My stepdaughter is starting her senior year in college  this fall, and she's planning on grad school after that. But recently she's starting thinking about how competitive grad school is in her field. What if she doesn't get in right away?

"I don't have a Plan B!" she said.

It got me thinking: Even the most well thought-out plans sometimes don't pan out the way you expect. Your senior year in college can be stressful when you don't know what your post-college life will hold. You can help minimize that stress for yourself by creating a specific backup plan in case you don't get that dream job, or your grad school plans fall through.

And if you think that sounds like "planning to fail" — well, I think of it as just planning an alternate route for your life's adventure. You can still get where you want to go by taking another road.

Because, frankly, sometimes your "Plan B" can work out for the best. I fell back on my "Plan B" after college — moving from Colorado back home to Iowa — and I ended up getting great experience in my first job, and I met a lifelong friend in the process. Whenever I think back on it, I'm so glad I had to "settle" for my Plan B — it set the stage for a lot of great things in my life.

How about you? Do you have a "Plan B" for after college?