By Ruth Tovey
- Being prepared
- Being ready – what’s the difference?
- How we can help you with both
Being prepared
Have you seen this incredible clip about the Doomsday Seed Vault?
Just wow! It’s one that I watched recently and it really made me think about ‘being prepared’ on a vast scale.
Are you sewing the seeds of a better future?
I’ve been known to fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to day-to-day life, my theory being that most things (especially when you throw children into the mix) tend to be fluid and subject to change with little, or no notice. Letting go of my previously tightly controlled reigns on life is something that certainly crept up on me gradually after having children. They just didn’t fall in with my carefully laid plans and ideas. Suddenly I was ninja-kicking away obstacles and changes of plan that were being hurled at me by small, dependent beings.
Now they’re older, and a bit more self-sufficient, the need for total abandonment of an ordered life has eased somewhat, but there’s still the occasional moment where I find myself floundering around like a fish out of water, with one foot squarely in ‘sane parent’ territory and one in ‘about to lose my marbles about a forgotten PE kit/ lunch money/ homework book’ territory.
That being said, in amongst my outwardly quite laissez-faire attitude, I’m internally a bit of a (female) boy scout on the quiet, and live by the mantra ‘be prepared’. I find it easier to go with the flow, when I know that I have a back-up plan, just in case. That’s why I have to write lists, neatly pack bags of sports gear, lay out school clothes the evening before, prepare emergency snack bags for the children in the car, set reminders on my phone (e.g. – to write my blogs), mark phone meetings on my wall planner, my phone and any other scrap of paper I can lay my hands on. The list(s) go on and along with a multitude of other small things I do day-to-day, they help me feel prepared for most eventualities. They put me in some sort of zen productivity zone by removing the worry. Then, and only then, can I accept the changeable way of the world and present to it a relatively laid back persona: I have plans and they help me relax.
We all like to plan for the arrival of Friday!
Being ready, what’s the difference?
Personally I’ve found ‘being prepared’ is not the same as being ‘being ready’, there’s a subtle difference centred on my readiness to act. To me, being prepared means doing the ground work, or having a plan in place to make sure everything runs smoothly and knowing what you need to do when the time comes. Being ready means being in a state of emotional readiness to undertake the task or face something challenging.
Challenge: sum up New Zealand and Redtarn PR & Events in one picture…
When we lived in New Zealand, earthquakes were a regular enough feature of our lives that we got used to being prepared for them. Emergency kits and your children knowing the ‘drop, cover, hold’ action were part and parcel of living on the shaky isle. That being said, we were never ‘ready’ for those quakes, and emotionally felt quite exposed and shaky (pardon the pun!) for a while after each one. Prepared? Yes. Ready? No. This Cotswold-raised girl struggled with the anger and force of mother nature during our time in New Zealand, that’s for sure.
How we can help you with both
Being almost ready is a good place to be. Having a plan, being ready to go and also being open to change are all within your grasp.
We’re not planning to create a global back-up system for you and your team – not yet anyway! Nor are we suggesting that there are easy-to-summarise universal truths to being prepared and being ready that everyone will find pertinent.
What we can do, however, is work with you to help create an environment where you and your team can take the leap from ‘prepared’ to ‘ready’ – being willing and able to act when the time comes to make a difference to your organisation.
From event management to public relations and marketing, and from public speaking to management training, we know our qualities, we’ve got our plans in place and we’re ready to act. Best of all, we can take the guesswork out of the unknown in these areas for you.
Would you like to see what our existing clients have said about our work so far?
Feel free to drop us a line any time.