There are three excuses we love using to avoid preparing methodically and thoroughly:

1. I don’t have time
2. I’ve done this before
3. I know how to do this

I want to focus specifically on the third excuse: I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS.

Years ago, when I was involved with AMWAY, I heard a speaker share the following:

To know and not to do, is not to know

In other words, knowledge by itself, in a particular field or on a particular topic is not enough. You have to learn, understand, think it through and practice before you can begin to give any guidance whatsoever!

There was value in becoming an apprentice first – receiving ‘on the job training’ coupled with some classroom work and reading. This process though, seems to be fading as we live in a culture where speed and getting into the game quickly, trumps everything else.

People are becoming multi-millionaires like never before, so it’s no wonder we want to skip steps and rush into our own version of fame and fortune.

Don’t curb your enthusiasm, but harness it with a method

RONALD M. SHAPIRO

I have no doubt that most of you KNOW what you’re about but remember that in addition to applying that knowledge in real life, you must first be the solution to someone’s problem AND you must package what you do in a way that the people who need you can identify that it is YOU that they want.

This is both simple and tricky but should not be glossed over in favour of going out into the marketplace and winging it until something happens. If this is your approach, you’re involved in actions that you will cost you dearly.

We love the winning story: the man or woman who achieves against all odds; the YouTube enthusiast who became a national and then international sensation singing or playing an instrument; the car sales person who sells so many cars that you are positively envious when she shares her latest TikTok from Dubai.

These performers are admired for their results, which we love to read about and share, yet we seldom study and emulate what they did to prepare.

Let’s go back to Latin to analyze the word prepare.

Pre – means “before” and Pare…”to make ready”. In other words you have to make it BEFORE you give it. You set things up and then you execute whether that execution is a sale, an argument, a pitch, or a presentation.

You come up with the idea, you visualize it, you think through the various parts, you assemble the parts and then piece it together before you do it, show it or speak it.

…He would express no opinion on anything, Herndon [Lincoln’s law partner] observed, until he knew his subject “inside and outside, upside and downside.”

from DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN’S book about Abraham Lincoln: Team of Rivals

It is worth remembering that enduring success, results from effective preparation. Succumbing to the short cut, quick fix culture, will eventually catch up with you and render you obsolete if you’re not careful.

If you’re ready to play at the top of your game and to win…way before you begin, then click here.