Yesterday I head into the gym with sore abs, but otherwise feeling good. Someone is on the rower I use. So I leave without rowing or doing any type of other exercise. After getting dressed and walking up to the gym, I just turn around and go home! Hey, how about I work out on a different rower? Hey, how about I throw in some elliptical? Hey, how about I do exercises other than abdominal? Good God, I can’t make this stuff up. It’s just a very rigid, hands-off way of living so many times. (Personal Journal, October 2007)

I remember that moment and many others like it. It was challenging enough for me to plan a workout and get motivated to go to the gym. Encountering even the slightest obstacle, such as someone using the rower, quickly halted what little momentum I had.

As soon I turned to walk away, I felt frustrated by my lack of flexibility: Why am I finding excuses instead of figuring out a different way?

While many factors influenced my decision to leave the gym that day, not recognizing the importance of figuring things out as I go was one of the most significant.

I tend to deify the planning phase. I pray the perfect concept will lead to easy execution, and there is a shade of truth in this: Preparedness typically reduces uncertainty, increases efficiency, and improves results. But as planning tips into overplanning, it interferes with making real-world progress. You’ll often find me tweaking a plan when I should be in the gym, writing a blog post, or answering emails.

Another counterproductive side to excessive preparation is inflated expectations. Perfect plan firmly in mind, I get bent out of shape when things don’t go as they “should”. I entered the gym that day with a rigid idea; when things didn’t play out as they were supposed to, my reaction was to retreat to the drawing board. This damaging pattern threatens to repeat whenever a part of my day needs me to adjust.

I benefit more from messy trial and error than from utopian plans. Concept and execution excel as a complementary cycle rather than as distinct phases. When things don’t go according to Plan A—the gym is crowded, the weather is bad, I’m not prepared for a class or meeting, etc.—it is a chance to adapt the plan as I go rather than sacrifice the entire opportunity in the name of the original strategy. Imagination and blueprints only get me so far; I must persevere through the unexpected to become better. Mistakes, setbacks, and frustrations characterize a successful fitness program, career, relationship, athletic season, school year, or any other long-term project.