Preparation Leads to Confidence

                                          *  Preparation Leads to Confidence *  

Preparation means tolerating failure but never accepting it. It means having the courage to face defeat without feeling defeated, being disappointed without being discouraged. 

Preparation means learning from our mistakes. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes. We all do. A fool is one who makes the same mistake twice. A person who makes a mistake and doesn't correct it, commits a bigger one. 

The best way to handle a mistake is to.

  #  admit it quickly 

  #  not dwell on it 

 #   learn from it 

 #  not repeat it 

#  not assign blame or make excuses 

Pressure comes from being unprepared. There is no substitute for preparation, practice and hard work. Desire and wishful thinking won't do it. Only preparation will give you the competitive edge.

Pressure can paralyze when a person is not prepared. Just like water gravitates to its own path, success gravitates to those who are prepared. Weak effort gets weak results.  Persistence is a name we give to :- 

# a purpose 

# preparation 

# patience 

# principles 

# positive attitude 

# a plan . 

# price . 

# practice.

Ask yourself : --

Do you have a clearly defined purpose? 

Do you have a plan of action? 

What effort are you putting into preparation? 

What price are you willing to pay? How far are you willing to go? 

Do you have the patience to withstand the gestation period? 

Are you willing to practice toward excellence? 

Do you have any firm principles to stand on? 

Do you have pride in your performance? 

Do you have the "can do" attitude?

* Rationalizing *

Winners may analyze but never rationalize that is a loser's game. Losers always have a book full of excuses to tell you why they could not. 

We hear excuses like :- 

I'm unlucky. 

I'm born under the wrong stars. 

I'm too young. 

I'm too old. 

I'm handicapped. 

I'm not smart enough. 

I'm not educated. 

I'm not good looking. 

I don't have contacts. 

I don't have enough money. 

I don't have enough time. 

The economy is bad. 

If only I had the opportunity. 

If only I didn't have a family. 

If only I had married right. 

The list can go on and on. 

* Not Learning from Past Mistakes :--- 

People who do not learn lessons from history are doomed. Failure is a teacher if we have the right attitude. Failure is a detour, not a dead end. It is a delay, not a defeat. Experience is the name we give to our mistakes.

Some people live and learn, and some only live. Wise people learn from their mistakes wiser people learn from other people's mistakes. Our lives are not long enough to learn only from our own mistakes.

* Fear  :--

Fear can be real or imaginary. It makes people do strange things and primarily comes because of a lack of understanding. To live in fear is like being in an emotional prison. 

Fear results in insecurity, lack of confidence, procrastination. Fear destroys our potential and ability. We cannot think straight. It ruins relationships and health.
 

Some of the common fears are :-

failing 

fear of the unknown 

fear of being unprepared 

fear of making the wrong decision 

fear of rejection  

Some fears can be described, others felt. Fear leads to anxiety, which in turn leads to irrational thinking, which actually sabotages our solution to the problem. The normal response to fear is escape. Escape puts us in our comfort zone and reduces the impact temporarily, while keeping the cause. Imaginary fear magnifies the problem. Fear can get out of hand and destroy happiness and relationships.

Fear of failure often can be worse than failure itself. Failure is not the worst thing that could happen to someone. People who don't try have failed before attempting. When infants learn to walk, they keep falling; but to them it is not failing so they get up. If they got disheartened, they would never walk. It is better to die on one's feet than to live with fear on one's knees .