Preparation

I have many deficiencies; one of my particular strengths that has emerged over the years has been my preparation.

I didn't always do well with preparation. When I was young I was clever and cocky enough that I could improvise quite successfully. As my responsibilities grew this became unsustainable and I made a commitment to try and maintain that level of success through preparation.

I give a lot of credit to my first yoga instructor Gloria Pilot, who taught us new postures by first demonstrating them and then asking us to visualize what we would need to do to achieve them, breaking down complex actions into individual steps. This became a mantra for me, this visualization.

Nowadays it is second nature for me to approach a future task by identifying what I need to achieve it, what resources I need to acquire, who will be involved in working with me and when is best to ask for their assistance. 

This carries over to teaching as well as public speaking. I have given much thought to what I want others to take away from their interactions with me and shaped my message with that as my focus. Humor often is the first step as a way of getting folk's attention and disrupting their initial train of thought in order to have their focus on my given task. Form follows from desired function.

Preparation extends beyond completion as much of my work is ongoing. If people have helped me I express my gratitude in a way that makes them feel good about having helped me in hope that that reinforcement will encourage future assistance. I am very observant as to who has helped me best and who to avoid in the future.