Being Prepared When You Don’t Know What You’re Doing

Before engaging in any undertaking, it pays to be prepared.  It pays to have a plan and a subsequent alternate plan in case of contingencies.

On the other hand, too much planning can lead to paralysis and inaction.  There is a balance somewhere in the middle and it’s what you need to find.

In order to plan properly, you need to familiarize yourself with what you’re planning about.  If you’re gonna drive a car for the first time, it’s a little silly to make plans. You can read all the books you want and ask everyone all sorts of questions but you can never be fully prepared.  You don’t know how you will react when the engine conks out or when another car cuts your lane.  Is your instinctive reaction one of panic or embarassment or calmness?  The best thing to do is to get the first time over with and just take the plunge.

In order to make a good plan, you need to have a map.  This map represents the territory of the experience.  In order to build a map, you need sensual experience.  Sure, you can get information from books or other sources but when you depend on that, you create a map based from your understanding of other people’s explanation of their own maps.  It’s watered down data that you can’t even relate with because you have never been in a similar situation.

There are only two things I prepare myself for when doing something for the first time:

1. Make sure I don’t die
2. Make sure nobody else gets hurt

With those two things clearly resolved in my mind, I take the plunge.

When you make a plan without a sensible map of the experience, you’ll find yourself faced with too many questions and no answers whatsoever.  You can look towards other people’s answers, but you can never relate them to yourself.

Sometimes, we plan too much out of fear.  Doing something for the first time is a scary proposition.  Planning can make you feel better because you’re involving yourself with something about the experience.  The downside is you waste all this time in your head while the experience is out there waiting for you.

If you notice this behavior in yourself about anything you’re looking at doing, whether going into business or dating again after a divorce, try putting the planning on a halt and take baby steps instead.  What’s the smallest step available towards your goal?  Do that now.  Every small step you take creates a clearer map, allowing you a better view towards your next step.

Take the plunge.

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