When people set goals and plan out the steps, the plans are almost perfect and don’t allow for “life” to happen. They always have the best scenario in mind. For example, if they want to write a screenplay, they plan on writing without writer’s block or when they finish it, they imagine bumping into a producer at a coffee shop.

Best case scenarios rarely happen. When you plan for best case scenarios, your plan has no time to breathe. Even if you get modest results, you will be disappointed because it’s not what the plan promised. You want to include life’s little mishaps.

Sport’s teams have a plan for the unexpected. A football coach knows what to do when it’s fourth down and there are two minutes to go. A basketball coach has a plan for when they are down by three with ten seconds to go and they have the ball.

A parent who has to be out of the house in 30 minutes can’t assume that their kids will get ready right when the parent needs them to be. Inevitably, some kid will play with their toys too long or someone has to use the restroom. Another example is not planning for traffic or other delays.

The examples above are one-off occurrences. However, when you go after your goals, these seemingly random occurrences become part of the process of achieving your goals.

If you embrace and understand that dealing with these occurrences is just a part of life, then you are more likely to achieve amazing success. Most goals stall because of factors like random occurrences or life getting in the way.

Anybody who wants to save money has to deal with unexpected expenses or temptation to buy something out of the budget. A person losing weight has to deal with not being motivated to workout, being tempted to eat something that they should not, and other occurrences.

So often, budding entrepreneurs claim that they will create a product which everybody will love and need only to neglect part of the plan or process.

The old adage, “hope for the best, plan for the worst” is valid. Part of success is hoping for the best. Of course, a new parent hopes that their child will sleep through the night. A person on a diet hopes that they have the willpower to stick to a workout routine or a great meal plan. An entrepreneur hopes that the market will love and buy their products.

The bottom line is that, when you set a goal and plan out the steps, you should understand that the unexpected will pop up. You will face self-doubt. You won’t always be motivated. Other people might disappoint you. Murphy’s Law will come true.

When you understand and accept this, you approach your goals with a much stronger mindset. You are more likely to achieve your goals.