#davesdailychallenge (115): The More You Sweat in Peace. Oh boy…here I go again, quoting dead Greeks. Apologies in advance! During my time in the Marines I learned a valuable lesson about the concept of preparation. This quote from Archilochus sums up a concept that is at the heart of so many successes and failures in our world. The loftiest of expectations can serve to fill the heart with hope and joy but the end result is almost always a measure of how well you’ve prepared for your moment. In the Corps we used to say “the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” They were right. Some of the training my Marines and I went through was extraordinarily difficult. It took us to our breaking point and beyond. It was designed to do this in order to build a resiliency towards the rigors and realities of war as best as it could. Your personal situation is no different. Do you hear me? Not one bit different. The end result might be but the lesson is the same. How well you prepare for your chosen craft is what actually matters. I listened to a speech recently from a former Olympic coach to the US Gymnastics Team. He made a point to discuss at length the importance of both the physical and mental preparation for competition at that level. He would deliberately create environments for his athletes filled with uncertainly, frustration, and stress in order to inoculate them to what they would face when they stepped in front of the world and were expected to perform under that crushing pressure. So, the next time you and your team succeed or fail at a given objective ask yourself the all important question about your preparation. When things get difficult I promise you that human nature is to revert to what we’re comfortable with. Make sure you’re preparation has been good enough to make you comfortable at a high level of performance because it will become your baseline. When your baseline is high enough there are few things you can’t accomplish. Good luck and get to work.