flexibility in charting out your journey. So you better make full use of it. I did a BBA and an MBA only to dive head-first into the world of freelancing. And you being here means in all probability you are aware of the podcast run by me and my twin! I don’t know what I’ll be doing 5 years from now. But it’s all going to be okay as long as I stay flexible with the times and also with myself!

3. Know yourself!: This seems like any typical advice, but it might just be the best I give out...ever! It means knowing what your strengths are, where your interest lies, and what really drives you forward. Because not having that list of steps in mind can feel a lot like looking out into the darkness. So you need the fire in your soul (I know it sounds cheesy, but go with it) to light the way ahead.

And most importantly, remember that everyone’s journey looks different. And also, what you see is never the full picture of someone else’s life. So, the best thing would be to try day-in and day-out to focus on yourself, without comparing your life to others. Easier said than done, but that’s the only way you can gain nirvana. And that’s no joke my dears.

So ya, it’s okay if you don’t have a plan. For all you know, the 7 years older version of you might just thank you for it!