A lunch conversation about parachute testers completely changed the way I think about contingency plans and pursuing your goals. If someone can jump out of a plane knowing their parachute won't open and still trust the process, you can handle your plan A not working out. In this episode, I break down why having a backup route to your dream is not weakness — it's wisdom.

Key Takeaways

• There is literally a career path for every passion — stop calling your dream stupid before you even try.
• Parachute testers jump knowing plan A will fail, but they trust plan B completely — that mindset is everything.
• Having a plan B is not abandoning your goal, it is finding a different route to the same destination.
• Too many people quit when plan A fails because they told everyone it would work that way — you have to detach your ego from the method.
• At some point on the journey, you have to break away from the pack and trust your own process to land safely.

Action Steps

1. Write down your current plan A goal and then brainstorm at least two alternative routes to reach that same outcome if plan A gets blocked.
2. Identify one place in your life where ego is stopping you from pivoting — then make the decision to let the method go but keep the mission.
3. Adopt a "by any means" mindset: commit to the destination, not the specific road you originally planned to take.

Notable Quote Your job is to get to the goal. The parachute tester's job is to get to the ground safely — they don't say plan A didn't work, so I'll just bounce off the ground and keep going.