How to Not Lose $10 Million Dollars by Oversleeping

Have you ever overslept, then woken up in a panic and scrambled to get to work on time? Did that oversleeping cost you ten million dollars? No? Then consider yourself lucky.

Last week, golfer Jim Furyk was disqualified from the Barclay’s golf tournament because he missed his tee time by a few minutes.

The reason he missed the tee time? He overslept.

The reason he overslept? He was using his cell phone as his alarm clock, and the battery died so the alarm never rang.

My goodness. One dead cell phone battery leads to a few minutes of tardiness, and now he has severely hurt his chances to win a $10 million prize. That comes out to something like $2,500,000 per minute. Or $41,666.67 per second.

Most. Expensive. Sleep. Ever!

Any sane person reading this will think to themselves, “how on Earth could a person do that? Why didn’t he have a backup plan??”

Good question, and one I asked myself too, until I thought more about it and realized that many of us, in many situations, tend to ignore backup plans. It’s easy to assume things will go exactly as we intend – but as we all know, Ding Happens!

Lest you fall into the trap of assuming that everything will go as planned (and then get screwed when they don’t), here are three ways you can prepare yourself to deal with life’s unexpected hiccups:

Check Your Equipment!

If your cell phone dies because you forgot to charge it, well, that's your own fault...

Technology is not infallible. Far from it. If you are going to use your cell phone as an alarm clock, especially before a big event, check the battery first. Or leave it plugged in overnight. Just do whatever you need to to make sure it works.

In the same way, double check all your equipment before major events. Get that little rattle you hear from car fixed before your road trip. Test your PowerPoint on the actual laptop you will be using in your presentation. Double check your bag and make sure you have everything packed that you need for your business trip.

Checking equipment isn’t hard, it’s just something we need to remember to do. Make it a habit and you will cut down on the number of headaches you have to deal with.

Use Backups!

Have a backup, in case the first one breaks down (note: throwing your hands up and complaining is not a backup plan)

Here’s the obvious lesson from this story: Use backups! Furyk had many backup options. He could have set an alarm clock. He could have had a wake up call. He could have had a friend check on him. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t do any of those things. He put all of his eggs into one cellular basket, and that led to disaster.

I speak on the importance and power of having the ability to improvise. However, just because you can improvise doesn’t mean that you should use that as an excuse to not prepare!

You don’t have to stress over every little thing that might go wrong, but at least consider the few major potentialities and create backups for those.

For example, in my motivational speeches and workshops I use a bell. It’s a fairly critical piece of my presentation (watch this video to see what I mean). When I travel, I take two bells in case one breaks. I also take a physical copy of my handout even if I sent over a copy to the planner to make copies in advance, just in case they didn’t make copies for me. If I ever use PowerPoint (I try to avoid it like Paris Hilton avoids smart decisions) I would take a copy on a USB drive even if I previously emailed the presentation to my client.

Create backups for your critical items and activities. Not only will you cover your butt in case of a problem, but you’ll also be less stressed because you know that you’ve got it handled.

Know Thyself!

Take a look in the mirror - you know what you need to worry about

Oversleeping is not usually a problem for me. I am a light enough sleeper that even quiet alarms will wake me up. And, for important events, I often wake up before the alarm goes off (of course, even though I know this I still set back up alarms, just in case).

On the other hand, I know some people who sleep like the dead. You could send a marching band into their bedroom and they wouldn;t budge. They are the ones who need to set multiple alarms and have backup plans (like a good friend with a pitcher of ice water…).

Self-awareness is an important skill, and one of the things that separates us from the evil sentient robots (for now). You know your strengths and weaknesses better than anybody, so there is no excuse for you to not set up plans and backups to deal with your weaknesses.

The next time you have an important event in your life, don’t make the same mistake Jim Furyk made. Check your equipment, use backups, and know your weaknesses! A little bit of prep and thought can prevent a lot of problems (and save you $10,000,000!)

***
Are you planning an event and looking for a great speaker to add humor and energy? Then visit Avish’s Motivational Humorist page now!

About

By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

• Mail
|
• More Posts (483)