preparationrocks

Preparation Rocks

I have not spent enough time 'preparing' lately.

I get so caught up in getting things done that I've (erroneously) neglected good preparation in a couple areas.

Abraham Lincoln once said: 'Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.'

I've been 'catching up' on some of the newer software and finally finished reading the 700+ pages of Office 2007 all-in-one desk reference for Dummies (I understand these are called the Yellow Books--as in The Yellow Book for Office 2007) by Peter Weverka (note: there are multiple authors for these series--this author is particularly good).

Although the book has 700 plus pages, if you make it through the first 100 or so, you start getting quite a bit of 'repeat' or 'reinforcement.' Likewise, it's broken into sections for the various Microsoft programs like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, etc. If you routinely only use one or two programs, there's a lot less reading. All I can say is:

I should have read this YEARS ago.

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P.S. I've found learning involves multiple stages and, it's really easy to miss one or two. These are the ones I try NOT to miss:

• • preparing for WHAT I want to learn so I get the right materials and pursue the right opportunities,

  • taking the time to learn,

  • recognizing that learning and remembering are not the same things: remembering usually takes reinforcement, and

  • applying what I've learned so it has a positive benefit for both myself and others.

It won't take long to find out how well I remember and do applying some of the things I've learned. I've already started.