064: What’s the Real Cost of Winging It?

In this solo episode, Erik confronts the quiet crisis of preparation—or more often, the lack of it. He takes listeners through a bold reframing of how to prioritize prep time, not based on urgency or frequency, but on consequence of failure. This is a mindset shift episode: provocative, clear, and full of systems-thinking strategy for anyone looking to level up their performance.

❓ The Big Question

How much time should you actually spend preparing—and how do you know what’s worth it?

💡 Key Takeaways

• Most people don’t prepare—not because they’re lazy, but because they don’t have a prep process.
• You should allocate prep time based on consequence of failure, not gut feel or convenience.
• Just 30 minutes of undistracted prep can dramatically change your results.
• “Winging it” is often a disguise for disorganization, not confidence.
• A life without high-consequence moments may be a sign you’re coasting—and that might be the real problem.

🧠 Concepts, Curves, and Frameworks

• Consequence of Failure Lens: A simple audit system to identify what’s worth preparing for.
• Prep Prioritization Loop: Calendar scan → High consequence filter → 30-min block → Focused thinking.
• Prep Minimum Viable Effort: Even sitting in silence for 30 minutes beats last-minute scrambles.
• Systems > Instinct: Build preparation into your operating system instead of relying on reaction.

🔁 Real-Life Reflections

• Erik shares how leading sales teams made “consequence” easy to quantify—but in most roles, you have to build your own model.
• A self-aware moment: coaching first-grade soccer doesn’t require prep because the consequence is low—and that’s okay.
• The sobering flip side: if nothing in your calendar has high consequence, that may be why you're feeling stagnant or burned out.

🧰 Put This Into Practice

• Pull up your calendar and highlight 3–5 things with the highest consequence of failure.
• Block 30 minutes for each of those in the next 7–14 days.
• During that time: no phone, no Slack, no email—just you, your brain, and a blank doc.
• Ask: What does success look like? What could go wrong? What matters to the other people involved?
• Still not sure how to prep? Look it up. YouTube, books, coaching—it’s all there. Don’t hide behind ignorance.

🗣️ Favorite Quotes

“The things you need to be preparing for are the things that have the highest consequence of failure.”

“You don’t have a prep problem—you have a prioritization problem.”

“If all you did was sit with yourself for 30 minutes and think clearly, you'd already be ahead.”

“If you look at your calendar and nothing feels worth prepping for… that might be the real issue.”

“Not prepping isn’t a badge of honor—it’s a recipe for being forgettable.”