The Power of Preparation

Would you say you are prepared? Prepared for whatever comes your way?

In this episode we dive into the power of being prepared. Preparedness came be a game changer when it comes to being ready for any opportunities that come your way.  A  little preparation can truly go a long way.  Preparedness creates margin and flexibility and so much more. 

Benjamin Franklin said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Honestly he was onto something. Listen in for some words of wisdom and tools that can help you experience the power of being prepared in a whole new way!

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Do you have questions you’d love to ask but don’t because you aren’t sure who to ask or you’d rather not let the world in on not having it all together? I am here for it! I can't wait to answer your questions. DM me on Instagram @jennifersise and I will answer your question on an episode soon.

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Here’s to more intentional connection and less grind … 9 minutes at a time!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

If you had a dollar for every time you heard yourself or someone else say I don't have time for that, you'd probably be rich. I know life can feel like a circus, especially when you're trying to juggle it all, and I know what it's like to be pulled in a million different directions and to feel like there's never enough time to do all the things for all the people. But I really believe that what you want is possible. It just requires some decision making and intentional action. You truly can't make time or find time. You have to set it apart, and I'll show you how to make big moves and take game changing action nine minutes at a time. I'm Jennifer Seiss. I love helping impact-oriented women run their home life and business, gain traction in their day to day and have more time with the people they love the most. My heart is to share what I've learned along the way and help you get more of what you want out of your life and work. Every episode is designed to get you on your way to a quick win. So grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair and let's start making more of your time. Hey there, and welcome to the In 9 Minutes podcast. I'm Jennifer Seiss, and I can't wait to connect with you for the next nine minutes.

Speaker 1: 1:14

Do you remember the scene in Friends when Monica is meeting Russ's new baby for the very first time and the first thing she says to her new nephew after she introduces herself is that she will always have gum? And she says I will always have gum. And as I was watching a rerun of that episode the other day, monica said that and I had this thought that that's me. I always have gum and I don't know about you, but having gum is one of those things that sort of boosts my feeling of preparedness, like having Advil or a water bottle. Being prepared means being proactive and taking steps to ensure that you're ready for whatever may come your way. It means to be ready for use created in advance, preplanned and ready to do or deal with something.

Speaker 1: 2:00

According to the strong Bible, the definition according to Scripture is the word prepare means to be firm, be stable, be established, to be set up, to be ready and to make an arrangement, and someone else being prepared on my behalf when I was growing up had a very profound impact on my life. Someone else made arrangements for me and when I was a little girl, one of my friends' moms was one of the most amazing women to this day that I have ever known and she was always prepared and for every field trip in elementary school she always made an extra sack lunch in case someone needed it and I think she knew that it would be me that I would need the lunch and it was always a summer sausage sandwich on Roman meal, bread with yellow mustard, fresh frozen peaches, chips, a homemade dessert, and it never failed that there was a water bottle and a Capri Sun pouch inside and I always felt so loved and encouraged by that and it gave me such a heart to be prepared and to be prepared on behalf of other people as I was growing up and especially as I became a mother. And I've been told at time or 10 that I always seem to have what someone else might need in my bag and if I'm on a trip with you, there is a high likelihood that I will have whatever you need. And my uncle says it's always like I'm carrying a Mary Poppins bag around. If you catch me without gum, well, you should send for help because something has definitely gone awry. When my kids were growing up, I made an extra lunch for kids in my kids' classes when they were in elementary school, because that had such a profound impact on me someone being prepared on my behalf over and over and that spurred me on to do the same thing. And I have seen the power of being prepared over and over, and I'm sure you've experienced it too. And being prepared, of course, is about more than having gum. But part of being prepared for me is having what's essential on hand in any situation, and being prepared matters for a lot of reasons.

Speaker 1: 4:13

Preparedness can be a game changer in your readiness to jump at any opportunity that presents itself. And Benjamin Franklin said by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. There are a lot of different areas in life to be prepared for, and you cannot be prepared for everything, but there is so much that you can be prepared for and for today we're going to talk a little bit about being prepared just for your daily life, just for regular life, so that you can be available and ready for any opportunities that come your way and you can help other people be ready for opportunities that come their way too. So I wonder if you'd take a moment to consider how you go about your daily life. Are you missing out on some opportunities because you are not preparing yourself sufficiently? Do you always find yourself repeating the same mistakes over and over because you resist preparation? Or do you find yourself wishing things were different and knowing in the back of your mind that a little preparation could go a long way to set you up to be able to seize more opportunities and make less of the same mistakes over and over?

Speaker 1: 5:28

And think about how you feel when you are prepared. There are probably hundreds of times in your life where you've experienced the value of preparation, whether it was preparation you did or preparation that someone did on your behalf. And as I thought more about the idea and the value of being prepared, I thought about sometimes when being prepared impacted my life and the people around me, and I think some of these things may resonate with you. And remember, preparation adds up. Being ready, layers, making arrangements in advance can do so much, and while in that one moment of being prepared, you might not feel the weight and the value of it right, then, over time you will, and it is so worth doing.

