2025 – The Year of Having a Plan B

Here we go, again. It’s time to write that New Year manifesto. Not for some aspiring new political career of mine. Oh no. Just for me…

Those of you that know me, know that I love writing a New Year manifesto to myself to help me orientate and make sense of the year.

It’s usually easy enough to write. The recipe is quite simple. It requires holding up various mirrors of different sizes. Copious amounts of introspection. A deep dive into the crazy world of politics, culture and business. And a daily 3-hour commute to allow it all to marinate and conjure up something decent. Often whilst peering out of a dark Greater Anglia window.

But it was at 7.15am on the Northern Line on Tuesday 17^th December that this thought struck.

2025 (for me at least) will be the year of having a Plan B. Why? What’s wrong with just having a Plan A and sticking to it? Isn’t it flaky to think like this? Nope. Having a Plan B doesn’t mean you can’t have a solid Plan A. It just means the original plan needs an insurance policy.

In a year where uncertainty has become our only constant, we’ve become numb to shockwaves. Showbiz-style political leaders are the people we want in power. The geopolitical axis has tilted as wars rage on around the world. Companies merge or disappear at lightspeed. Leaders get toppled. CEOs get shot. Trade wars are the new Cold War. Meanwhile extreme weather is just daily news these days.

Oh, and I’m pretty sure we’re getting close to a pint of beer costing £10 in the Southeast somewhere. Utter madness.

The world isn’t just spinning faster than ever before, it is stuck in hyperdrive with failed brakes. And as I peer ahead to January, I don’t want to be on that crazy ride without a parachute. Or a Plan B. You get the picture.

I love what I do. It has a firm bearing on why I think this way. The world of communications is anything but mundane. Or slow. Our world is shaped by forces beyond our control. How we react to them on behalf of our clients is what makes the magic happen.

This ethos is something I believe is bleeding into how we increasingly live our lives as human beings. Instead of just serving clients, we become the client at home. A complex, multi-headed stakeholder with lots of needs that must be fulfilled. Often instantaneously. 

So, if that’s the theory, what does having a Plan B actually look like?

Well, here are a few things I’ll be mulling over whilst I enjoy mulled wine, a few mince pies, and mouthfuls of chocolate over the festive break.

Hedge around your passions

There’s no point building a Plan B around something you can’t connect with, relate to, or feel passionate about. It will always feel too forced. Plus, you’ll ditch it as soon as something more tantalising drops by. What you can do is reconnect with your inner hustle to move it from ‘hobby’ to ‘heightened skill’ or area of expertise.

This year I passed my coaching apprenticeship to become an accredited executive coach. It wasn’t easy, I often did my learning after hours, but now that I have it, I’m grateful. It’s a string to my Alicia-shaped bow that not everyone will have. It’s made me discover new parts of my brain. It’s allowed me to connect with people in new ways. I’ve always loved being with people and making connections. So this accreditation took it from passion point to professional achievement.

What will be your 2025 hedge?

Invest in your personal brand

I know, I know. Time is our nemesis. But ‘I don’t have enough time’ is no longer a throwaway phrase. People are genuinely strapped for time. I believe it. However, hear me when I say – time won’t just be your nemesis, it will be your destroyer if you let it constantly call the shots. You’ll only ever transact your way through life if you get stuck in this mindset.

Instead, try to grab ‘time’ by the scruff of the neck when it starts to boss you around in 2025. Attack it with Plan B which is all about making yourself visible, building your network, and investing in building your personal story. As I developed into my new job this year, I made it my mission to be seen, be noticed, and to be connected to new people that suddenly came into my rear-view mirror.

So, in 2025, ask yourself this, ‘what’s my personal brand? And who do I want to know about it?’

Don’t be afraid to play the back-up card

Many of us are always striving to find, and be, the best versions of ourselves. These attributes are usually determined and driven by our Plan As. Strident goals that are often non-negotiable but come with extra pressure points. Failure is rarely an option with these Plan A attributes. I call them ‘high risk, high reward’ things that can drive you or drown you. 

But what if we tried to be kinder to ourselves in 2025? To stride 10% less but still have 15% more. That may mean playing the back-up card now and then, but this need not be the consolation prize it appears to be. It might actually save you. And remember, a back-up card can be anything - a takeaway instead of cooking. As a typical Virgo, it’s hard to do things less than perfect. But in 2024 I occasionally played the back-up card to spare me!  And guess what, I’m still here to tell the story.

When will you play the card next year?

Final musings…

So, as I leave you with these thoughts, find some time over the holidays to get inside your own head. It’s human nature not to want to gamble with the ‘known’. Or to second guess our best intentions. Or to be anything less than the best. Society builds us up this way. But society is equally adept at bringing it all crashing down.

Life doesn’t always prepare us for setbacks or failure. But in a life where literally anything can happen, it may be the safety harness we all need – fast.

We can’t control many things in life. I believe we can control this freefall feeling if we hedge a little better. To do some of our own scenario planning. To write that Plan B so we can pull the trigger if we need to.

Whether that happens or not is hardly the point. Knowing you have it within pulling distance is what matters. Because for me, that’s what impacts confidence, swag factor, happiness, personal safety and ultimately control.

And if all else fails, ask yourself this question ‘what’s the absolute worst that can happen?’

Go Plan B y’all.