Tag: preparation

Categories
Blog Post

These Four Words Can Help You Figure Out Your Priorities

Four words help you think priority out

Before you prioritize, think about building a map.

To do this, gather your team and put them in a conference room. Book some time for focus, because this type of work requires some heavy thinking and discussion.

Once you are in a room, prepare to answer a few questions about the four topics: important, urgent, curious, fun.

Questions (X = important, urgent, curious, fun)

  • What do we find X?
  • Where does X this matter in our history?
  • Why is it X important to the team?
  • How do we implement X?
  • Who is involved with X?

Have everyone go through those questions a few times, and collect the answers.

Why?

This gives you insight on what people find important in the room. What is on top of mind is critical in understanding what makes your team go.

Combine this with long-term preparation.

Categories
Blog Post

Be Prepared! What I Learned In December 2015

I never got that ‘prepared’ thing

Being prepared never struck me as something that I needed to do. I loved the idea of playing the game off the cuff. Preparing is for people who aren’t in it for real, B players who think they got it, but they don’t.

I am glad you get older, so you learn how you get to see how wrong you were when you were younger.

I made this blog completely ahead of schedule this month. I cut my videos ahead, and I did my newsletters ahead of schedule. Just that alone allowed me to batch my work and experiment, which I think created a better blog to follow (hey…pictures and big type). Being prepared facilitated the change.

That was the big lesson this month, that preparation allows you freedom. I never would have come up with that idea unless I prepare, which gave me time to sit back and look at this blog holistically, instead of trying to create posts. So, come prepared.

Wins for the month

  • Production Time –  Wow, I didn’t notice how much time you add by doing things early. I got a chance to take a holistic look at the things I did, and they came out better.
    • Lesson: Try to get as much out as early as possible, and take a look at it before you get it into the world.
  • Questions – Being prepared leads to better questions. Do the reading and get that much more effective.
    • Lesson: Ask questions constantly. Ask questions before, during and after if you can. They make you sound better, and you learn a lot more.
  • Content–I saw everything get better.I opened up new avenues (hello Tumblr,LinkedIn,and Instagram), and learning every day through experimentation.
    • Lesson: A holistic view gives you a wide berth, then you connect. Content also feeds on itself. Produce more and more gets produced.

Losses for the month

  • Calendar  – I still haven’t done this one yet. I kicked it for a few days, but then I lost it again.
    • Lesson: Try different angles. There is more than one way.
  • Buffer–I got weird about this. I don’t know if it’s the right way anymore, but I never pursued this.
    • Lesson: Take more time to focus on the things that don’t feel right. 

Important Posts

Books

Videos

 

Note: Still experimenting with this post. I took out the notes for the other themes. Thinking about how do I add them here with more value than just a list. Added videos….so version 1.3? 

Categories
Blog Post

Life As Usual Video Blog #5 – Preparation

Every week I do a video blog (of VLOG). This week I talked about preparation.

When I started this,  I was very scared of putting myself on video, so I got the courage and put myself in the arena, killing a lot of bad self talk.This gives me the chance to work on my communication skills, start a new medium, and experiment!

Once a week, after I have thought about them, I will give them a day here on the blog.

These aren’t just promotion posts (although they are, please watch and share :-) ) I want to take the time to break them down and try to clarify what I want to communicate and the tactical things I learned through doing.

If you enjoyed the video, and if you want to get on the ride, please,subscribe to the YouTube channel, and join the Facebook pagewhere they post every Sunday night.

What I Wanted To Communicate About Preparation

Preparation has a ton of benefits. It isn’t something I do well in my life, and I am looking to improve what I can do.

I hit on three bullet points

  • Preparing helps cut fear of doing work. You feel better and stay present after preparation.
  • Preparing is a force multiplier, you get better when you take time to prepare, in some ways one minute spent preparing gives you 10 extra minutes of action.
  • Don’t get locked in the act of preparation. The map is not the territory, use it as an aid. The objective is the task, not the plan.

What I Learned Doing This Video

  • No auto focus is better.
  • 15 minutes of tape ended up being under 5 minutes.
  • I learned how to use my tripod (sounds silly, but before I just stabilized it on a pile of boxes.)

If you enjoyed the video, and if you want to get on the ride, please, subscribe to the YouTube Channel, and join theFacebook page where they post every Sunday night.

Categories
Blog Post

Procrastination and Preparation

Nothing scares me more than looking into my calendar and seeing nothing concrete.

Nothing concrete gives procrastination an in, and once its in it likes to stay around.

The worst part about my personal procrastination is that I know how it works. I start to fall into a feedback loop, a cycle that involves Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo News.  Once I get through the entire loop, enough time has passed for each source to load up with information.

