100% Ready

Here is a well-known quote from Les Brown; “It's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” Have you heard of it? (pause) We have been told the importance of preparedness. To be prepared for the opportunity, so that when it comes, we are ready to grab it. (pause) Wait, but have you ever wondered, "how much should I be prepared?" (pause) I took that quote too seriously. And as a matter of fact, I was never prepared enough to take the train.

 

I grew up in France. As the only Asian kid in the class, I was good at math. Not only was I good, (pause) I was excellent. When my friends were counting with their fingers, I was doing math in my head. When they were having difficulties with doing plus and minus with 2 digits, I was doing multiplication and division. You might think that's nothing. But back then, I thought I was a genius. When I came back to Korea and my teacher told me there is a national mathematic competition, I signed up for it right away. I took a big bus to travel to another city, I entered the room full of future Einsteins, and when the bell ring and the competition began, I received a test sheet full of challenging questions. In a second, I knew (pause) I was in the wrong place. I could not solve any of those problems. I was staring at the paper while hearing others furiously writing down their answers. The test took about 2 hours, but the taste of bitterness inside made those hours feel like an eternity. That night coming back home, I thought "I should have been more ready for that. I was not prepared enough."

 

That feeling didn't go away for a long time. I studied hard and I worked hard to be prepared, but I never felt 100% ready for anything. So I couldn't say 'yes' to an opportunity. I wasn't ready.

 

On the good side, however, being not enough was the fuel to work harder. I joined Toastmasters because I believed I was not prepared enough for speaking in English. I registered for a Toastmasters conference because I knew there was more to learn. At that conference, I was hit by a message. I don't remember who the keynote speaker was, but I clearly remember what he said, (pause)

"Start even before you are ready".  

He said we are missing great opportunities because we believe that we are not prepared for them. And the fact is there is no need to be 100% ready to start something.

 

That inspired me. I decided to try one thing that I would never have done before. I volunteered to be the officer of the club before I was prepared. I was scared of not being prepared and I was afraid of what others think. What if other officers think I am not helpful... But that was not true. I brought value to the team from the place I am, and I learned from the experiences with the process moving forward. Even when I faced challenges by lacking knowledge, I had support from people around me. From a disappearing club with only 4 members where all of them had multiples officer roles, we grew our club into an active club with more than 20 members. I learned that I can do something even though I didn't feel ready.

 

Since then, I have moved to this club. Then covid hit. Toastmasters meetings changed to online meetings and now to hybrid meetings. I wasn't ready for this. Nor did I know how to deal with it. But I learned not being 100% ready is not a problem. I said, "Let's Go for it anyway!". And now we successfully launched our first hybrid meeting.

 

I am sure we will have some trial and error. But that does not mean we failed. If I had refused to try because I I wasn't ready, I might have lost this great opportunity of accommodating both in-person and online participants. When you face big decisions or challenging situations, you will never feel 100% ready. But do it anyway. Take the risk and adjust as you go. Because after all, you will have regrets over what you didn't do, rather than what you did do.