Preparation is where the Magic Happens, the delivery is just for sharing
Monday, February 20, 2017 at 9:53AM
Matthew Bywater in Preparation

Most of us have been there, left it to the last minute to write a report (assignment, presentation etc), felt relieved that we made it on time, maybe even felt a little proud of how brilliant we work under pressure. Sound familiar?

But have we really won? Have we learnt and grown in the process? Or perhaps we have just survived and reinforced some bad habits?

You don’t prepare for a 100 meter sprint the night before, you also don’t just practice by running 100m training drills. There is a whole raft of exercises, diet plans etc that go into delivering your best performance.

“Nobody works better under pressure, they just work faster” Brian Tracy.

If we look at these moments as an opportunity learn and grow; by really exploring the subject down to its tiniest component; by digging deep we get to really know a subject rather than skim over it. By gaining in depth knowledge of a new subject we pick up all the important points and also create an environment for neurogenesis (birth of new neurons) to occur.

“Scientific studies on neurogenesis reveal what many of us already knew. We can learn new things throughout life. A person in their eighties still grows new neurons but to harness the potential of these newborn cells, we need to keep challenging ourselves, explore new things, exercise, and see the proverbial cup, not as half empty, but as half full” Susan R Barry Ph.D (Psychology Today)

This outlook helps gets us past the inertia of the boring parts; the research, the cross-checking etc. By going in with an explorative mind we not only find information of great value and depth to improve our work, but may also come out with a totally new point of view.

By having this explorative outlook we condition ourselves to learn, to grow and always deliver the kind of work we can be proud of.


 

Article originally appeared on Matthew Bywater | Marketing Strategist & Media Commentator (http://matthewbywater.com/).
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