So picture time, maybe it's even now when you've been preparing for something big, like an interview,

event, presentation, the release of some creative endeavor, and now notice how much mental physical and

emotional energy you put into it. Has it been a lot? Perhaps too much? Do you

find yourself stressing and obsessing about it? So where is the line between

healthy preparation and perfectionism and obsessing? This was a line I came face to face with recently as I was preparing to give two big talks at very high profile companies were some of the most brilliant minds in the world work.

I was incredibly excited and a little intimidated to create some new talks and workshops,

yet I found myself really challenged by how much pressure I was putting on myself that I was calling preparation. Can you relate to this? Do you

find yourself spending a lot of time preparing for everything from a job interview

to having people over for a party to a date? Do you have a tendency to overrehears, script things in your head, research for days and so on?

What I realized is after spending hours and hours and hours preparing is that at some point I crossed

the line from being inspired to prepare

from the value-based standards I set for myself to pushing myself with massive

expectation. Luckily a very annoying twitch in my right temple got my attention.

I was thinking way too much, it was way too much in my head.

So I sat in meditation and realized I was coming from fear, not love. And then the aha came.

Over preparation and overdoing in general is fear in disguise.

A little fear is normal when we stretch outside our comfort zone or do something

new and sure it's important to do everything in our power to do our best to fulfill our goals,

but it's just as important to know when enough is enough.

When it's time to stop, when it's time to back off,

step away from the computer, stop editing, tweaking,

stop rehashing, and rehearsing.

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