When is enough enough? Let’s say you’re preparing to give a speech or make some sort of presentation. Maybe you’re a sales person and have to go into a meeting with a client or prospect. You think, “I better get myself ready!” So, you start studying your subject matter. You learn everything you can about the topic on which you’ll be speaking or the product you’ll be selling. You learn what you can about the prospect or audience. You begin to envision the event as vividly as you can. And you prepare your contingency plans. What do you do if they say this, do that, object to your proposal, or show signs of disagreement?

At some point, your work is done. You reach a point where you’ve done all your homework, planned what you could, and written it all down. But there’s still time between then and when you make the presentation. That’s the time I’d like to address.

At that point, it’s common to begin rethinking, ruminating, churning, and worrying. That’s when we go back and tweak everything, look it over a second and third time, question our original ideas, or fall into a fearful place. What if I don’t remember what I need to say? What if I’ve completely misjudged what these people need from me? What if…

There comes a point where preparation needs to take on a different quality; where the very nature of preparation shifts from external to internal. All the early preparation was about doing. You needed to learn things, plan things, imagine things, etc. But after a point, the goal must shift from one of doing to one of being.

Notice if you find yourself going back and questioning your actions, your knowledge, or your strategies. If you find that you are, try to force yourself to stop your actions immediately, including your thoughts. Recognize the signs of poor internal preparation which are obsessiveness and lack of confidence in what you know.

Internal preparation is about sitting still. Sit quietly and calmly, and when you notice your mind trying to take you back to a “necessary action” just watch the thought come and go. Affirm your preparedness, and in the quiet affirm the reality of “faith mind.”

Faith mind is the understanding that a calm and centered mind will come up with all the answers it needs to come up with at precisely the right moment, and that no amount of doing and planning can possibly bring about a better outcome than just being in the right state of mind.

So, if you’ve got something you’ve been preparing for, and you find that your mind is driving you crazy, stop believing it when it tells you all the things you “need” to do, and start quieting it down. Have faith in your ability to meet the demands of your circumstances, practice calmness, and allow the internal preparation to bring about surprising results.

…let it go.

To learn more about Dr. Steve, go to www.stevetaubman.com