Preparation is the process whereby anticipation and foresight direct the choice of strategies to maximize the possibilities of achieving a selected outcome in spite of the chaotic fiats of a probabilistic universe. The more significant the selected outcome is considered the less time can be donated to other activities. Some preparations are obvious, such as the time and effort a wasp invests in the construction of a nest to protect her eggs, but to the casual observer much preparation is invisible and unimagined. The preparation required to create an image of a wasp on its nest involves everything from a minimal knowledge of the behaviour of the animal and the patience and ingenuity to create a situation where the recording of an image is possible, thru to the almost unimaginable involvement and skill of innumerable individuals who contributed to the technology which was able to construct the device which actually did the recording.

For each and every aspired outcome, from attempting to obtain a qualification, winning a competition, creating a work of art, becoming a leader or putting humans on another planet, hope is no substitute for a preparation which has strategies in place to cope with the unexpected. Sufficient time and resources must be allocated towards each and every selected outcome to ensure that the probabilities of success are no less than what is possible. Whatever the domain of consideration, be it teaching, law, science, sport, or gardening, success or superior performance is owed in the main to considered and thorough preparation. Whilst this is scarcely surprising, what is mystifying is the number of individuals who seem unable to comprehend this reality and prefer rather to place their expectations of success on the uncertainties of hope. They buy lottery tickets, bet on sports games and basically assume that they have little or no control over most of the vagaries of existence. In fact, time allocated to hope is entirely inconsequential. In most cases, undertaking an enterprise in a state of unpreparedness when time and resources had been available but neglected, will result in an outcome which is fully deserved and is unlikely to evoke very much sympathy.

Being prepared for the unpredictable vicissitudes of life is more difficult to achieve and revolves around choosing to acquire those skills which might prove to be of advantage in those circumstances that are likely to occur. Certainly, preparation facilitates and enables professionalism. Ultimately, the unexpected is exactly that and no amount of creative anticipation can ever prepare for the phenomenon of random intrusions whereby the most extraordinary of events can thwart the most certain of aspirations.