Stop Planning Your Whole Life—Start Living It
Endless planning looks smart; action looks risky. In reality, the safest path is small experiments that teach you quickly. Plan less, test more.
The Trap of the 10-Year Plan
- Industries shift; plans don’t.
- Waiting for certainty costs compounding experience.
- Perfection delays feedback—the thing that makes you good.
Build a Career with Small Bets
- Skill bets: pick one skill to level up this quarter (e.g., SQL, pitching, UX writing).
- Project bets: 1–2 real outcomes (publish, ship, present) that prove the skill.
- People bets: three conversations with folks doing the work you want.
Your 90-Day Sprint
- Weeks 1–2: define success and acceptance criteria; collect examples.
- Weeks 3–6: build v1; get two reviews; fix the top three issues.
- Weeks 7–9: deliver v2; document outcomes (metrics, lessons).
- Weeks 10–12: publish/share; ask for one referral or opportunity.
Decision Rules That Keep You Moving
- Good-enough threshold: ship at 80% for learning tasks.
- Time-boxed research: decide in 48 hours, not 4 weeks.
- Regret test: will I regret not trying this in a year?
Design a Week Around Doing
- Two 90-minute build blocks daily; one review window.
- Meetings grouped into set slots; the rest is maker time.
- Friday: publish a “what I shipped” note—evidence beats anxiety.
Final Thoughts
Careers are written in quarters, not destinies. Make a small bet, learn loudly, repeat. The plan emerges from the living.
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