What I Learned From Ditching My Plans

FM (Friday Morning) Reflection #18

I remember one time when I received unexpected feedback from my manager. He started the conversation by remarking on my resilience. He was impressed by my ability to overcome adversity, both in my personal life and in the face of internal challenges at work. He described me as water, flowing around obstacles and continuing on my path.

No one at work had ever shared that observation before, and the comment resonated deeply. Now I often think about it when I start to anticipate that things won't go as planned. My natural inclination in those moments is to dig in—focus on the process and puzzle through the challenges—to steer the outcome. But experience has taught me that sometimes, despite my best efforts, things simply can’t come together the way I thought. It turns out that time is a constraint that won’t bend easily.

Earlier in my career, I would have tried to fight it, working harder and pushing through, but I've realized there's often a high cost to that. While persistence is somethi…