A Willingness To Be Underprepared

Something I’m really focusing on in my self-growth right now is deliberately putting myself outside of my comfort zone, setting me up to rise to the occasion. I have a pattern of wanting to be fully prepared for everything - if I’ve got a big month-long sprint in my work, I’ve got a plan. If I take on a big workout, I chunk it down into smaller parts and pace myself. And while I’m really effective at getting things done with this process, I also see it as limiting.

Ed Mylett says that one of the traits he sees in the most successful people in the world is that they have a  lower threshold for what they need to know to take action. Even though they don’t have it all figured out, they have confidence that they’ll figure it out when it presents itself.

This is precisely why I want to do more things I’m not prepared for, and put myself in situations where I can prove to myself that I have what it takes to succeed through uncertainty. Recently this has taken the form of physical challenges. In September I went to Atlanta to an event called Runningman. I trained to run a half marathon but end up pushing myself 31 miles, completing a 50k and going more than twice as far as I intended. I didn’t have a plan for how I’d go that far, but I figured it out.

And then today, on Veterans Day, I’m taking on another physical feat. I run a campaign called Burpees For Vets where fitness leaders across the country do one burpee for every dollar donated to their fundraiser. We’ve raised over $700,000 for veteran nonprofits in the last 4 years. I participate in the campaign myself and this year have personally fundraised $2,000, meaning that I’m doing 2,000 burpees today.

The process-oriented side of me has already done the math - that’s 6 hours and 40 minutes of doing 5 burpees every minute! And while that’s the game plan, this challenge will certainly push me into new spaces I’ve never been.

I share all of this because there is growth in doing things that you aren’t prepared for. You discover new sides of yourself because they’re forced to come out, and you get to see your mindset on full display. And that’s my encouragement to you - if you notice that you feel a bit too comfortable or settled in, think about something you could do to interrupt the pattern and give you a new experience,