Keith Ferrazzi, the relationship marketing master and networker extraordinaire, says of networking: build it before you need it. You don’t put on your seatbelt after crashing your car. You wouldn’t trust a doctor with your kids if he was walking into the operating room with “Tonsillectomy for Dummies” under his arm. Preparation is crucial.
I see this time and again in my business and personal life. I find myself making the same mistakes sometimes and it all comes to preparation – or the lack of it.
The thing about preparation, or whatever necessary steps there are to the successful execution of any process, is that we know the steps, we know what we have to do, and we often choose to take a shortcut, and the result is always the same: subpar performance.
Remember the 7 “P’s”: Proper-Prior-Planning-Prevents-Piss-Poor-Performance
But it isn’t always a matter of planning. Is there anything in your life right now that you need to do? Something you may not want to do. It could be boring or expensive, or tedious, but think about the consequences if you don’t do it. There are plenty of things that don’t matter – until they matter. You know what they are and you know what you have to do, so get off the couch and do them.
Whoever said good things come to those who wait should have explained a little further. While patience is a virtue, inaction is a vice. Waiting for things to happen will only ensure that they happen to other people or that you will miss them when they happen to you. Prepare, and get out there and make it happen. No one ever became successful by not taking care of the simple things and no one ever became successful by waiting for something to happen.
I have a friend who has the makings of a major director. For years, I have tried to entice him with all kinds of projects and ideas and his answer is always that he is too busy or some other lame excuse. Now, the small film-production company I have been involved in for the last year is about to take some big steps. We will need directors. Will I be calling him? Of course not. Why would I expect him to be ready for the big things when he was too busy for the little things? Why should I have confidence in a person who wasn’t willing to build his ark before it rained?
The lesson is: Do not ignore the little things. Little things mean everything. Be prepared for anything and don’t procrastinate. The only thing that comes to those who waits is the disappointing news that they missed their opportunity.
God bless you. Go out there and make it your best day yet. Do it now!
- Adolfo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment