In defense parlance, there’s a term called Commander’s intent. Whenever there’s a mission/operation to be carried out, the troops assemble and the commander address them. Yes, there’s  a plan discussed. But everyone in the assembly knows that any and every plan in the world will fail on contact with enemy.

Vishwanathan Anand may address me and chalk out a plan of moves I need to carry out while playing chess. But on contact with a real Grandmaster(which is the enemy), one or two moves and I’m on my own. The plan bombs.

So what does the commander do?

He shares his intent for the mission in clear, crisp, no-frills attached language. He might just say, “By 4:30 AM, Tuesday morning, we need to capture Base21 from our enemies and hoist out tricolor”. Obviously, a plan will be discussed. But on Tuesday morning at 4:00, if the discussed plan bombs and only 2 survive; then both of them know exactly what to do. They have half and hour to capture the base and hoist the tricolor. It’s upto them to achieve it by whatever means.

Hence plans fail. But commander’s intent never.

In 1961, John F Kennedy shared his intent to his countrymen in clear words : put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and returning him safely to earth.
It includes everything: a vision, a mission, a deadline.
However doubtful it might be, but on July 21st, 1969, NASA kept his word and history was created.

I’ll complete engineering, then get an MBA degree and grab a high paying job is a plan.
I’ll be a billionaire by 35 is a commander’s intent.

Most of us waste our time planning our lives but fail miserably. Circumstances are our enemies. Very few people have ‘clarity of thought’ or a ‘commander’s intent’ in life. Do you have one?