You must know the statement that luck favors the prepared. It’s one of my favorite statements of all time because there’s some truth in it, but it’s not a prime directive that you can use word for word. We all need a little luck from time to time, but that doesn’t mean that we should just sit around and wait for things to magically happen.
That’s why I just love that statement, because it seems to be very simple-----but when you let it sink in, it’s about much more than meets the eye. This doesn’t mean though that there are no people out there who simply believe in luck-------maybe you remember that statement of Elon Musk, where he says that he believes that most people tend to default to wishful thinking.
I will admit that it’s a nice enough thought for things to magically happen, but it’s simply not how life works. If you compare it to this statement of Stephen King, then you are really on to something. He said something to the effects of ‘success is 1% inspiration and 99% hard work’.
These are all nice starting points, and they all underline the importance of putting in the effort. Now imagine that you don’t just work hard, but that you also work smart; then you are really on to something. That’s where planning and preparation come in, which will allow you to divide your energies and to actually work smart. And this is more of a skill than anything else. I would even go so far as to state that this is a hopeful statement, because it just underlines that the playing field is much more leveled than we might initially think. In other words: if you are well prepared, great things are more likely to happen.
But it will take some time to really see the value in this. And that’s okay, because life is a journey where you pick up new knowledge and skills along the way. So I will be the first to tell you that I didn’t start out this way, but when I realized that proper planning and preparation would make a huge difference-------that’s when I was sold on the entire idea.
When I just started out in my career I was working from home at night---------every night. This was detrimental to my private life, and I even had a few failed relationships because of that. It wasn’t just the time, but it was also my overall energy that was being drained over time: I had too little off-time to recharge my batteries. Then I made this commitment: I will only work from home on Sunday-evening for 2 hours max.
This meant high intensity in a short burst of 2 hours, and it worked. I no longer needed the overtime during the week (which was also unpaid), and in return I got a lot more free time. Much later I read that this same principle isn’t just used in my profession, but that it’s also being used by people who are way higher up in the chain: the most successful people that you can think of do this as well. That’s why you should try this for yourself, because it will help you become more successful in any pursuit, at any level, at any time.
I recommend that you stick to two hours on Sunday night, because that will usually be the most of high intensity Deep Work that most of us are capable of. This is what you should do during those 2 hours:
- make a plan for the week,
- make brief notes for all the activities that you will have to do during the week (so notes for an article, notes for a presentation, notes for documents that need to be sent, etc etc.).
- And while you do this, you should consider something called NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), where you imagine yourself in a situation, going through all the motions and in a way prep your mind for what lies ahead, as well as any obstacles and how best to deal with those.
The huge reason for sticking to those two hours has to do with urgency: because you have limited the time available for each task, you will need to move quick. To put it another way, you can’t afford for inspiration to strike. So if you’re not entirely sure on how to carry out a task-------make a few notes on what you do know, and what’s complicated about the obstacles in your way. By doing this, you will prime your mind, and when you have made a note to continue to work this out in more detail, on let’s say a Wednesday, your mind will already have been working on this in the background.
