I love a good story about extraordinary people, successful businesses, or impactful innovations. However, they don’t always give a fair reflection of our reality.
Many stories are told in a way that success was achieved by perfectly executing an unmatched vision. However, those stories are mostly created after the fact with a good dose of hindsight bias. The central themes often only found and constructed after all events have unfolded. Written in a linear and logical order that makes them more accessible to readers.
But this doesn’t really resemble life, does it?
Life can be chaotic, random, constantly changing. When we make our decisions, we don’t yet know where they will actually take us. Let alone how life will unfold.
So when at some point you feel stuck, either torn between different decisions, or not knowing where to go at all…
Don’t worry. You’re not the odd one out. Stories often are.
Yes, in order to achieve success it’s important to have a plan and execute on it. However, adapting from your plan to seize an opportunity that unexpectedly presents itself can be equally important. And sometimes it’s just pure serendipity.
So, plan, execute, adapt and embrace the chaos. And when at some point you feel lost and don’t know where to go, remember:
It’s not you. It’s life.
