How you prepare, dictates how you will react.
"Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preparation is key.
Nothing has highlighted this for me more than the last few days. Storm Eowyn crashed into us (Ireland) wrecking havoc across the island. Over a million homes lost power and although many have their power back, there are still a lot of people who will be waiting for another few days.
Most people were not even remotely prepared (myself included) even considering the fact there were weather warnings a week or so in advance.
I was without power until last night and we still are without water. I’ve gotten away easily, many will be without electricity for a number of days.
One thing it’s done for me is highlight the importance of preparation. Preparation in life and in business is crucial to being able to handle the unexpected.
Those who are prepared are able to handle potential challenges much better and weather the storms (no pun intended) the world throws at them.
There are countless examples throughout history in which preparation was the key to overcoming some form of obstacle.
Whether it was the Allies preparing for D-Day or the Greeks choosing Thermopylae for their last stand, it was their planning that laid the foundations for their successful outcome. - I know the Greeks were killed to a man but they managed to hold off and slow the advance of a much larger foe and their deaths inspired the rest of the Greek city states to band together and ultimately defeat the Persians.
The lesson is that although not perfect, planning is a means by which we prepare ourselves for what may be thrown our way. To plan is to prepare for multiple eventualities and give yourself the best chance of success.
I am trying to finish this newsletter late on a Sunday night because I wasn’t prepared, I didn’t have a plan set out for what I wanted to write about or what I wanted to say. Yet, I made a commitment to publish weekly and that is what I am doing.
So it's a case of do as I say, not as I do as I must take the lesson from this and make sure that next week's newsletter receives much more planning and attention.
Thoughts & Ideas…
Deep Work
Deep work is a concept that I first came across a number of years back when I read the 2016 book by Cal Newport of the same title. It was him that first coined the term.
The concept of deep work refers to a period of high focus in a distraction free zone on tasks that are very cognitively demanding.
Deep work allows for the creation of deep meaningful results in a given discipline or task. The pursuit of deep work allows one to truly engross themselves in a task fully which over time will enable their output to expand dramatically.
As much as I like the idea, it’s one I have struggled to implement in my life to date.
My day-to-day job involves me being on the move most of the day and when I’m at home working on my own business (this newsletter) I have limited time to do so along with my other commitments.
It’s something I’d like to spend more time on, maybe excuses have become too much a part of my vocabulary. One of my goals for this year is to make more time for deep work. I feel that in doing so that I will see a huge increase in the work I’m getting done.
This Week…
Skinners Law
As a means of combating procrastination we have two potential solutions.
You make the pain of not following through on your work worse than the pain of actually doing the task.
Or,
You make it more pleasurable to take action or complete the task than the pleasure you gain from not doing the thing.
You can be creative about just how you game things but if you implement one of the above solutions, it will lead to a positive outcome.
***
"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."
— Dale Carnegie
Book Recommendation…
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Cal Newport's book focuses on the idea of using deep work to engage in meaningful work that not just challenges us but also leads to a deeper level of satisfaction in what we do.
