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How Much Preparation Is Enough?
A balanced approach that works when you do something new
We don’t think much about preparation until we try something new.
It’s a new year as I write this. Resolutions might be on your mind. Or if you’ve had trouble keeping them, you might not even set any.
When we follow the path our habits lay out for us, we move without thinking. Breaking a habit is a lot like uprooting an oak tree. There are roots that grow as the years pass. The longer we engage in a given behavior, the deeper the roots go.
When you learn to ride a bike, you take a lot of precautions to protect yourself. You fasten training wheels to hold the bike upright. You wear pads to keep from scraping your knees and elbows. But when the training wheels come off and you learn to ride the bike skillfully on your own, you’re free. Even if you stop riding for decades, you can get back on and pick up right where you left off.
Two Approaches to Preparation
One way to get ready to do something is to study it in great detail first. College is a great example of that.
The problem is that sometimes you spend so much time getting ready, you never start doing the actual work.
