By failing to prepare..

By failing to prepare,Ā youĀ areĀ preparing to fail”
—Benjamin Franklin

One thing Iā€™ve learned from being both unprepared and prepared at pivotal times in my life is thatĀ 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 youā€™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 donā€™t know your opponentsā€™ strengths, youā€™re going to come out blindly hoping that your skill level will outplay theirs. True champions do more than that. They donā€™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 donā€™t just go on stage and give a blanket speech on performance, leadership or sales. I study the organization Iā€™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.

Itā€™s often obvious to tell those who are prepared or not. Whether itā€™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 ā€œfake it ā€˜til you make it,ā€ and you canā€™t wing it.

it takes time, discipline, thought, effort, research, organizationĀ and even some meditation. Itā€™s an investment in yourself, your productĀ and your business, and those who are prepared are noticed. If you want to create possibilities, prime yourself for success,Ā and capitalize on opportunity. You must simply begin to prepare as such.

Overthinking vs Underthinking

Much of what we call overthinking is often underthinking. Meaning, if you find yourself engaging in repetitive, obsessive, non-productive thoughts, it’s likely you haven’t precisely identified and fully unpacked what’s bothering you. Often, overthinking is the result of a combination of issues that haven’t been fully analyzed.