Taking risks vs. planning
Once upon time, a man pleaded a piece of land from a tribe chief. The chief gave the man a pole and told him that if he could insert the pole in a place from which he could come back before the sunset, the land between tribe station and the pole would belong to him. The man was so greedy that he exhausted to death on the way back. From this story we can see that although the man had his goal and action, he had no plan. A good plan is essential for success. It can quantify the task and make it possible for a man to arrange his time effectively.
First, by means of planning a man quantifies his task. He divides his final target into several periodic ones. Thus, he could average the pressure and see his progress during each period. A good plan encourages a man to fulfill his destination positively rather than passively. Actually, all successful people have their careful plans. For example, an excellent student must have a study schedule that include how to learn new knowledge and how to review old contents; an outstanding businessman needs a rational marketing plan that defines the best avenues to reach his target customers and then assigns a reasonable budget to his efforts. If one could execute his periodic target successfully every time, he could easily achieve his ultimate target. More significantly, during this process a man will acquire a lot of qualities that are essential to success.
Secondly, the advantage of good planning is that one can dispose his time and energy more effectively. It occurs very often in life that one should do a lot of things simultaneously. To take care of his children, to work, to spend enough time with his family and friends, only by a careful planning can a man accomplish his several targets in a short time.
Let us come back to the former story. If the man were a coward he would always fear that he could not come back before the sunset. The answer must be that he got much less than what he could have. Therefore success, to some extent, needs risk. But I think a careful plan is more important because it changes success into a routine and it helps a man use his time more effectively.
