Tag Archive for: be prepared

Be Prepared

Our Monday morning team call yesterday was focused on something very practical: contingency planning.
Some of my colleagues had clearly put a lot of thought into how we prepare for disruption around our Learning Programme, Lead the Way, in Perth. With participants travelling from far and wide, winter brings the real risk of snow, heavy rain, and the knock-on effects that tend to follow travel delays.
The conversation wasn’t about predicting every possible problem, although we did talk through quite a few. It was about agreeing a set of guiding principles so that, whatever happens, we’d be ready to respond accordingly.
After the call, I found myself thinking about an idea that’s been with me far longer than any programme plan.
When I was much younger, I was a Cub Scout. Our motto was simple: 𝑩𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.
I have thought about that motto often throughout my life.
Back then, that meant remembering my kit, listening to instructions, and having some idea of what to do if plans changed. At the time, it felt small and practical.
Looking back now, it feels like an early lesson in something far more useful: how to face the unexpected with confidence rather than fear, and how to take responsibility not only for myself, but for others too, when things don’t go to plan.
That same principle sits at the heart of learning, leadership, and development.
Good learning isn’t just about information. It helps us think ahead, make sound judgements, and act when the situation isn’t clear.
Leadership development builds the confidence to move forward without perfect answers and the awareness to support others through change.
Together, they don’t remove all disruption, but they help us respond with agility when it matters.
It’s been my experience too, that our careers and lives are rarely linear.
Plans shift, priorities change and disruption can show up in many forms. What matters isn’t whether it happens, but how we respond when it does.
That’s why yesterday’s conversation mattered.
By agreeing shared principles and preparing together, we weren’t just protecting a programme. We were reinforcing a mindset that accepts uncertainty and treats preparation as a shared responsibility.
In that sense, for me, the Cub Scout motto still holds up remarkably well, even after all these years.
Learning, leadership, and development help us be prepared not for one specific scenario, but for whatever comes next.
So perhaps the real question is this: when your plans change, are you ready to adapt?

Prepare with Purpose

Lately, my life has been full of preparation.
Starting a new job, planning for Kyle and Emily’s wedding, upcoming talks, lessons and workshops, some travel, visitors, many meetings and the Christmas Light the World Charity Machines initiative.
Every morning, I prepare myself spiritually through prayer, scripture study, and journaling to plan for and prepare for the day ahead.
For me, preparation is everywhere right now.
But more than schedules and events, I’ve been thinking about how we prepare our hearts, for the future, for the Lord Jesus Christ, His second coming, and for the things that truly matter.

It’s Time

James E. Faust once told the story of a restaurant clock that stopped a few minutes after noon. The owner left it there because people kept coming in, thinking they were hungry just by looking at it.
It’s a reminder that some people are guided by broken clocks, or false signals that distract from what’s real, responding to external cues rather than internal conviction.
Are you living with broken clocks in your life?
We live in a world full of distractions, and yet I know that preparation helps me stay grounded.
Ezra Taft Benson taught that the Book of Mormon has given us a pattern for preparing for the Saviour’s second coming.
A significant part of the book focuses on the years just before Christ appeared in the Americas.
In that record, we see both destruction and deliverance.
Some were ready.
Some were not.
And what made the difference?
It was simply preparation.
Not just physically, but importantly, spiritually.
This morning, I am reminded of a verse in Alma 34:32: “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God.”
That’s a key focus of preparation and it should be our why.
So, whatever you’re preparing for, a new semester at university, a new role, a major life event, or the quiet work of daily discipleship, my invitation is to prepare with intention.
Prepare with faith.
And prepare with the Spirit.
What are you doing today to prepare for what matters most?

Be Prepared

“Remind me again, what did he wear on the old scooter?” I asked mum, as we laughed together.

So, it was last night as we reminisced about dad’s scooter.  Growing up in Dunfermline in the late 1960’s I recall my dad in his train driver uniform leaving for work.  By the end of the 60’s all of the steam trains were replaced with diesel engines.  As the engines changed, dad also had to switch depots and ended up having to travel to Alloa for every shift, a round trip of 35 miles or so.  Dad never passed his driving test until the early 80’s, so every journey was made on his little scooter.

In the wintertime, the ride was not only treacherous on the old country roads of the time, but it was also a very cold one.  Before he set off for a night shift, on the chilliest of evenings, I recall dad padding and lining his jacket, sleeves, and trouser legs with old newspapers to lessen the biting winter cold and the piercing winds.  A simple old-fashioned way to stay warm, and his preparation was key.

A few years later as a young boy scout, I remember learning the motto of “be prepared”, which has remained as a constant with me throughout my life in all that I do.

Our world of 2021 is filled with uncertainty and I am sure for all of us, many more chilly and difficult nights are still ahead as we journey through the challenges life will bring.

So, are you ready for the next challenge and what can you do right now to be better prepared?