Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned?

tl;dr: The funny thing about success - it usually shows up when you least expect it. Let's talk about why.

You know how plans don’t always work out?

Hey, have you ever worked super hard on something, thinking it’s going to be amazing, only to see it flop? And then something you did casually—like a random joke or a quick doodle—turns out to be a huge success? It’s frustrating, right? Why does this even happen?

Let’s talk about those surprise wins

Sometimes, we try so hard to make things perfect, and they still don’t work. But the stuff we do without overthinking? That’s what often surprises us and takes off. Like when a random cat video or Reels/TikTok you barely thought about goes viral.

Feels unfair, doesn’t it?

So I was talking to my friend about this…

I was talking to my friend Waseem about this, and he mentioned a book → Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned.

I haven’t read it myself but got a quick gist from Good Reads.

The whole idea is that true greatness doesn’t come from obsessing over plans. It comes when we follow our curiosity and just do what feels right in the moment.

Cool stuff that happened by accident

Let me tell you about a few real-life examples where things became great by accident:

A guy working on radar experiments noticed a candy bar melted in his pocket. That’s how the microwave oven was born.
A scientist found mold in a petri dish that killed bacteria—and boom, we got penicillin.

These weren’t carefully planned breakthroughs. They happened because someone noticed something unexpected and leaned into it.

Here’s what I think about all this

Look, I’m not saying you should just sit around waiting for good stuff to happen. That’s not the point at all.

You still gotta put in the work - that’s just how things get done.

But here’s what I’ve learned:

Don’t get so wrapped up in following some strict plan
Keep your eyes open for happy accidents
Take little breaks
Let your mind just do its thing
Follow what interests you

That’s usually when the cool stuff happens.

So look, next time you do something, don’t stress about making it perfect. I’ve noticed my best ideas usually show up when I’m just relaxing and going with the flow.