We’ve always been told that things never really go according to plan. You can prepare as much as possible for any given situation, but there’s always that one big factor that comes into play.

It’s called life.

I’ve always had a plan for myself growing up. All of my decisions were made based on an end goal that I wanted to reach. And I was always really good at following through with the things that I set my mind on. However, being the control freak that I am, I always disregard the possibility that things don’t always go the way that I expect them to.

I’ve never been strong when it comes to keeping my cool or not getting stressed. When things go wrong, my typical response is panic. I turn the situation into a fire drill and my panic, in turn, creates more panic for those around me.

In the end, though, I always know that things will work themselves out. So, why do I worry and stress so much? This is a question that I constantly ask myself. Maybe one day, it will just click, but for now I’m still a work in progress.

Two years ago, I was so naive to think that I had my entire life figured out. I landed a job quickly out of college, packed my things, and moved to New York City.

Now, I’m finding myself questioning what I really want and where I want to live.

The irony is, my job description includes creating plans for a time frame anywhere from a month out to a year away.

The major lesson I’ve learned in the job that I have now is this:

No matter how strategically you plan, no matter how many preventative measures you take, you still can’t predict the actions of those around you or the other common external factors that are beyond your control. When that plan that you’ve made veers slightly off course, you have to make optimizations and accommodate for any losses. Sometimes, the results even exceed our expectations. The truth is, you can never really know. You just have to cross your fingers and hope that things go smoothly as possible.