In thinking about my most creative undertakings, what I recall is that all of them started with an interest, a desire, a need to do something that would be useful. Well into the beginning of these projects, the limit of my "plan" was just a desire to be successful at whatever I was taking on. How could I make a plan if I didn't know what I would be facing? As I became more engaged with the project, I would be solving problems like how to do something, how to find something, be it a thing or information.
As the project unfolded further, I would be synthesizing what I had learned and organizing. In retrospect, it would seem like a plan, because I could explain the process and identify steps, some of which had to be executed in order, but at the beginning, I would have to admit that I had no idea how to put it together. It became a learning process.
This is pretty much the way I solved my problem with alcohol. There was much learning, actually more than planning. I have found this process of problem solving (progressing forward) to be not only effective, but immensely satisfying.
Somethings I do better with a designed plan already in place. How do you bake salmon? I looked this up on the internet, and followed the directions. It's more practical than experimenting, but I get much less out of it, but for simple things, it's all I need.
Recovery is complicated. I think some can do it cookbook style, but I don't find it as meaningful. For example, I can say, "I commit to never picking up a drink." That's one vital part of the process. It's a predetermined step. You can read this tip in other sources. You know what some of the words mean. You can say them to yourself, but what is really a determining part of success is fully understanding commitment at a deeper level. You need to know what commitment feels like. There is something intuitive about it. And if you can't feel it, it's just a word.
How does it feel to commit? How does it feel to be honest with yourself? You're probably going to be somewhat at a loss over what to do when you bump up against an obstacle if these sorts of things aren't internalized.
For me, recovery, like marketing a computer program, was more about learning. How do you you master this thing and make it work? But unlike marketing a computer program, you can't pay an expert to do it for you. You have to become the expert yourself, and fully understand why each thing in your eventual plan is important and why it needs to be done.