I’ve stuck to that loop for hours, and at the end, I look around and notice I got nothing accomplished. It’s procrastination hell, and I hate it.

Procrastination is a tough nut to crack.

I’ve recognized fear as one of the components that keep my procrastination going. This month, I’ve also recognized how preparation, or lack thereof, contributes.

When I don’t prepare, I lose the accountability. There is something about putting a date or appointment in my calendar that starts me down the road of getting things done.  Adding a to-do list helps even more. Accountability partners are a reason.

Getting through my procrastination requires some planning and preparation. Until recently, I was unaware of how linked they are.

One thing is clear, making time to scope things out, helps deal with procrastination.

 

Categories
Blog Post

Negative Visualization & Life In Moments

When someone says prepare to fail, it used to make my stomach drop.

Ego isn’t something my mind takes lightly. Doing things to avoid failure is one of the meta drawbacks I have dealt with. I had various methods, from using my sense of humor, to quitting, to just plain making excuses to get out of things that I didn’t see myself winning. And I did this for everything, from video games to classes in college. My friends used to make me sit behind them so I didn’t “trip” and turn off the game system.

We are talking that deep.

So when I heard of negative visualization, or the act of visualizing the worst possible scenario and sitting in it, I thought it wasn’t for me. My ego couldn’t take that hit, and I couldn’t admit to that being the cause (the ego loves to hide) . I read about it,  pushed it to the far recesses of my memory, labeled it something to talk about at networking events to sound interesting , and didn’t think about it again until it popped up in another article,book,or conversation I was having.

Then, I ended up booked(I do stand up comedy)  at a show I didn’t prepare for.

Usually this isn’t a problem when it’s in some bar, where the stakes were lower, but this was a much bigger event.  And, I had to do new material, none of the things I’ve honed over the years. This added a new level of stress.

I tried a bunch of methods, and I calmed myself, but I didn’t feel ready. Then, I remembered negative visualization. I sat down, closed my eyes, and imagined, second by second, everyone at the show not laughing, none of my jokes working, and people getting angry.

I fought my ego every step of the way, but eventually I got through it. I opened my eyes, and suddenly, I felt better. The anxiety lifted.

Soon I performed, and with that baseline in my head, the second I got my first laugh, the rest was gravy.

This technique helped my life by showing me that the worst, when you think about it, and mentally live through it, isn’t the boogie man. It is just a moment in your life.

 

Categories
Blog Post

So, Let’s Prepare – December’s Theme is Preparation

[bctt tweet=”I am not known for my preparation. “]

We are running into the end of the year, no better time to focus on preparation.

People who know me are already shaking their heads.

I always lived on the edge, using my intuition and trying to read people. I am admitting now, 28 years later, that I could work on it.

Trying to live on the edge of intuition hurts sometimes. I slow down , trying to find a ledge for me to mentally grab on to.

For example, socially I start very slow. I use my intuition to plug-in, and after a few minutes, we are off to the races. When I prepare, it is different, I feel confident and I have a starting point. I still need a little burn in time, but I get to talk with you until it makes sense.

This is the same with everything I do, and I miss out on opportunities. As I try to improve this year, learning some better preparation skills, even just getting a baseline, will make the next year better.

Subthemes

  • Production Time– What happens when I do things in advance? How do I do when I have some real lead time? How do I get the get the habits to create that?
  • Calendar/ Buffer – A calendar is important for preparation. I have to get real comfortable with something I don’t use as often as I could. What stops me? How do I maximize my calendar? There are a ton of ways to skin a cat, a calendar isn’t much different.
  • The Map Is Not The Territory– I do not want to become a slave to the preparation. One thing I enjoy about the way I work is my intuition. How do I not get lost?

 

Those are the big three topics that I want to hit, but with everything in life, things change with the minute. If you think you can help in any way, please reach out with suggestions through Twitter @TheHonorableAT.

Categories
Blog Post

Prep and Mind

It took Bruce Wayne 18 years.

It was 18 years from the time of his parents murder until he became Batman.

He had to go through:
18 Years of training.
18 years of anticipation.
18 years of emotion.

He had an idea what he wanted to do 18 years before putting on the cowl, but only after going through the training, and sensing his environment, did he fully understand.

Preparation.

In After Earth, Cypher Raige is a Ghost. A man without fear. He and his son are stuck on Earth, and although he is fearless, his son is full of fear.

When his son is afraid, when anything is out of order, Cypher tells him to take a knee and sense his surroundings. Sense his environment and things become clear.

Mindfulness.

Preparation and mindfulness are keys to understanding. From that, all things are possible.

*Further Watching:

Batman Year One (http://www.netflix.com)
After Earth(http:// www.afterearth.com)*

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started