"Planning for failure invites failure" — and its cousin, "making a backup plan means you've already given up on the first one." Together these superstitions stop Kerala families from doing the one thing that protects a student.
Why so many Kerala families believe it
They feel almost moral — as if believing hard enough is part of succeeding, and hedging is disloyalty to the dream. That feeling costs students entire years.
What's actually true
A written backup is not a lack of faith; it's the reason most students survive a setback without losing a year. A family that has decided in advance what happens if the first term goes badly can act in November with a clear decision. A family that hasn't will spend November arguing about whether there's even a problem — and lose the term to the argument.
A backup plan doesn't compete with the main plan; it protects it. It lets a student pursue the first choice wholeheartedly precisely because a stumble won't become a catastrophe. The people who refuse to plan for failure are the ones failure hurts most.
What to do instead
Write the backup down before it's needed: what counts as 'not working,' by when, and what the next move is. Then pursue the first choice fully. A plan B isn't giving up on plan A — it's what lets you commit to plan A without the fear that a setback ends everything.
Want the full picture, honestly?
This is one of dozens of decisions we untangle in Kerala Career Compass — After Tenth — and in a free counselling session at Veda Topper, Irinjalakuda.
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Frequently asked questions
Does making a backup plan mean giving up on your goal?
No — a backup protects the main plan rather than competing with it. It lets a student pursue the first choice fully, knowing a stumble won't become a lost year. Refusing to plan for failure is what makes failure most costly.
Why should a student have a backup plan?
Because a written plan lets a family respond to a setback with a decision instead of an argument. Deciding in advance what 'not working' looks like, and the next move, is the main reason students recover without losing a year.