Preparedness > Planning
Break up with those elaborate plans. Meet preparedness.
"You must have a long-term plan for your future."
Familiar advice that we receive and follow without question. So it's easy for us to get stuck in planning mode: writing down detailed to-do lists, packing our weekly schedules with tasks and appointments, and perfectly setting up that shiny new project management app. Pretty soon, the project plans and business plans start being mistaken for actual productivity.
Excessive planning can become yet another excuse for procrastination: "I will start when I have planned out all the answers", "I will plan this project's future first, and then start doing the work", and so on...
But what if, instead of letting our grand plans bog us down, we focused on preparing for the opportunities we encounter in life?
What is preparedness?
It's an active, ongoing investment in ourselves for:
Building impactful habits: Like cultivating adaptability, consistency, and a strong work ethic.
Acquiring knowledge meaningfully: Not just passively absorbing information, but actively engaging with it, connecting it to our existing knowledge, and applying it in practical ways.
Gaining versatile skills: For example hard skills (like a programming language or a musical instrument) and soft skills (like communication or teamwork). The broader and deeper the quality of our skills, the stronger the returns that we will receive from our investment.
Enriching connections: Growing and nurturing the network of our friends and colleagues with people who support us unconditionally, and encourage us to bring out our best work.
Preparedness is about being able to take swift, decisive action whenever a promising opportunity presents itself. Where obsessive planning keeps us frozen trying to ensure future success with 100% certainty, preparedness lets us turn that uncertainty into an opportunity to take action right now.
What small investment can you start making in your preparedness today?
Mindfully,
/rajesh
Over the years, I've probably spent more time creating tasks on Trello than actually implementing them. And the point of "Acquiring knowledge meaningfully", I can think of so many times that I've read books to say that I've read them, but I did not properly engage with them. I have a marketing book I'm going to buy, and I'll make sure that I am taking notes in the book add I read along, and come up with actionable plans as I read the suggestions from the author.
Artie, thank you for the comment.
Since you are committing to engaging with what you read next, I highly recommend reading this article.
Enjoy that book!