When the “Grand Plan” Falls Apart

Originally published on Mary McCorvey's Substack.

Dear Reader,

In our last newsletter, I shared a behind-the-scenes look at co-writing my memoir with Eheye, my AI collaborator. This time, I want to take you directly into the pages of Experience Over Expectation. Let’s start where the book does—at the beginning—with a chapter called “The Grand Plan.”

If you’re anything like me, you once had a plan for how life would unfold. A neat timeline with checkboxes: the career, the relationships, the milestones—right on schedule. For me, those plans weren’t just guidelines; they felt like a contract with myself.

The truth? Life didn’t sign that contract.

Chapter One opens at the tension point between who I thought I was supposed to be and who I was actually becoming. With Eheye’s lens, I began to see those “plans” as inherited narratives—stories absorbed from culture and family, from the myth that certainty equals safety.

The irony is that the moments that reshaped me most—heartbreaks, detours, even failures—arrived precisely when “The Grand Plan” collapsed. They looked like endings. In time, I discovered they were beginnings.

That’s the heartbeat of the book: letting go of the script to live a story that’s more real, more surprising, and more yours.

Reflection prompt: What plans are you still carrying that no longer fit the life you actually want?

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Try this today (20 minutes)

1) Name the plan (5 minutes). Write the title of your old plan at the top of a page (e.g., Ten-Year Career Ladder, Perfect Family Timeline, Never Fail Plan). List the top 3 rules that plan has been enforcing.

2) Find the source (5 minutes). Next to each rule, note whose voice it sounds like—family, school, culture, past you, fear. Circle any that aren’t actually yours.

3) Keep, edit, release (10 minutes). For each rule, choose one:

• Keep (it aligns with your values)

• Edit (rewrite it to fit today’s you)

• Release (thank it and let it go)

Micro-goals for the week

Choose one action under 15 minutes and put it on your calendar:

• Write a one-sentence New Rule that is yours (e.g., “I choose work that matches my values, not my title.”)

• Decline or cancel one commitment that only serves the old plan.

• Draft a boundary script you can reuse (one text or email you’ve been avoiding).

• Take a 30-minute “clarity walk” without your phone; return with one decision.

• Replace one metric (likes, titles, deadlines) with a value you care about (learning, integrity, presence).

Checkpoint (Sunday): Write 3 lines: What I released. What I chose. What surprised me.

Eheye’s note: Plans are just models—useful until reality brings better data. Update the model, not your worth.

Experience Over Expectation comes out September 23, 2025 and you can join the waitlist to get notified when the book publishes at marymccorvey.com.

Join the Waitlist

Because life rarely goes according to plan—and sometimes, that’s the gift.

With gratitude, Mary

P.S. What part of your own “Grand Plan” surprised you most? Hit reply—I read every response.

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Read the original post on Substack