Here is a great Chinese proverb that I think we can take a lesson or two from. And it goes, “the more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war”.

This is also along the lies of the Spartans philosophy and that is that by training really hard off the field you were likely to bleed less in battle.

So what can we take away?

Well I would say for many of us we live our lives to the counter of these ideals.

We are either all in a rush in getting things done or in fact the opposite. We really don’t want to do certain activities that we leave things until the last minute without any preparation.

There is another quote I like and that is, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”.

I believe in setting ourselves up for success in whatever it is we do.

Do you wake up and rush everything in the morning and go straight to work?

Get up, quick shower, check Facebook, rush breakfast, speed to work, and find the day to be more challenging?

Perhaps it is no more challenging than yesterday but I can assure you that a day without preparation takes much more effort than a day with preparation.

If you get up daily without any ritual and go straight into battle you will be sure to bleed more. This is how many of us live.

I practice daily rituals that set me up for the day.

Here is how my day starts everyday with exceptions to perhaps Sunday.

I like to rise early at 4:45 or 5am, I find this time of the day stimulating and peaceful and mostly everyone else is asleep. It’s all my time.

I then do some kind of exercise, swim, job, weight training, walking, and yoga, something to get the blood flowing. This releases all kinds of hormones including serotonin, your happy chemical, and the blood flow increases brain functionality.

What next, I like to write in my journal and mediate for about 15 minutes or so. This helps clear my thoughts and refreshes my mindset.

I than review my plan for the day which I write that day before this way I am clear on my goals for the day.

I do some reading of blog posts, newsletters I’m subscribed to and sometimes reread part of a book I read the night before.

I then write. I love to write and am certainly passionate about it. Typically I write for half and hour to an hour. I like to do this before my workday begins because while I don’t make an income from it I certainly am filled with satisfaction when I have done some writing in my day.

Finally I like to have some breakfast, which varies occasionally but usually includes either a blend of fruit and vegetables or eggs and fish.

Following this routine always sets me up for a much greater day.

My productivity is greater. My mental state is better. And my day seems to proceeds smoothly, stress free, and ends with much greater satisfaction.

If I woke up and simply rushed myself into my workday I know my life wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying.

This is just one example of how my training, exercising and planning before anything we do can lead us to great success in what ever we set out to achieve.

If you decided to run a marathon without weeks, months or years of training you might be lucky to finish the race but I can assure you that you will suffer more, bleed more without it.

There is an old saying that I here often and certainly one that has forced me to learn quickly and that is ‘ to sink or swim’. I am sure we can all relate to this.

When thrown in the deep end we seem to learn under pressure and learn quickly. For some of us we survive and for some of us we fail. I have done both.

Don’t you think the efforts in these situations are much greater? Don’t you believe that we are more likely to suffer more stress, anxiety, and pain under these situations? Don’t you think we would certainly bleed more?

For those of us that survive we may be the fortunate ones. But what of those that fail? Perhaps with a little bit more training, preparation and planning before battle they could have survived another day.

For some the opportunity to excel in something may be destroyed by being thrown in the deep end.

I say that “the more we sweet in peace the less we will bleed in war” in whatever we do. And while time may not always permit I believe this is a much more sure way of leading a happy, fulfilled and successful life.

So I encourage you to start practicing now while off the field so you can enrich you experiences with much greater ease on the field.