Today’s article is an important lesson about being prepared, how to prepare, and how good planning can help you overcome fear and anxiety.
I had a client recently suggest that being prepared is one of the big lessons he feels we, as a society, need to learn from the pandemic. He also noted that when it comes to life planning, we tend to focus on the right now, rather than the future and how as a result of that, we inevitably don’t put a life plan together for the future.
Anxiety Takes Over When You Are Not Prepared
At all levels, when we’re not prepared, we’re often caught off guard. Also, anxiety tends to take over, doubt kicks in, and we’re filled with fear and uncertainty. It’s important that we learn how to be prepared for the unexpected.
This also ties into the concept of being prepared – the 6 Ps of Planning – and it’s a concept I’ve been sharing with people for some time. One of the planning quotes I love to share is:
Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
When it comes to being prepared and goal setting, we need to look at all areas of our lives – both personal and professional. And the goal is to be prepared and have a prior plan.
Use Questions to Be Prepared So You Can Overcome Fear and Axiety
One of the ways we can be prepared is to ask ourselves ‘what if’ questions:
What if this were to happen?
What if that were to happen?
How can I overcome that?
What are the tools, tips and strategies that I need to prevent failure/ensure success?
This ties into the concept that prevention is better than a cure. And there are many layers to that.
Other questions to ask yourself when it comes to being prepared and when the unexpected happens are:
Do I have a Plan A?
Do I have a Plan B?
Life Planning to Prepare for Murphy’s Law
I often share with people that:
It’s not IF life throws obstacles and hurdles at us, it’s WHEN.
You see, it’s good old Murphy’s Law that things WILL BE thrown at us regardless. I’m sure you’ve experienced it; you put things in place, get started, and then Murphy’s Law kicks in. And so, being prepared and proper planning helps us to overcome that.
Be Prepared to Take Action
So my challenge to you when it comes to being prepared is to start with the small areas of your life before tackling the bigger areas (career, relationships, and health).
On a day-to-day basis, what are some of the things you can do to practice this concept of being prepared and planning your life?
A Psychological Strategy To Help You Overcome Fear and Anxiety
A great preparation tool I recommend is planning your day the night before. Planning your day the night before allows you to go into the new day with an organised mind because you have already thought things through. The great thing about planning the night before is it reduces anxiety.
On a practical level, it might be as simple as ironing your clothes the night before.
Another Practical Example of Being Prepared:
If we want to go to the gym first thing in the morning, we can have our gym clothes all set out. If we’ve got a meeting the next day, it could be looking over and working on the agenda for the meeting, which allows us to go into the meeting feeling mentally prepared. This also means we’re more relaxed because we’ve anticipated some of the things that may or may not go wrong, allowing us to put a plan in place.
Passing on Life Skills to the Next Generation
It’s also important to teach this concept of being prepared to our children. Because it’s an important lesson on many different levels. Examples could include preparing for school the following day by:
- getting homework done early,
- emptying/cleaning their lunch box,
- packing their school bag, and
- having school clothes ready
Being prepared in this way will also help them manage not only the practical things for the day, but also reduce fear, anxiety, stress and worry.
The key points to overcoming fear and anxiety with preparation are:
Prevention is better than a cure
And the tongue twister or quote about planning for the future:
Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
I hope you take this lesson and put it into place. But before you practise it in the bigger areas of your life, practise it in those small areas.
Find ways to practise it daily, and you will find it will compound over time. Then, as you become more prepared on a daily basis, it will become habitual behaviour and will carry over for the remainder of your life.
May you have an on track day!
Brad Everton
Psychologist and International Author
Synergy Mind Solutions