Remember that time you were about to jump into something big – a new business, a major life change, a dream you finally decided to chase? At first, your mind lights up with excitement. You see the vision, you make the plans, you picture the success. But then, almost like clockwork, the thought creeps in: “So, what’s your Plan B?”
Of course, having a backup plan makes sense. If Plan A falls apart, you’ve got to have a Plan B, right?
It almost feels a bit controversial to write about not having a Plan B. I think that’s because the idea is often misunderstood.
When I say “Plan A,” I’m not talking about a single project or a business idea – I mean your overarching mission. The bigger picture. The thing that gives your life direction and meaning. It’s the north star you measure everything else against. That’s what I’m getting at when I speak about Plan A – not the small detours or adjustments, but the core mission that defines where you’re going.
When I talk about Plan B, I don’t mean little adjustments – like taking the side streets when the freeway’s jammed. That’s just flexibility.
What I mean is the bigger Plan B: the alternative to your overarching mission, the backup life you keep in your back pocket “just in case.” That kind of Plan B, as neuroscience shows, doesn’t just sit quietly in the background – it actively drains energy from Plan A. It slowly eats away at Plan A until it’s gone!
The prefrontal cortex, responsible for planning and decision-making, works best when the outcome really matters. Think of an athlete in a championship game – they find a level of focus and creativity they never had in practice because, in this scenario, Plan A equals winning and Plan B equals losing.
Think of a life-or-death scenario. If you’re facing a grizzly bear in the forest, Plan A is to survive. Plan B is … not. And while Plan A can fail, having no Plan B forces every ounce of focus and energy into survival – dramatically increasing your chances of success.
When there’s only one shot – no backup – the brain ramps up dopamine, sharpening focus and creativity. But when you create a Plan B, dopamine drops – and so does motivation. In other words, the moment you create a Plan B, you’re signaling to your brain, “Relax, no need to give it everything,” and your effort slips.
Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, Zurich and Wisconsin all point to the same conclusion: people with backup plans perform worse on their main goals. Even thinking about a Plan B reduces persistence and creativity.
Why? Because the brain is built to save energy. The moment it realizes it can relax, it will relax.
Take Howard Schultz, the man behind Starbucks. When he first tried to raise money to expand the company, investors laughed him out of the room. Banks turned him down more than 200 times. He could have walked away, gone back to a “safe” job in corporate America, taken a Plan B. But he refused. Starbucks was Plan A. Period. He doubled down, kept pitching, and eventually found a handful of believers. Today, Starbucks is a household name around the world.
The science explains the story: when your brain knows there’s no escape hatch, it goes all in. Dopamine spikes, focus sharpens, and creativity ignites. You start to see options you’d never notice otherwise. Pressure forces breakthroughs. That’s the hidden gift of burning the boats.
That’s the real danger of Plan B. Most of the time, it isn’t strategy – it’s fear in disguise. It feels responsible, but really, it’s a quiet permission slip to play smaller, to quit when things get uncomfortable.
The science is clear, and the stories back it up: extraordinary results only come when you stop keeping one foot out the door. So burn the boats, shut the exits, and commit like there’s no other option.
Because that’s the moment your full potential wakes up. Don’t plan for escape – plan for victory. That’s how you find out what you’re really capable of.
• Toby Moore is a Shaw Local News Network columnist, star of the Emmy-nominated film “A Separate Peace” and CEO of CubeStream Inc. He can be reached at feedback@shawmedia.com.