Prepared to be unprepared

In February 2023 My wife Emily and I will get to see our little baby girl arrive into this world. I have been expressing to everyone…. I am fully prepared to be unprepared.

It’s amazing how life teaches us so many lessons along the way. One of the most important lessons is the dance between preparation and acceptance of the outcome what ever it maybe.?

It was Jim Rohn who first opened my eyes to this lesson when he talked about detaching from the outcome whilst still planning and progressing. A fine balance that has allowed me to be fully prepared to be unprepared.?

Set goals not for the outcome itself, but for who you get to become in the process.

Jim Rohn

This isn’t a common way of thinking. I have found that most people are either attached to how things should be and work hard towards that end, which often leads to disappointment and frustration.?Others who let go and leave it totally to fate, missing the personal growth and learning.

?I used to be the guy who would plan for a specific outcome, and then get frustrated when things didn't work out that way. I was under the illusion that I had control over all possible factors controlling my fate… ??.?Once I realised that there are so many factors that impact my journey that are way out of my control or influence I tried the other way. I didn’t plan, and I just waited to see what happened….which left me very unprepared and overwhelmed. So what did I do?

My mentor at the time once said - "there are two types of people, those who wait to get a map before entering the woods, and those who just dive right into the woods and figure it out as they go." ?I could see the benefit of both ways.?

I learned to ‘plan for failure’ - I looked at all the challenges that I can think of that may impact my plan and come up with some ideas of how I might handle those challenges should they happen. Then I brain storm all the things I can do to prepare for the outcome I would like. Once all this is done, I open up to, and fully accept the fact that I am not in control, and so with all those plans in place, I detach emotionally from my need for any particular outcome to happen and instead honour the process of growth. Why? It calms my mind into a state of pure acceptance, and in doing so leaves me with more energy and readiness to take on what ever happens.?

I have found that I used to waste a lot of energy trying so hard to get a specific outcome. Which is a fruitless pursuit. I have learn’t that for me, my ability to handle the unexpected has increased when I relax into the idea that I am not in control, and most importantly I believe, based on the many challenges and rides in life I have moved through, that I can handle what ever comes my way.

Even if I find I can’t handle it, guess what, accepting even that brings more ease to the situation.?

When we judge our state of being negatively we are no longer in acceptance and then we burn a lot more needed energy that allows us to move forward and figure it out. Because everything is ‘figure-out-able’?(including making up words to fit your copy :)

So, plan and conceive of all the outcomes and road blocks, keeping moving forward towards your goal with passion and believe in yourself and the world, then detach from the outcome and accept what will be will be.?