When we put the time and work into preparing, we immediately reap the benefit of confidence. When we are prepared, we are confident. Preparation breeds confidence.
When we are confident, we can communicate clearly and make better decisions.
When I get the chance to speak on stage, I find myself battling nerves. Nerves are a good thing because they keep you sharp and force you to be prepared.
I know this is true because when I get up to speak and I am well prepared, I feel a lot less nerves. I can get up on stage, shake out the butterflies and get rolling.
When I am unprepared, I spend more energy thinking about what others are thinking. I spend too much time looking at my notes, rather than communicating with others.
Image courtesy of Jeroen van Oostrom DigitalPhotos.net
When you are prepared you don’t have to spend so much time thinking about what others may think.
Being prepared isn’t just good when you are standing in front of a crowd speaking. Being prepared is a great principal to integrate into your life.
Think about the next time you have an important meeting. How well would the meeting go if you walked in educated on what the topic was, who you were meeting with and had time to write a few thoughts down beforehand?
Think about when you go for your next job interview. How much more confidence will you have, if you have already though about your own strengths and weaknesses? Or if you have researched the company and can incorporate their core values into your strengths?
I would say things would go much better, because you have prepared.
When we put the time and effort into preparing, we reap the benefit of confidence. Preparation breads confidence. Tweet this!
Life is busy, I am sure you feel the pressure to perform and keep up. I am sure these pressures bring some level of stress into your life.
If you aren’t sold on the need to prepare, here is one big reason. When you are prepared, you experience less stress.
Too much stress drains your energy, makes it hard to concentrate, increases anxiety and increases blood pressure among other negative side effects.
I don’t have much scientific research to back this up. But I don’t think I need to.
You know this is true. I know this is true from my personal experience.
Being well prepared does requires that you manage your time well, so that you can give yourself the time you need.
It’s a good thing to plan preparation time into your schedule.
