Plan A or Bust: Why Having No Plan B is the Key to Success | No Nonsense November (20/26)

Why Plan B might be holding you back: the power of committing fully to Plan A and embracing failure as a stepping stone to success.

Mostly Media

23 Nov 2024 — 8 min read

When it comes down to chasing our goals and pursuits, the world loves having a safety net. “What’s you backup plan?” is a sentiment all to familiar to us. But here’s the thing: safety nets often double as limitations. Every ounce of energy spent preparing for Plan B is energy stolen from Plan A. And if you’re already thinking about an escape route, have you really committed yourself to the main goal?

What if the secret to success isn’t a backup plan but burning the bridge back to the life you’re afraid to leave behind?

No Nonsense November is a challenge to cut through the noise, embrace unfiltered truths, and focus on what matters. Each day, a new article explores thought-provoking ideas that inspire action, spark reflection, and strip away the distractions that hold us back.

This challenge isn’t about perfection; it’s about authenticity. The goal of confronting the core of essential topics without fluff is to encourage meaningful conversations and help us navigate life with sharper focus. If you’re new to the concept or want to explore the driving force behind it, check out the introduction:

Introduction:

Life tends to throw so many obstacles our way; in defense, we think of a plan, a strategy to overcome with little resistance and put together something structured and actionable that not only helps us overcome them but get on top of them. It ensures we can pursue success in order to overcome difficulties and get through trials and tribulations without falling short.

Imagine standing at the edge of a bungee jumping platform, your heart racing, adrenaline surging. They’ve taken all the necessary precautionary measures, double- and triple-checked to make sure everything is configured correctly, and adjusted everything so both of you can rest assured that it's all safe and will work as it should. Just as you’re about to jump, someone offers to attach a second line — a shorter line and tells you, “Just in case.” Suddenly, you start questioning everything: is the first line bad enough? Should I even jump at all?

This is the paradox of the fallback plan. While it might be a reassuring theory, its very existence plants a dangerous seed of doubt and opens the door to significant levels of doubt. You start to question the core plan, even when there’s no reason to.

We’re all to familiar with this sensation, we often live with the idea that it’s safe to have a backup plan just incase everything goes south. Something we can fall back on when everything might go wrong, and knowing that life tends to challenge our plans, we naturally start to develop a backup plan or safety net, but in reality, they were always just disguised as excuses. It’s an easy way out when things get tough — permission to flee when things start to get rough. Every time we stumble, we say to ourselves, “Worst case scenario, I’ve got a backup,” and that mindset? It comes at the cost of losing focus, grit, and integrity to pursue the main goal with courage, and it takes away from the belief that Plan A could actually succeed.

Here’s the hard truth: Plan B isn’t just a contingency — it’s often the very thing that undermines Plan A. It divides your attention, dilutes your determination, and makes failure feel acceptable before you’ve even started. Instead of hedging your bets with a backup plan, what if you embraced a different mentality entirely?

What if, when Plan A doesn’t work as anticipated, you didn’t fall back — you took the loss or pivoted until you found another path forward? Instead of retreating to a parallel or backup plan, you accepted that the first plan lacked in some ways, and that's why it didn’t work out. Sometimes, the only way to succeed is to bet everything on that first jump.

Let’s explore why having no Plan B isn’t reckless — it’s resilience.

Part I: The Trap of Plan B

The illusion of a backplane offers a comforting feeling of having a safety net that will catch you when you fail, but in reality, it’s a trap. It’s not just about having that backup plan — it’s what the mindset about it itself can do to you and alter how you approach the first plan. When you know there is a fallback option; you give yourself psychological permission to stop fighting for Plan A when things start to get hard.

It’s an illusion for that exact reason, that false sense of security. Studies have shown that people commit less fully to their goals when they know there’s an alternative. Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that participants who created a backup plan before pursuing a primary goal performed worse than those who didn’t. The mere existence of a second option reduced their motivation and willpower to succeed. Why? It’s because their minds were already hedging against failure.

Think about it: telling yourself, “I can always fall back on this second option if the first one doesn’t end up working out,” isn’t harmless. That “if” is a seed of doubt, and doubt grows at an alarming rate. It diverts your attention, suggests that it's okay to just walk away, and erodes your ability to persevere when challenges arise.

We’ve all been there. When we are first getting started in a new pursuit, we like to tell ourselves: “If this doesn’t work out, I can always pivot back to my old way of life.” every time we face a substantial obstacle or a setback, we have that though at the back our minds waiting, offering an easy way out. The failure might’ve not been because the idea was bad — it was failing because we already had one foot out the door in the opposite direction.

