"Be Prepared." - Boy Scout MottoPreparation is a Key Principle for Success. Great athletes, performers, and successful people all share one thing in common. They prepare. Nature or Nuture When you see a talented person, what's your first thought? How lucky are they to be born with their skill. Hidden from view are the hours spent preparing and practicing. You probably have heard of the 10,000 hour rule popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers. It takes 10,000 hours of practice to be an expert. So you're seeing the skill but not the preparation. I know this first hand from juggling and programming. I don't believe I have any natural ability as an athlete and I'm smart enough to know that I'm not that smart. Most of my skills are from practicing for years. So the next time you hear the great speaker, see the great athlete, hear the great musician, consider the preparation that went into it. And then take the plunge to be great yourself by preparing. Whether it is an actor, musician, athlete, or speaker, the great ones make it look easy because of all the preparation they do. Preparation is getting ready for some event in the future.
I use to run a weekly meeting at my previous job. It was an in-person and phone meeting where developers discussed their upcoming changes once a month. Other times the meeting was used to present topics that furthered their knowledge. The meeting took place every Tuesday at 9 AM. I learned from failures that lots could go wrong and preparation was the best way to prevent this. The day prior to the meeting, I would visit the room where the meeting was held to make sure everything was ready. I would check:
Other tasks:
This is just a sample. One concept for preparation is to make it similar to the real event. Try to simulate as much as possible the actual conditions you will face. For example, if you're preparing for a hockey game and you wear a helmet during the game, make sure you wear it when preparing. When I went on job interviews I would visit the site the previous day to feel more comfortable with the location, travel time, and where I could hang out when I arrived early. When interviewing job applicants I would reserve time in my calendar to prepare.
An important time to prepare is when you have meetings with your boss or other high-ranking staff. Treat it like a sales call. What does the boss want to know? What questions will he or she ask? What do I need to follow up with that they will be asking about? To really be prepared, don't just wait for meetings, have this information at your fingertips. Get into the habit of setting reminders on your calendar to prepare. You could use my SuccessAlarm.com website A good morning ritual is to prepare for the day ahead:
And finally, prep for the next day before you leave:
Elevator Pitch Another form of preparation is an Elevator Pitch. This comes from the idea that you're riding an elevator with someone that can help you and you have 30 seconds to convince them or sell them an idea. This is an extreme example of being prepared. An exercise you can do is, make a list of 1 - 10 people that you'd like to meet and the 30-second pitch you'd tell them. It's a Habit The best preparation is where you've made it into a habit. This allows you to do the task without much thinking. This allows you to think on your feet even if under pressure. Students The better students are the ones who spend more time preparing for both tests and lessons. The students who cram at the last minute will not be as successful as the ones who barely studied for the test. Checklists Another form of preparation is creating a checklist. Create checklists for anything complex to make sure you don't leave out steps. Self Introduction Often you will be at a meeting and will have to introduce yourself. It pays to create this ahead of time and practice it. Be prepared with:
Person of your dreams Once in a lifetime, you may meet the person of your dreams. What will you say? How will you feel after you blow it? Then don't blow it and be prepared. Like in the movies but only in real life. Job Interviews It pays to prepare for job interviews even if you're not looking. Imagine how good you'd be if you practice just a few minutes each day if you ever need to go on an interview? Make sure you can answer any questions on your resume. Be able to answer any technical questions you need to know. And the key is to make the practice as real as possible. Wear what you'd wear to an interview. Make it similar to the real thing. Have someone ask you the questions verbally and answer verbally or use a voice recording. Make a video recording of the session so you can analyze yourself. Sales Some keys to sales are overcoming objections and stating benefits over features. When you're selling, state the objections ahead of time and the solution to them. Hopefully, you'll prepare for that next meeting now. Continue reading to find out how to get on your boss's good side. Shit Hits the Fan (SHTF) There are disasters somewhere in the world everyday. I could be You should be prepared for these type of events. The key is prepping. It's beyond the scope of this book to discuss this but the main categories to be aware of are Some questions to ask yourself are: Prepping is expensive and takes time. You don't want to start prepping when the SHTF. Start by building up your supplies for 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc. |