Master Prep Secrets: Achieve Exceptional Results...

Although she didn’t pick up a camera until she was 32, Ava DuVernay has made history as a writer, director, and producer. She was the first African American woman to win Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival, be nominated for a Best Director Golden Globe, direct a film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, and direct a film with a budget over $100 million. She is as inspiring as she is accomplished!

I heard Ava DuVernay speak recently about what she called the soft and hard prep she does for herself, as well as with her teams, to create exceptional, transformational, and awe-inspiring films. I wondered if her unconventional start in her profession was no match for the power garnered by her soft and hard prep, leading her to blow past others with a much stronger head start. 

What was so fascinating to me about what Ava DuVernay talked about is that it mirrored the same type of “soft prep” and “hard prep” that go into building a truly prosperous career.   

Prosperous means marked by:

Ease

 Joy 

Meaning

Impact

Economic Wellbeing

Holistic Flourishing

Imagine waking up every morning to a career marked by these characteristics.   

How do you create that for yourself?  

Start by considering the soft and hard prep required to produce exceptional results in your life.

Soft Prep

This is when you get your mind ready. 

It’s the time you spend nourishing your ideas and vision. 

It’s mastering the inner game (Pillar #2) that I teach my Mastermind students and clients as they set about the holy work of building careers and lives they love.

Viewed from the outside, some might charge, “Stop wasting time!”, “Get moving!”, or “This is just laziness.”  That someone might even be your own inner critic. 

But before you allow that critic to derail you, consider that the sweetest berries come from the most fertile soil.  Take time to locate and then pull out the ‘poison ivy thoughts’ that are choking your confidence.  

Add into the soil a supportive success mindset birthed out of deep self-acceptance, authentic connections, and thoughts that inspire your highest and best.  

The soft prep is the inner work that sets you up for

Clarity (You know your superpowers and savor the joy they bring you),  

Confidence (This is your work to do; you’re getting better every day),  

Vision (Cultivate a clear and compelling vision of where you’re headed), and

Empowering Energy (You bring enthusiasm born of genuine interest and it draws people to you). 

Hard Prep

Hard prep is the infrastructure that brings your vision to life. 

With hard prep, you’re creating detailed plans, strategies and timelines.  For career builders, this means learning how to better communicate your story.  It means crafting a resume and LinkedIn profile that present your value proposition so clearly that your reader “gets it” and knows instantly that you’re the person they’ve been looking for.

Sometimes the hard prep involves a good haircut, a bit of make-up, and an updated outfit.  

Other times, it means doing the very un-glamorous work of preparing and practicing answers to interview questions again and again…and again…until you’ve nailed your delivery.

It’s also the hard work of evaluating trade-offs, generating “Plan B’s” that feel good, and assessing risk.  Studying labor market data and making time for crucial conversations with wayshowers in your field are also part of the mix.

Both types of prep are essential. 

Both require time and attention.  

And both are so much

EASIER,

FUN,

QUICKER

EFFECTIVE

when guided by an expert sherpa who knows the way.

If you’re ready to do this work, allow me to be that expert sherpa for YOU. 

After 20+ years of helping 100’s of high achieving professionals transform their careers into something they love, I can confidently tell you that there’s an easier path to take. 

We can do this work 1-1 in coaching (reach out at [email protected]), or with a community of people on the same journey together, supporting each other every step of the way.  This group is the Mastermind “Exceptional Careers:  Made for This.".  Check out all the details here.