What is ‘the Gold of the Desert Kings’ you might ask? Way back when, in my corporate life, I attended a conference where they split us up into groups and we literally played a board game. It was so unbelievably fun. Pick a card, move your game piece, decide if you will skip your turn in exchange for a clue, and so much more. I really don’t want to ruin this for you because I wish you could all go out and play this game somewhere, but I also don’t want to bore you to tears so I will cut to the chase. Spoiler alert: in the race to the finish, everyone starts to realize and discover the impact of effective teamwork, planning, preparation, and execution.
When our mama to-do list seems to be growing exponentially and the panic starts to creep in, our initial thought is to hurry up and just do things without really thinking about them solely for the sake of having no time so let’s just get it done ASAP. Although it may at the moment seem counterintuitive, the best thing we can do four ourselves in those moments is to stop, do nothing, be still, and wait. That time is not time wasted, but in fact time necessary for proper planning and preparation. You will be able to devise an action plan, utilize your team of resources (whoever/whatever they may be), and eventually be able to execute more efficiently than had you not taken this time to temporarily stop. The tiny time of prep work is exponentially made up for (and then some) with a more efficient and successful final product.
