Preparing for sh*t won’t get your G-status revoked.
They say: “Preparation is key”, So let’s talk about why everyone is running away from it.
From what it seems, everyone is becoming an overnight success. Everyone is making their first million before 25 and everyone is doing little to nothing to achieve their ‘business’ dreams. Wrong.
If I had a penny (okay, dramatic — maybe £1,000) for everyone I’ve ever had a conversation with in life, who has said they want to be a millionaire before 25, I’d be a sitting on my jet sipping on a cherry blossom martini, right now.
We are in the age of instant validation and gratification. When we want something, we want it now, now, now and more times than not, we get it. The problem with that habitual outlook is we’re driving ourselves towards inevitable failure because the results it’s producing do not pass the longevity test.
Preparation IS key.
You wouldn’t take a driving test before taking a few lessons. You wouldn’t choose somewhere to travel before checking whether you need a visa to get in the country. And you sure as hell wouldn’t go rogue throwing a dinner party for your in-laws. Please tell me why it’s uncool or embarrassing or whatever else you’re convincing yourself it is, to prepare? To actually know what you’re doing before you do it?
Mr Miyagi was teaching us all a lesson through Daniel-san’s character in Karate Kid, way before we even realised it. We are all like Daniel-san in many ways. We don’t want to wax the car, paint the fence or sand the floor because we don’t see the point. We can’t imagine what waxing the car has to do with winning the fight, but that is exactly the point. We need to know why and if we don’t then we’re not doing it. Mr Miyagi was teaching Daniel-san to “rise above the preconceptions of a novice fighter and use skill and mental agility to take down a more physical opponent.” This is what we need to do. When Daniel-san finally figured out why he had to do all those tedious tasks, he realised the role they played in his success.
He had to prepare and without preparation, he would have not only lost the fight but he would have really hurt himself.
If the idea of preparing and laying the foundation for your success makes you feel uncomfortable, this could be a sign that you’re not quite ready to be on top. If the perception of yourself through the eyes of others is preventing you from making smart decisions for your future, then boy, get your ass back to the drawing board.
Wax. Stop asking so many questions and keep waxing, even when your arms begin to tire.
