Unprepared
Know the Goal Before Doing
Preparation. As I am an engineer at heart, I find that much of what I do is with preparation. A basic premise from an engineer’s perspective is to “make order out of chaos.” I try to plan out my life. I consider what my goals are. I, with a Stoic’s way, think about what I can do in a time period allotted and then select the best doable with what I have time for.
But, a punch in the face inevitably comes. It comes upon my best laid plans.
We are also disillusioned due to the denial of what we proposed to do. Maybe it is me…
We find ourselves disoriented. Now what do I do? One of the hardest things I find is that the hopes and dreams that I have built up in that plan, and now need to reconsider; or redirect. Like when I was hoping to get a job that I thought would work well for me; and where I could make a lot of money. But, gone.
OK, now what?
A key to our response to our condition is to stay composed, to communicate clearly and to “pivot with purpose.”
As a best practice is to take a moment in silence. Stay on subject, be thoughtful and don’t panic or take drastic decisions where none is needed. You might realized that you are totally unprepared, but think about the issue, and try to give proper consideration. Think about other takes that can be done, other perspectives than the one you had beforehand.
Listen to other opinions, think about alternatives, reflect on what has happened.
Try to leverage what you know. Try to fill in as best you can—logically and in reality and with suitable options considered—so as to make the best decision that you will need to now.
Use your time to become knowledgeable in this endeavor that you are interested in achieving. The more you know about a subject—the job you were looking for may have a high risk of injury, or the college that you were wishing for doesn’t have the subjects that you wanted. You can perhaps minimize the risk of failure and the unpleasant surprise that your dreams won’t come true by planning ahead. And also by being prepared for the unexpected by having an alternative path that your life journey can go down.
We usually try to convey how to be a good Portrait of Character in this column, but when unprepared you may be knocked off your feet. By understanding and preparing and planning you can improve your chances that your dreams and goals—hopefully including to do the best good for others—can come true.
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Inspiring History is a compendium of people we could recognize for their good traits: knowledge, skills, abilities, and intentions that amount to qualities that have made our world a better place. These Portraits in Character offer us examples that we could emulate ourselves for us to also improve the human condition and the world around us.
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I have a number of book launches happening over these couple of years. Namely:
May 2024 Honest Ogden
June 2025 Franklin High School: Two Basketball Dynasties (with Mike Ferrara)
September 2025 Voices of ‘76: Americans Speak of our Freedom
November 2025 Mohawk Along the Delaware: A Story of the Sewards
February 2026 Last Signer of the Declaration of Independence: Lewis Morris III
September 2026 A Football Family: A Winning Story
September 2027 Arty’s Story: The Commodore and the Mucker
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Check out my webpage at www.truran.com
The newest book Franklin High School: Two Basketball Dynasties (with Mike Ferrara)
Available on Amazon and at Sparta Book Store & Branchville Broad Street Bookstore
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Images from Bill Truran
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Episode 96 10/25/2025
Thanks for reading Inspiring History! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.