I had just started the meeting and the team was staring back at me from the screen, expecting wise council and direction on how we were going to achieve today’s objective. As I began the meeting I felt confident but, about 15 minutes in, I realized that my preparation on the first group exercise was lacking. Just a few minutes of pre-work would have made the difference between a good experience for the team and an excellent one. I silently blamed myself for wasting the team’s time and promised myself I’d do better next time.
Many times I’ve found myself in the situation above and I’d guess that you have as well. We’re faced with so many competing priorities that we are often preparing for things at the last minute…if we have time to prepare at all! Regardless of how painful it is to be under-prepared, it seems like the pain of preparing is often so significant that we still set ourselves up for failure!
It’s painful both to prepare and to be unprepared. Choose your pain wisely.
I’ve found that in the moment, I would much prefer the pain of preparing to the pain of being unprepared. But in the emergencies of the every day, I choose the opposite. Paraphrasing the Apostle Paul, I don’t do what I want to do and I hate what it is I DO do!
What’s the solution? I like Jesse Itzler‘s solution when he says “Remember Tomorrow.” Take a peek into the future and decide if future you will be happier that you knocked three tasks off your list or that you spent another 15 minutes on Instagram…and we all know the answer to that question! Then, make it happen. Remember tomorrow and take a step in that direction. I look forward to seeing you there…and you don’t even need a DeLorean!
Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava from Pexels