I was listening to Casey Neistat interview on Diary of a CEO, and the host asked Casey what explained the patience and consistency of creators like him and Mr. Beast — what set them apart?
Casey’s answer was simple: he had no back up plan. If he didn’t succeed in the creator agency, he’d have to go back to the place he never wanted to end up: working a minimum wage job at a restaurant. It was a promise he made to himself: whatever he did, he wouldn’t end back up where he started.
And YouTube? That was his only out. There was no back up plan.
A Startling, Scary Notion
Back up plans are created for comfort. We create them because no matter how badly we want plan A to pan out, we know it may not. Some things are outside of our control and protecting ourselves against them feels like the right, most natural thing to do. But what if it held us back?
It’s a conclusion that I can’t help but want to accept. Its implications are scary. The idea that me creating a second choice may very well prevent me from achieving my first makes me think that maybe I shouldn’t have a backup plan.
Of course, then I have to deal with the very anxiety I was trying to remove in the first place. That’s hard.