Plan B isn’t just the evacuation plan; it’s a mental chain that holds you back from prison, caging you into mediocrity. When things get touchy, it makes you question the legitimacy of Plan A and contemplate whether or not it’s even worth pursuing. Instead of doubling down, you find yourself disengaging, wondering if the fallback might be the smarter, safer choice. The truth is, success in Plan A requires more than just believing in it — it demands conviction. Knowing conviction is far harder to muster when you’ve convinced yourself that you have somewhere to turn to as an escape route in your mind.

Part II: The Case for No Backup Plan

Commitment is a powerful force. The absence of a backup plan also shifts the narrative around failure. Failure isn’t the enemy — it’s the ally. When Plan A doesn’t work, the answer isn’t to fall back but to pivot and create a new Plan A. It is one that is more stable and unbreakable, one that comes from learning where the first attempt fell short. Think back to the bungee jumping analogy: the lines don’t fail often, but “if” it does, you don’t attach a second one to the first. You re-evaluate the design, understand why it didn’t work in the first place, and ensure that it’s stronger the second time around.

Removing the safety net entirely rewires your brain. It sharpens your focus and dedication, strengthening your conviction. When failure isn’t an option, success is left as the only choice it becomes inevitable — or, at the very least, a powerful lesson that sets you up for the next breakthrough. This doesn’t mean just stubbornly clinging to a doomed plan; it means putting your all into Plan A while being open to the idea that reinventing it might just be the necessary step to get back on track.

When you abandon Plan B, you’re not giving up security; you’re trading it for freedom, limitless potential where the skies are the limit — the freedom to give Plan A everything you have and the courage to adapt afterward if it doesn't work. True success lies in not having a way out but recognizing it as the true way forward.

Part III: Detaching from the Safety Net

This idea of letting go of the safety net sounds terrifying. Failure dwells over us at large when there’s no fallback plan to soften the fall. But the reality is growth doesn’t come from playing life safe — it comes from facing fear head-on and learning to navigate the unknown obstacles you may face.

The fear of failure is natural, but battling with that fear is what gives you that competitive edge. Each mishap, each stumble, every fall, anytime you crash, is a moment of clarity and understanding. It teaches you more about your strengths and weaknesses than any safety net ever could. Failing in this perspective isn’t the end all be all but the powerful teacher. It forces you to reassess, adapt, and rise stronger than before.

Letting go of the fallback plan is an act of courage. It’s a statement that amplifies the sentiment, “I trust myself to figure it out.” This mindset doesn’t just shift how you approach challenges — it transforms how you see yourself. Embracing the uncertainties you are meeting in the present requires focus, grit, and creativity, which is what makes your goals a reality. It's not about being reckless; it's about believing in yourself that you can handle whatever life throws your way.

As far as the rewards? They’re immeasurable. The confidence that comes with the mentality of not having something to fall back on builds your character and deepens your understanding of your capability and limitations. It redefines your potential, unlocking a version of you that thrives not because there’s a Plan B but because there isn’t

Being all-in is never easy, nor do I suggest you should always do it. But sometimes it’s worth it. It can often be the only path that turns your doubt into determination and transforms fear into fuel. Without the safety net, you discover that the fall isn’t what defines you — the strength you find to climb back up does.

Conclusion

Imagine that first bungee cord failing. You don’t solve the problem by attaching a second one; you return to the drawing board. You reenvision the jump, reinforce the harness, and ensure the next attempt is strong and reliable. The same applies to your goals and ambitions: Plan A isn’t strengthened by having a Plan B — it’s diluted.

Now, take a moment and really think about it. What’s your Plan B? Is it truly a safety net, or is it just a ball and chain holding you back and taking all your energy while holding you back from pursuing what matters most? Could it be the reason you’re stuck, doubting your potential, or considering giving up so soon?

The reality is that real progress is when you fully commit yourself, unbound and without distractions. It’s scary, sure. But it’s also liberating. Letting of a backup plan forces you to give everything you’ve got to the main plan — and that's where the transformation happens.

So take the leap. Commit to Plan A like it’s your only choice because it might be the jump that changes everything.

Thank you for reading today’s article — it truly means the world to me. Writing these pieces is as much about exploring these ideas for myself as it is about sharing them with you, and knowing that you’ve engaged with this work is both humbling and inspiring. If this resonated with you or even sparked a different perspective, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Your input and reflections make this journey so much more meaningful, and I hope we can continue to learn, grow, and inspire one another.