The best way to understand the concept of planning flexibility is to think about sailing. Even if you’ve never been on a sail boat before, you have an idea of how it works.
You can’t sail without a plan, at least if you’re trying to get somewhere. But if you’re stubborn and try to make your plan work **exactly** as is, you’re not gonna make it, you can even put your life and the lives of others on the boat at risk if you’re too stubborn and insist on doing things your own way.
The sea, the wind, the nature has its own rules, if you don’t respect it and adapt your plan to it, you’ll fail. In fact, many accidents with sail boats happen because people refuse to comply with nature’s will.
If you want to sail around the world you definitely need a detailed plan, you also need a big chunk of flexibility. Why can’t they use this approach on their own lives? Why do they think plans should happen exactly as they were planned? Why don’t they respect the power of nature on their own lives? Maybe because they never really learned what’s involved in planning and taking action. Maybe because they’re afraid to let go and lose control of their own lives.
Life is like the sea, full of surprises, changes and unexpected events. Sailors don’t give up planning because they can’t control the sea. Why should you give up planning because you can’t control your life?