The ultimate form of preparation

The ultimate form of preparation is not planning for a specific scenario, but a mindset that can handle uncertainty.

Respect, feeling useful, and control over their time

People have vastly different desires, except for three things: Respect, feeling useful, and control over their time. Those are nearly universal.

Focus on your next three

You're holding the things you think you need to get done in your head all at once. This overwhelms you. But it's in the mind. In reality, all we ever have is the one thing right in front of us. So pay attention to the delicious beauty of the present moment. Identify your next 1-3 priorities.

Replace worrying with weird, forced laughter

Worrying is one of our biggest soul killers and it never does us any good. Try this. When you feel worry coming on, and you have a strong urge to immerse yourself in negative thoughts, laugh. Chuckle like a freak clown who’s just received his paycheck. This trains the mind to associate worry with fun. You can’t lose.

Do fewer things masterfully

It’s nearly impossible to be scared when you’ve done the reps. No one was born a magnificent TED speaker. They decided to do something cool and committed to practising it. A lot. This is why you get people who are the lamest nerds one year and a crowd-dazzler the next. Make it easier on yourself. Choose to focus on less. And become so good you can’t wait for the world to experience your brilliance.

Feel your way into uncertainty.

Most of us scaredy-cats think our way into an unknown future, take one sniff, and fuck off out of there sharpish. Why? Because we’re in our heads, listening to our bizarre opinions about what we think might happen. They’re wrong. Let go of these thoughts, and find a way to bring sexy heat to your next steps.

Busy is a decision

We do the things we want to do, period. If we say we are too busy, it is just shorthand for the thing being "not important enough" or "not a priority." Busy is not a badge. You don’t find the time to make things, you make the time to do things.