Josh's Weekly Insights - September 2, 2026

“Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.”

-Hugh Mackay

I was working with someone recently and we were discussing their strategy. Their fear was that they would create a plan that would fail because “there are a lot of moving parts and a million different variables.” The truth is, at any moment there is no perfect answer. Life is messy and there will always be variables. Especially when dealing with other people because every single person has a unique and different story from any other person. As we wrapped up our discussion I had to ask the question, “Well if that is the case, why would I ask you to make a plan?”

While the world can often be messy and chaotic, a simple fact does help us achieve goals. If you have a plan, you are working toward a desired outcome. If you don’t have a plan, you are working toward…something? Plans help us clarify our direction and put action toward an objective. This doesn’t mean our plans are perfect (in fact no plan is perfect or foolproof) but it does mean we can take actions, assess how those actions helped move us toward our goal, and then either lean into the actions repeatedly or reassess the plan we created.

If we are honest with ourselves, we often avoid plans because of our fears. We know we might not make it so we are afraid to put voice to the plan or write the plan down. Then we have the ability to backtrack if we don’t achieve it. We can justify it to ourselves to avoid the discomfort of failure.

So here is my encouragement for the week. Make a plan or come up with a strategy. Now once you write your plan/strategy down and commit to it on paper, go ahead and write next to it “and getting there will be messy.” Now you have a plan and you have permission for it not to go perfectly. You can commit to pouring your effort in knowing that things will go wrong so they aren’t failures but built in moments to assess your progress. Are you on the right track or does your plan need some fine tuning? Determine that and you are getting closer to the objectives you want to achieve.

Now get out there and crush your week!