Tag: Be Prepared

Are You Prepared?

I was fortunate enough to be a scout when I was young and a scout leader as an adult. I like the Boy Scouts, and I think that they do a good job for kids. They give kids good skills and an ethical compass to follow as they grow to adulthood. I am humbled to say that I earned my rank of Eagle Scout while living in Puerto Rico where my dad was stationed with the Army.

Learning in the scouts was very interesting, and I still try to follow the motto of being prepared. Of course, they never told us what to be prepared to do. Yet it was our motto, ‘Be Prepared.’ I always took this to mean keeping your eyes open and stay light on your feet.

We do not know everything that could come our way, and it is always good to have a plan A, B, or C. It is also useful to understand the things that you would or could do, and those things that you would not or could not do. Having this figured out in advance gives you a framework of what might work best for you.

The world is a very iffy place. This often makes being prepared a guessing game. If you live in the north, you don’t have to prepare for a hurricane, unless you live along the coast, in a place like New Jersey or New York City. You don’t have to be prepared to find bears inside a pizzeria unless you live somewhere like Colorado Springs. And, you do not have to fear attacks from seals, unless you’re a young person sitting on a pier. After looking at some of these things, being prepared sounds like a good thing to consider.

I’m not talking about running to your bunker for safety or hiding under a rock based on what might happen. I am talking about understanding options, a thoughtful response, and a quick personal check to see if you really want to be in a particular situation or not. Often, a minimum of pre-thought can save a lot of ‘I wish I had.’

I hope this is something that may help you. Just remember, it came from a very old Eagle Scout (who once used to be a mean old master Sergeant.)

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Got A Plan?

No matter how well we plan and how secure we think we are we never really know if the good times will last or not. We have great government jobs, and the government shuts down. We save and invest what we earn in great wealth, and the market turns on us, or technology makes our investments fruitless. Sometimes we just cannot count on getting a break.

If you can see yourself as someone who has these worries, do not despair. There is no easy Street, for even those who we think live on easy street often have stresses and heartaches that would break the average person. What you do have and can become more aware of in your life is your great ability for resilience.

Resilience is a great thing. Think of resilience like the old Timex™ watch commercial, it means that you can take a licking and keep on ticking. It says that no matter what is thrown in front of you, you’ve developed a plan of action to get you where you want to go.  You have made contingency plans that if something happens, you have a workaround or a what to do next.  You are on top of it.  Do you have those plans?

You may not get to your final goal, however. If you don’t hit it, you’ll probably come close. That’s what insightful planning does. And if you do not get to where you want to be, at least you have a plan not to get to where you would hate to be. You know how to be resourceful, and you know how to be committed. Are your plans in place?

Have you considered weather, government, and global financial tragedies and set contingency plans accordingly?

So, I have to ask you, of what you have read so far, is this who you are or who you would like to be? Although most of us are aware of many of these problems and the fact that there’s going to be good and bad in all of our lives. We plan more seriously for where we want to go and much less for what could happen along the way. I don’t wish bad for anybody, yet I sincerely hope we all at least have some ideas of the what ifs.

If you are interested in information on planning for your future growth, please send me a quick reply. I will send you some info.

Thanks for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

What’s your story?

Do you know your own story? Most of us can remember some of the critical points. You need to be able to talk sensibly about the important who, what, where and when. Can you give someone your story in about 90 seconds?

I thought I could until the one day a new college president found out that I was finishing a Masters degree in adult education. He looked at me and said, “Tell me your story?” I’ve done a lot with my life. But at that point, with the question coming out of the blue, I found it hard to tell him something that made sense.

I’ve had an exciting life, I was an Eagle Scout, I was in the Air Force for almost 22 years where I worked on five of the seven continents. I built computers for Apple. I have taught people how to use computers, how to find jobs, and how to write resumes.

I was a process engineer who designed the assembly lines, and the process is to build the computers. I have tracked satellites, modified satellite ground stations and worked in research and development. I have an Associate in Applied Science in Electronic Systems Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, and finally a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training. Getting caught flat-footed, how could I put everything understandably in 90 seconds or less?

The trick is to actually think about it and practice beforehand. If I’m going to talk to the head of a technical college, I may need to emphasize different points than I would if I had to speak to a manufacturing vice president. It is not that I’m hiding anything, or over exaggerating certain aspects, I just need to talk to what they’re interested in when they ask.

Getting caught flat-footed was my own fault. We never know when an important question will come or what setting it will be. If we think about the questions that could be asked, by whom and where then we can be prepared. Running over them in our mind from time to time, just to keep them fresh is good. Taking 10 minutes a week to practice it a couple of times is even better.

There is a saying I hear a lot that talks about people not caring what you know until they know how you care. Sometimes you will never even know that people are watching you as you do something good for someone else. They see that you care and want to know more about you. Most life-changing moments are serendipitous and come out of the blue. You may not know when they’re coming, yet we can fall back on our scout training.

Be Prepared!

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