Getting Ready for Anything
by Peter McLaughlin and Peter McLaughlin, Jr.

The combination of an economic downturn with deep uncertainty in global politics has created an environment of anxiety and hesitation. Most industries are sluggish. Many people’s brains are on “orange alert” status. Compared to a couple years ago, it seems to take twice as much effort to initiate projects, to get checks signed, to achieve growth and results.

To some extent, the feeling of uncertainty is natural. Our country is on the brink of war. Thousands of lives are at stake. The events of the next weeks and months will heavily influence the economy, as well as create an historical shift in international relations and the global balance of power.

Unfortunately, what often results on a personal level is that people fall into a “wait and see” mentality that leads to timidity and mediocrity. The mounting distractions kill focus and erode performance.

Embedded in times of adversity, however, is new opportunity. Rather than allowing the current atmosphere to undermine your productivity and well-being, you can turn it to your advantage. You can use this time to get smarter, stronger, and more effective. You can train yourself to be ready for anything, so that no matter what happens on the global political and economic stage, you are performing at your best, fully engaged in your work and life.

Like the Homeland Security department suggests you equip your house with an Emergency Readiness Kit, I’m recommending the following nine strategies to help you upgrade your personal readiness, attitude, and productivity – the nine ways to get ready for anything:

1. Get Systematic
When times are tough, you can’t leave your performance up to chance. You have to be more deliberate in your work habits and lifestyle. Your actions at work (projects, meetings, commitments, team relationships, and attitude) and in your personal sphere (family time, community involvement, health habits, sleep patterns) – all have to be carefully planned and monitored so you can stay energized and productive.

2. Manage Your Time
More than ever, you have to get real about how you’re spending your time. Have you clarified and written out your goals? Are your daily activities focused on getting results? Are you making every action count? Have you abolished activities that waste your time and sap your vitality?

3. Focus on What You Can Control
While you can’t dictate national policy or market conditions, don’t let that serve as excuse for inaction. Focus on what you can control. As a citizen, that means seek information, educate yourself on the issues, engage in dialogue, and express your opinions. On the job, define what you want to accomplish – today, by Friday, by the end of the month. And get to work. Staying productive helps build confidence, develop skills, and sustain momentum.

4. Practice Heightened Awareness
Stay strong under pressure by cultivating a state of mindfulness and calm alertness. Keep informed of current events, and generate options for various scenarios. Be ready to adjust your business strategy and personal lifestyle to new market and environmental conditions.

5. Adopt a High-Performance Attitude
In today’s environment, fatigue and discouragement seem to stalk like predators. But that’s no reason for dragging down yourself and your team with doubts and complaints. Take 100% responsibility for your attitude. Practice patience, resilience, and relentless optimism. Build a ritual into your morning routine that brings out your best self.

6. Stay Healthy
Tough times and hectic schedules can lead people to neglect their physical health and well-being. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. Research shows that maintaining a healthy diet, exercise, and sleep regimen is one of the single best ways to reduce tension, ignite energy, and improve your mood. Even small upgrades yield big benefits.

7. Stay Connected with Family and Friends
Busy calendars make it easy to lose touch with family and friends. But in times like these, personal relationships are more important than ever. Commit to regularly communicating and spending time with family and friends.

8. Laugh
While laughing may seem a counterintuitive response to a tough market and political instability, humor and laughter allow you to maintain perspective, humanity, creativity, and strong relationships. Of course you have to do everything possible to achieve positive results – on a personal and global level. But that doesn’t mean you should stop having fun.

9. Carpe Diem
Viewed with the right attitude, the current conditions can be a wake-up call to reflect on your lifestyle and make meaningful personal changes. Difficult times extend a personal invitation to begin leading a more fulfilling life. The best place to start is with a commitment to seize the day. Break your goals into 24-hour compartments, and resolve to make the most of each and every one. Use the current situation as a springboard to greater personal engagement at work and a fuller appreciation of life.

Readiness Training

One of the most important ways to get ready for anything is to develop a flexible, calm, alert state of mind. I’ve always loved an old Zen parable that offers a compelling example of this. A young man named Matajura passionately wanted to become a master swordsman. Matajura traveled to visit the famous master Dogan, known as the best swordsman in the land. Matajura met with Dogan, told the master of his ambition, begged to be his apprentice, and promised to be Dogan’s servant if he would teach him the art of swordsmanship. Dogan accepted, and young Matajura went to work.

To Matajura’s dismay, however, master Dogan told him that he would not touch a sword for some time. Instead, Matajura was put to work tending the garden, keeping the house, and preparing meals. After many months of such toil, Dogan one day crept up behind Matajura as he was planting the garden, and whacked him on the back with a wooden sword (much like Kato ambushed Inspector Clouseau in Peter Sellers’ The Pink Panther).

The following day, Matajura was cleaning the kitchen when he suffered another surprise attack and whack from the wooden sword. And so it went: Dogan springing out of closets and dark corners to set upon Matajura with the wooden sword.

As the skirmishes went on, Matajura learned – with greater and greater dexterity – how to anticipate the attacks and agilely escape the blows. In a flash, he could duck, jump, pivot, or gracefully sidestep any assault. In mind and body, he became “eternally quick and ready.”

Only after he reached this state of calm alertness and perpetual readiness did Dogan begin teaching him the skills of swordsmanship. Very quickly, the story goes, Matajura became the best swordsman in all Japan.

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