No Plan B

We caught a fabulously entertaining interview this week with a person who is arguably the most successful radio personality of the last 40 years. He was discussing how he became so successful after so many initial failures. Cutting to the chase he said he never had a “Plan B”. He went on to talk about folks he knew or had met who had every intention of being successful in any number of ventures only to fall short and then “go to plan B.”

He said that when you ask someone what they want in/from life they will tell you all the stuff they have been taught to say – the grandiose dreams, the BHAG (big hairy ass goal). If you look at them skeptically they often confess that “Well, if I don’t get what I am after there is also Plan B.”

And he said, as a way to understand human behavior, if someone makes a bold statement he will then ask them “So what if it doesn’t work out?” Invariable they say, “Well I have a fallback position” (Called Plan B)

In our sport right this moment there are any number of swimmers who have their eye on Omaha and Tokyo June 2020. Some will make it; most will not. While 4 years may seem like an eternity to a 20 something year old, in the grand scheme of life it’s not that long. If you are 22 and miss in Omaha but you still fiercely cling to the ambition of being an Olympian, you have 4 more years to “get it right.”

Many college age athletes are figuring out how to “keep up” with their peers, educationally and professionally. Having said that, most if not all of those peers aren’t taking a serious crack at an Olympic berth.

We say, stop making excuses and go for it…unabashedly, unashamedly and unfettered by Plan B. You have the rest of your life to do all the other stuff. Seriously…