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Jim L. Smith has more than 45 years of industry experience in operations, engineering, research and development and quality management. You can reach Jim at faceofquality@qualitymag.com.

Jim’s Gems: Prepare to Succeed

October 15, 2012
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Diligent, and persistent, preparation leads to outstanding achievement.  Alexander Graham Bell, the great scientist and inventor, said “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success”. What are you preparing for right now?

In every moment, in every action, you are preparing yourself for one thing or another. It sounds simple, but if you prepare yourself for what you truly desire, it will come to be. Your will and actions, will simply not allow otherwise.

Opportunities are constantly coming your way. Yet in order for them to be of any value, you must be prepared to take advantage of those opportunities.  Tony Robbins, the self-help writer and motivational speaker said, “The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.”

With that understanding, luck is what you choose to make it.  The sooner you begin to prepare, the more lucky you will become, or the more you can achieve.  Being prepared gives you considerably more options and puts time on your side.

If you choose to put in the effort today, you can feel good that you are preparing for tomorrow. By putting in the effort today, you are preparing yourself for the times to come. Build one day upon another, with focus, positive intention and purpose, and you'll build a personal and professional life that will be  spectacular.

The power of preparation is the belief that each moment in your life is your opportunity to prepare yourself for reaching higher and higher levels of fulfillment. Prepare well, and your life will reap many great rewards.  As Colin Powel said, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”  

There are no short-cuts to achieving what you really desire.  Success requires preparation with much of it seemingly going unnoticed but the outcome will be noticed.  An outcome of preparation is self-confidence and self-confidence breeds success.  If you want to be more successful, start preparing for success.

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