You know about Plan Bs. Those what-to-do-if-this-doesn’t-work plans.
Plan B is really popular. Everyone tells you to have one. All the world is talking about Plan B.

That’s fine, but it’s not for me. Like I said during the last Q+A, I don’t have one. Plan A is too awesome to give up on.

But what about after?
After you have Plan A (quit dayjob, rock crafty business, live happily)?

I’m curious…do most people keep doing Plan A happily…or do they find a new Plan A?

I’m thinking about this after a conversation with a friend who I thought was happy with her Plan A. And because I recently launched my own new Plan A (helping your crafty business) while simultanesouly still crazy in love with my old Plan A (sharing handmade yarn + teaching yarny stuff).

My dear friend is my ONLY friend the only person that I know (our age) that is doing what she went to college for. She started our freshman year saying she was going to be  a Psych major, get her Masters, then work with kids as a counselor. 10 years later, she’s doing that (and it didn’t take her 10 years!).

But I just got an email about a new thing she’s starting (Crossfit certification, she wants to teach it to kids) and she said “Finally! A plan!”.

And I laughed out loud.

Because out of everyone I know? Everyone!  I thought she HAD the plan. I mean, she completed the plan.
While the rest of us (with degrees in French Lit , Psych, History, Anthropology, Journalism) are doing, well, not that, she was. We are coming up with new plans and new paths, but I thought she had it figured out.

But her note was a reminder: no one has it figured out.
And of course, if you’re over 24, you probably know this.

But sometimes? It’s good to have a reminder.

To remember: the people who are doing the plan, the plan they wanted, maybe the plan you want. Those people? They don’t have it figured out either.

And when you do enact that plan (quit your dayjob, start that crafty business, have those kids, marry that stud)…well, then you’re ready to come up with a new plan. A new challenge. A new direction.

At least, this is how I think it works. For now.

(Right after I wrote the first draft of this post, I read this great post by Cairene about feeling in sync. Maybe that's the issue, we need to keep re-syncing?)

Have you moved to another Plan A? What happened to your first Plan A?

PS. July 1st is the one year anniversary of me quitting my dayjob! Celebrate with me by joining me on a free Q+A call. You ask the Qs (about anything you want) and I’ll fake the As. Sound like fun? Sign up here for the call details.

Related posts:

  1. November is National Do Lots of Stuff Month
  2. A flip through my Holiday planning
  3. The business tools I use

9 Comments on Plan A 2.0

  1. Super Careo
    June 22, 2010 at 5:18 pm (15 years ago)

    I make up new Plan A's so often that whenever I come up with a new one and start telling people about it, they all laugh and say “Another one?”. No joke.

    When I would call my parents from college and complain about how I wasn't sure what I was going to end up doing as a “grown up”, my dad always used to tell me that I shouldn't let an 18 year old make that decision for me. Now I'm 25 and I still don't feel like I should be making that decision.

  2. TaraSwiger
    June 22, 2010 at 5:21 pm (15 years ago)

    Ha!
    And Amen!
    Whenever I've made decisions (especially about “career”), I always think “Am
    I old enough to decide this? Shouldn't an adult tell me what to do?
    I think (at 28), I'm finally starting to realize that I am the adult. I
    still can't believe it most days!

  3. Super Careo
    June 22, 2010 at 8:53 pm (15 years ago)

    You know, I never get tired of hearing other people say that they are struggling with the idea of being “grown up”. It's really nice to know that I'm not the only one out there!

  4. Bridget Pilloud
    June 23, 2010 at 12:31 am (15 years ago)

    Plan A has got to feel like it's all that and a bag of chips. It's got to make you hot. If plan A makes you hot, you don't go sniffing around for a plan B.

    I am really happy that your plan A is such a goody. Really looking forward to my summer camp yarn, so much that I'm hurrying through what's on my stix!

  5. Elizabeth Drouillard
    July 9, 2010 at 1:28 pm (14 years ago)

    I really, really like the phrase “Plan A 2.0” It captures so much. My larger dreams are still the same, but how I am getting there is radically different than I thought it was going to be. Great post!

  6. TaraSwiger
    July 9, 2010 at 1:29 pm (14 years ago)

    Thanks so much!
    “radically different”, I love that!

    Good luck getting there!

  7. Jess/Storied Yarns
    September 2, 2011 at 9:45 pm (13 years ago)

    Love this. My Plan A was to be a high school teacher, and it was a good plan for 5 years. Then I had a boss who didn’t like me so she let me go and I can’t ever be a high school teacher as a result (and no, I didn’t take drugs or sleep with a student, I promise!). I spent a lot of time (wasted time, I see that now) mourning Plan A. Now, I’m moving on with A 2.0: freelance writing to pay the bills while rocking the fiber artist gig until it starts paying the bills. I celebrated my acceptance of A 2.0 by dyeing my hair partially purple, something I never could have done under Plan A the First. Too bad I didn’t find this blog a long time ago, I could have had purple hair MUCH sooner. 😉

  8. Tara Swiger
    September 6, 2011 at 6:04 pm (13 years ago)

    Ha!
    Thanks so much for sharing your story! It’s SO good to know lots of others do Plan A 2.0!