Dig the well before you get thirsty.
Hello,
I'm Aaron Hugh Bach.
As a management professional,
One of the characteristics I've improved upon is being efficient and effective.
I also look for ways to lead and coach my team members to prepare well.
With that comes planning ahead.
The phrase,
Dig the well before you get thirsty,
Is an ancient Chinese proverb that existed for hundreds of years.
If you have not heard this before,
You can probably make sense of this as it means to make plans before a certain thing happens.
So you may hear this and you may believe,
I'm already doing this and I make plans all the time.
This could be things like,
I purchase things early before I run out of it.
And certainly an example like this could fall within this proverb.
What I see more of this proverb's meaning is that you can think about more of the unusual or uncertain things that happen.
I see this as two categories where we prepare for negative things that could happen and we can prepare for goals we have.
For a negative example,
It could be preparing for a natural disaster.
And a positive example is,
I want to make sure my family is taken care of if something were to happen to me.
So to dig the well here can involve lengthy preparation.
And to do this before you get thirsty is to prepare all this before disaster strikes.
I'm going to talk about two simple tips that can help you think about digging the well before you get thirsty.
The first tip is to expect the unexpected.
We may believe that certain things cannot happen to us.
This could be personal or professional.
And I want to talk about the natural disaster example again.
You may live in an area that has exposure to a potential event,
But based on your experience,
It's very unlikely.
But there's always a possibility.
Think about what you could potentially prepare for if this were to happen.
What would be the bare minimum that I would need to face this potential hardship?
Then think about those minimum things so you can prepare for it and it doesn't impact your current life.
If it never happens,
Then that's great.
And if it does,
You have that bare minimum preparation to get you through.
The second tip is to not only have one plan,
But to have a plan A and a plan B.
So you may brace for something that may or may not happen.
And if it happens,
You have a plan to attack it.
But what if that plan does not work?
It could be as if you were never even prepared for it.
If you can think of a backup plan for this certain scenario,
This would help out and give you options.
And if you have more than the two options,
That's even better.
And again,
Prepare as much as you're comfortable with to be ready for that event so that it doesn't impact your current life.
So when I hear this proverb,
It seems pretty straightforward,
And it is.
Dig the well before you get thirsty.
It's all about planning and preparation,
Whether it be your personal or professional life.
Before you get into a predicament,
What plans do you already have in place?
And it's as simple as the two tips that I just discussed above,
Which is to think of the scenarios that might happen.
And then think about several plans of how to attack those scenarios if it were to happen.
It's also good to remember that sometimes no matter how much you plan,
You have to accept that anything good or bad can happen.
Just do your best to plan for future uncertainties and plan for future goals.
Dig the well before you get thirsty.
Thank you for listening.
