3399: Plans Which Can't Fail by Tynan on Building Resilience and Personal Development

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Living Daily, Plans Which Can't Fail by Tynan of Tynan.com

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Justin Malik, your personal narrator, the guy reading you blogs every single day of the year to add a bit more inspiration, motivation, and happiness to your day.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, let's get right to our next post as we optimize your life.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Plans Which Can't Fail by Tynan of Tynan.com

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: External events often have to be left to chance.

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_00]: You submit your book proposal, and maybe it gets accepted, and maybe not.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: You go talk to the cute stranger, and maybe you're compatible, and maybe you're not.

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_00]: You plan a camping trip a month ahead, and maybe it rains, or maybe it doesn't.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Often though, people leave things to chance which don't have to be.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Will you finish your book? Will you learn how to code? Will you have a good group of friends?

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: These are all things that are entirely within your own power, and yet you may not be sure if they'll happen.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: The value of 10 half-finished projects is roughly zero.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Not exactly zero, because hopefully you learned something, but close enough.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: The value of 5 fully finished projects is, well, a whole lot higher.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Making plans is worth a little.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Working towards goals is worth a little.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Completing goals is worth a lot.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: For that reason, I highly prioritize finishing.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that my natural approach to a project is to jump in without really thinking about it,

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and to hope that it gets finished and does well.

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I have a huge folder from years ago that's full of half-finished books,

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: coding projects, and who knows what else.

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: To combat that natural response, I now develop plans that can't fail.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: By that, I really mean plans that are extremely unlikely to fail,

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: since a meteor strike can ruin just about any plan.

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe one of the most important things to me right now is my coaching program,

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: because other people are counting on it.

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_00]: With only one hour per month per person, I need to make sure I'm always at my best.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00]: The first thing I did was build an automated system to handle scheduling,

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: reminders, and payment tracking.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I realized that doing those things manually would cause errors,

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and it would also demotivate me, so I eliminated them from the equation.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I also created a policy for myself that says that I can spend up to the amount the client is paying

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: on getting a quiet and private space for the call.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Usually that's just my house, but I've also rented an Airbnb just to use for an hour,

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and have changed flights several times to make sure I won't be late,

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and will have time to prepare.

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the reasons I built my own scheduling software was

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: because no existing solutions had a lot of flexibility

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: in making times available or unavailable.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: With mine, I only open up hours where I know I can be at my best.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I skip the first couple days of a big time zone change

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and avoid early or late hours of days where I'm not sure what my sleep schedule will be.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I also have certain procedures for taking notes during calls,

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: reviewing those notes, and taking time to look for patterns between clients.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: All of that doesn't mean that I'm a perfect coach for everyone,

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: or that everyone is in a financial position to get their money's worth from it,

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: but it does mean that I'm always able to deliver my best.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Contrast that to a more moderate approach where I handled scheduling by email,

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: made calls from wherever I was, and didn't analyze my schedule two months in advance.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd probably get burnt out pretty quickly and would probably show up tired sometimes.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I thought about everything that could go wrong and created a plan that couldn't fail.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: To take a totally different example, think about dating.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Most people go through their dating lives totally haphazardly.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_00]: I used to, but then realized that that was a plan that could fail.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So I signed up for three different dating sites,

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: went on them every day, and went on dates with anyone I couldn't rule out.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Once I knew that they couldn't be a long-term match,

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd break up even if I really liked them,

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: because I knew that was taking time and attention away from people I could date.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Most people wouldn't do that.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: When I met my current girlfriend,

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I allowed myself to make her a top priority very early on.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I spent all of my free time with her while she was in Vegas,

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and then I flew to visit her in Texas 10 days later.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Since then, I've made time anytime she was available to travel to see me,

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and even went to China with her a couple weeks ago.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully it goes without saying that you need to have a high-level awareness

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: to give someone that much attention

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and not have it be smothering or counterproductive.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: While it's possible things could fail with my current girlfriend,

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope not,

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_00]: this approach virtually guarantees that I'll end up in a happy relationship.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: A final example is some of the real estate purchases I've made.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: So far, I've bought an island,

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: a flat in Budapest,

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and a chunk of a Vegas neighborhood with my good friends.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Many people predicted that these things would be total disasters,

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: but each has been literally completely conflict-free.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Why is that?

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Because I designed each to be a plan that couldn't fail.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I specifically chose groups of people I knew would mesh well,

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_00]: despite the fact that it limited my pool

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and made it more likely I wouldn't be able to buy a place.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I kept the price low enough

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: that I knew anyone could walk away from the money

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00]: and not need it for something else.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And last,

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I've dedicated huge amounts of personal time

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and priority to each of these things

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: to make sure that they are worth it for everyone.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: People often see me as a risk taker,

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: but I like to say that I try to do the riskiest things

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: in the safest way possible.

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I find things that people think are risky,

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and then I do the analysis to make them not so,

[00:05:39] [SPEAKER_00]: or at least significantly less so.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: How do you do this?

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Think about everything that could go wrong

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: and brainstorm on each topic.

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Think outside the box.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Dedicate way more time and focus to things

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: than other people would,

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: armed with the knowledge that a successful finish

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_00]: is much more valuable

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: than a bunch of half-cocked attempts

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: at different projects.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Pair down your ambitions to projects

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: for which you know you can develop a no-fail plan

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and which you can build on later.

[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Plans Which Can't Fail,

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_00]: by Tynan of Tynan.com.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to Tynan.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: When authors talk about things we can control

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: versus what we can't,

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: it always reminds me of the serenity prayer.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: In which we wish to just accept the things we can't change,

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: have the courage to change the things we can,

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and the wisdom to know the difference.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's the key,

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: recognizing what is and isn't in our control.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So for example, maybe we're going on vacation.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: We can't control the weather,

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: but we can control how it affects our emotions

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: and what we choose to bring on the vacation to accommodate,

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_00]: maybe not the best weather, and so on.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_00]: So whenever I fly through Chicago or go there,

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm concerned because that airport is notorious

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: for delays and cancellations

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: since the weather is so unpredictable.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: But whether or not, no pun intended,

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: it ruins the day or trip,

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: is really up to me in the end.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: It's all about focusing our energy

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: on the things we actually have power over

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: because if we keep giving energy

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_00]: to the stuff that we can't control,

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: we're going to feel depleted or worried,

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: stressed, anxious,

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: and for what?

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Something that's totally out of our control.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So something to think about today and this weekend.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to Tynan for this one.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you for listening and being here

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_00]: even for Friday and weekend episodes.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll see you tomorrow over the weekend

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: where your optimal life awaits.