Speaker 1: 6:14

So some of the things that came to mind were things like having a water bottle for my kids. I loved, just when they were thirsty, being able to give them what they needed. When my kids were little, I always had a pouch in my bag we called it the ouch pouch and everything you could ever need for a wound or a headache or anything like that was inside and it was small. It wasn't any bigger than like a handheld device, like maybe a Nintendo switch I'm not really sure how big those are, but that kind of comes to mind and it was a small bag but it was mighty because it held what was needed inside.

Speaker 1: 6:46

I think about times where I was ready to have a gawky or hard conversation with my kids, because I built relationships with them and connection and we had a way for having hard conversations. And part of being prepared was literally practicing my game face in the bathroom mirror, not when I needed it, not right before I needed it, but consistently over time, because then, when those hard conversations came up, I was ready. And let me tell you, as a mom of a 22 and 24 year old, the world gives you ample opportunity for hard, gawky conversations, for sure. I think about times where I went to a family gathering and I was preparing with the words I needed to say, in order to hold a boundary that was really important for my immediate family, and there were so many times that being prepared, or helping others be prepared, has been a game changer. And being prepared does things like reduces stress, reduces anxiety, eliminates fear, decreases overwhelm, increases productivity.

Speaker 1: 7:50

Being prepared helps you use the resources that you have available to you more effectively and efficiently. Being prepared helps you combat things when life goes off the rails and you know it will. Being prepared helps you navigate those things more readily. Being prepared helps you show up fully, and being prepared helps you be more decisive, and let's be honest, who doesn't want more of that? As a little side note, research shows that chewing gum while performing tasks can improve certain brain functions like alertness, memory, understanding and decision making, and the link between decision making and preparedness is a tight one, and I'm going to do a whole episode on the concept of making decisions in advance and the value and importance of those things. The more prepared you are, the easier it is to make decisions, and the chewing gum piece is just a little bonus. When you are more prepared, you can make more effective decisions.

Speaker 1: 8:55

Preparation also creates margin in your life. It seems counterintuitive because it takes time to be prepared, but when you prepare, you actually wind back time and it allows you to be in the moments of your life. It allows you to be more present. Being prepared allows for flexibility, and think about all of the areas that you've actually been prepared and the times and seasons where you've been more prepared and what that's been like for you and the flexibility that offered you, because when life happened, you had space to deal with it and navigate it. When you think about preparedness, it can feel like a big, huge, arduous task. It can feel overwhelming and like there is so much that you have to do, but you get to decide to be prepared. You already have the tools and it's very likely that you know exactly what to do, and waiting to have more time to be prepared isn't going to do it for you. Waiting until you have more time to get prepared is not going to help you.

Speaker 1: 10:01

So think about one thing that you can do for the week to be more prepared. Can you meal plan? Can you order your groceries and have them delivered? Can you map out your schedule in advance? Can you set your alarm for 20 minutes earlier so you can have some quiet time and read your Bible in the morning and really spend time centering yourself for your day. What's one thing you can do to prepare your household? Can you vacuum on Sunday nights so that you wake up on Monday morning ready to tackle the week? What can you do to help your kids be more prepared? What can you do to be more prepared to reach your health goals? Do you need to set out your clothes every night? Do you need to fill your water bottle in advance?

Speaker 1: 10:37

You get the idea and you might be asking how do you find the time to prepare, especially in busy seasons, because you feel like you're barely surviving. But the truth is, as you've heard it before on the show, you can't find the time. You have to set it apart. You have to set apart time to prepare. And what if you consider this? What if you spent nine minutes a day, just nine minutes preparing for tomorrow, cutting up some fruit, writing down the order of your day so you don't get distracted by trying to figure out what to do next, packing your kids lunches, laying out your clothes for the day, prepping the coffee pot, sending reminders to clients for meetings? This guy's really the limit, and it just takes a little decision making and intentional action, and what you will feel when you are more prepared really is so much relief, and it's very energizing to be prepared, because it allows you to move from one thing to the next more efficiently and effectively. If you're having trouble deciding what to do, pop in a piece of gum and give yourself a minute to kick in the benefits of chewing gum paired with decision making. So here's to being more prepared, just nine minutes at a time. And, in case you're wondering, my favorite gum is Spearmint Trident Vibes.

Speaker 1: 12:01

Thanks so much for listening today. Do you have questions you'd love to ask, but don't because you aren't sure who to ask, or you'd rather not let the world in on not having it all together? I get it. I get lots of questions all the time, from parenting to business development, to Bible study recommendations, to the best meal to serve a crowd and even how to navigate hard conversations. My husband and kids call me Google and since I'm a problem solver by nature and love research, it sort of fits. So I am so excited to answer your questions. You can share your questions with me by DMing me on Instagram at Jennifer Seiss and I'll answer your questions on an upcoming episode. So here's to more intentional connection and less grind. Nine minutes at a time.