I sit here writing this with the first major snowstorm of the winter dumping up to a foot of wind-whipped snow on the Boston area. It reminded me that regardless of whether it’s a meteorological event or something else that’s disrupting your routine, how it ultimately affects you is greatly influenced by how you prepared for it.
Yesterday I gassed up my snowblower, got out the shovels, flipped up the windshield wipers on our cars, and made sure all the patio furniture was covered. With our professional lives we do things like keep our resume and LinkedIn profile up to date, and try to stay in touch with our network. If we own a business or run a non-profit, some communication tasks include making sure our website and other product materials are up to date, and that we’re keeping up with our outreach efforts via email and social media, to our customers, supporters, prospects, and the media. But sometimes we get distracted by other priorities and let some of those things slip, and the result can be missed opportunities and reactive responses that aren’t particularly effective.
After all, who wants to be at the hardware store the day before the storm, only to find that shovels and rock salt are sold out? Or looking at the wall of snow at the end of your driveway and realizing your snowblower is out of gas?
Stay safe and prepared, whether the storms you’re encountering are outside your door or in your professional life.