When Life Doesn’t Go to Plan

Read time: 3 minutes

There’s a practice I started in January that I’ve actually stuck with.

And if you know me, you know—I don’t say that lightly.

Not because I don’t follow through.

But because I don’t always believe you need a massive plan to create massive change.

Sometimes, it’s just about keeping one small promise to yourself... daily.

For me, that promise was this:

One page of The Daily Stoic. Every single morning.

Not an hour. Not a full chapter. Just one page. One idea.

Day after day, through travel, seasons, client calls, relationship shifts, and the chaos of building a business.

It’s the one thread that’s grounded me.

And the reason I share this with you today?

Because this past Sunday's page hit me hard.

It was about something the author called the “mental reverse clause.”

Now, I’m not asking you to read this book.

I’m not trying to sell you on Stoicism or philosophy or anything else.

But I do want to invite you to reflect on something I think we all need—

Especially in a world that’s constantly changing, constantly pressuring us to keep moving forward, even when things fall apart.

Here’s the idea:

In Life, obstacles are inevitable. 

Delays, disappointments, rejections, tech failures, betrayals, cancellations, plot twists.

You and I both know… they’re coming.

So what do you do when—not if—they arrive?

What’s your backup plan?

What’s your response when the thing you planned suddenly disappears?

The idea of a mental reverse clause is simple:

It’s your inner contingency plan.

The grounded part of your mind that whispers, “If this goes wrong, I will pivot. I will reset. I will try again—better this time.”

That clause?

It’s not a contract. It’s a choice.

And it’s one we can train.

Because that’s the thing about building your mind—

You don’t build it when things are crumbling.

You build it before.

You build it daily.

You build it in the small acts of:

• reading one page…

• showing up for the walk…

• staying & Being with the thought…

• breathing before an important call…

• regulating your nervous system before the email…

• returning to who you are when things are still good...

So that when things aren’t?

You’re ready.

This hit me on a deep level because truthfully?

This trip I’ve been on hasn’t gone as planned.

I came here thinking I’d build a new offer. I had the name, the structure, the delivery.

I was ready to map it out.

But Life had other plans.

Instead of building, I’ve been being.

Instead of output, I’ve been asked to sit still and listen.

To recalibrate. To face discomfort. To meet some thoughts I didn’t even know I’d been carrying.

And if I didn’t have that mental reverse clause—if I was clinging to the old plan—I would’ve called this trip a failure.

But I didn’t.

I pivoted.

I looked again.

I chose to believe:

Maybe what I needed wasn’t a new product.

Maybe what I needed was to hear myself again.

To walk into unfamiliar streets with no familiar coffee shops.

To sit in a room where no one knows me.

To ask myself, Who am I Being when no one is watching?

And what I keep realizing is this:

We don’t get to control what happens.

We don’t get to guarantee that our Instagram won’t crash (& we'll lose all our followers) or our projects won’t flop or our relationships won’t stretch us thin.

But we do get to control how we respond.

And the earlier we train ourselves for that… the stronger we become.

So here’s what I’ll leave you with this week:

You don’t need a perfect plan.

• You need a daily anchor.

• You need a grounded mind.

• You need a willingness to shift when—not if—things break, delay, or detour.

Because that’s the true power of the mind.

It’s not in predicting the storm.

It’s in choosing who you’ll BE when it comes.

You got this, my friend. If I can do it, so can you.

Much Love,

Julian

PS. What’s one small promise you’ve been keeping to yourself lately? Or one you’re ready to start?

Reply to this email. I’d love to hear.