A quote from The Matrix, spoken by Neo in reference to a bit of wisom he learned from a child bending spoons with his mind.
It signifies that a person cannot truly manipulate reality, a person can only manipulate him/herself. Only when a person changes him/herself can he/she change reality
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”
—Benjamin Franklin
One thing I’ve learned from being both unprepared and prepared at pivotal times in my life is that life presents us with limited windows of opportunity. These windows may never come again. Many are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. There are windows that will swing open, and if you’re not ready at that moment, you have to bite the bullet and accept it as a missed opportunity.
Whether I look at my life as an athlete or in the business-arena, preparation makes all the difference. Preparing for a game and studying your opponent is necessary in order to win. If you don’t know your opponents’ strengths, you’re going to come out blindly hoping that your skill level will outplay theirs. True champions do more than that. They don’t gamble on their skill level. They combine it with diligent preparation.
Going into a meeting looking for a capital investment for your start-up and relying on your knowledge and passion is simply not enough. True successors combine their passion and knowledge with meticulous research and preparation. You need to know who your investors are before you can convince them how valuable this investment is for them, not you.
Before a keynote, I don’t just go on stage and give a blanket speech on performance, leadership or sales. I study the organization I’m speaking to, crunch their numbers, address their challenges, and cater content specifically to them. This preparation makes all the difference and will set you apart from the people just going with the motions.
It’s often obvious to tell those who are prepared or not. Whether it’s the start-up pitch, the keynote speaker or the athlete taking the field, preparation is not a concept you can throw together quick. You cannot “fake it ‘til you make it,” and you can’t wing it.
it takes time, discipline, thought, effort, research, organization and even some meditation. It’s an investment in yourself, your product and your business, and those who are prepared are noticed. If you want to create possibilities, prime yourself for success, and capitalize on opportunity. You must simply begin to prepare as such.
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
“If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the people of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.” – LEO TOLSTOY
I truly let go after all those years of love and hate, sweat and chills – I moved on.
I truly let go after discovering what was behind the veil – It was not less than pulling my jugular vein
I truly let go after suffering so much pain, agony and deception.
I truly let go and had forgiven you; you were history; ashes, dust, chapter closed forever in my life
But now you implore to evil powers? Bring sorcery and spells to misery my life?
Now watch all that will unfold..
So it comes to this?
