Why Preparation Is Overrated

Preparation is hugely overrated.Many of us spend our lives preparing, training and "getting ready" only to wake up one day wondering when the hell we're ever going to arrive.

Preparing to be generous

Maybe you're working on your finances and really want to get to a place of stability and independence before you focus on giving and generosity. Logically this makes perfect sense, you want to take care of yourself before you give to others.But what if the path to more stability and abundance was actually found through giving more before you're "ready"?Besides, when is ready anyway? When will you have enough to where you can give?Knowing what your enough point is can help, but there are still many ways you can give now, without it negatively impacting your personal goals and wellbeing. You can volunteer your time, or donate some of the things you have that you no longer need or use.Doing this might actually make you feel more abundant, which is precious fuel to help you stay motivated to reach your goals.

Preparing to be free

You might be working on not needing approval from others, and working on your self-confidence.Because you're still cautious, you don't put yourself out there and really express yourself freely. You're not ready to unleash the wildness inside of you, because you want to work on becoming more confident first.After all, you could risk being wild and free by walking around your neighborhood barefoot or howling at the moon and you might get some strange looks of fear or disapproval. That would obviously ruin everything, because it would prove you are weird and an outcast from the tribe. Feeling like that could majorly set you back.But what if you could simply start being more wild and free right now, and in turn, inspire others to be more open and expressive? What if it was actually the best self-confidence training possible because it proved you didn't really need others approval in the first place?Nothing bad is likely to happen if you're a little unconventional anyway.You might even ignite a spark in others that turns you into a leader (but wait, don't you have to prepare for that too?).

Preparing to play

Another way we trap ourselves with preparation is with work. Once we've put in enough time and sacrifice, then we'll play. Maybe on the weekend, or maybe when we're retired.We've got to earn it after all, right?Are you beginning to see the pattern?What all of this really comes down to is not demonizing preparation or hard work. (I'm a big fan of working your ass off on things you really believe in.)It's much deeper than that.Preparation and sacrifice is definitely a key part of being a human, but we shouldn't work endlessly until we've sufficiently met the prerequisites for joy and freedom.You can...

• ...help people even if you haven't got it all figured out.
• ...give even if you aren't in the most abundant situation right now.
• ...play even if you haven't mastered your physical fitness.
• ...be wild and free even if you haven't become a God of Self Confidence.
• ...idly let the world pass you by in ecstatic fucking-aroundness even if you haven't put in your 50+ years of work.

Preparation is useful if you want to reach a goal. The quest to level up is an endless part of human existence. We can't stop it even if we wanted to.But what we can do is enjoy the shit out of the ride along the way and stop fooling ourselves that someday we'll earn our way into being ready to really live.Life is right fucking now.If you've gotten really good at preparing then maybe it's time you cash in and start using what you've been waiting for.