The Six "P's" of Life

 

     Back in the 1980's, I did a stint as a salesman and as a salesman attended several annual sales meetings. On the whole the meetings were both raucous and boring at the same time, you wound up drinking and eating too much and sleeping was something you did on the flight home. Anything that may or may not have happened during that week was never spoken about in mixed company. Every now and then you would get something from the meetings that would stick with you and hopefully improve your sales if not your life. The meetings lasted four days starting on Monday and ending Thursday night, every day held a different subject and one of those days was the highlight subject of the week. 

     I attended several sales meetings, most of them are faded memories but there was this one that stood out above the rest. I couldn't tell you who was there what year it was held or where but the highlight subject of the week has visited my memory banks often over the years. Don't ask me why it stands out so much it just does. The narrator started the meeting by writing the letter "P" six times on the dry erase board and asked what they meant, we all scratched our heads and came up clueless. The six "P,s" stood for a formula which when applied to our sales tactics would improve our sales, at least that was the general idea. Turns out that I needed more than application of an idea to improve my sales, my sales position didn't last long. I remembered those six "P's" over the years, the principal was sound but the practice left me wanting.

     So just what was the theory of the six "P's", they stood for " Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance". It's one of those little things that is so easy to understand and you would think so easy to put into practice but everybody is not wired the same. Seems that I can't slow down long enough to develop a plan much less put one into practice.

      It took me a long time to understand what the six "P's" meant, they had little to do with sales but everything to do with managing life but they were one of those things that I learned too late. Doing things in a smooth practical way was never my style, still isn't. I always thought that I didn't have time to make a plan especially since most plans were subject to change the moment they were stamped for approval.

     I never again heard of the six "P'S" but I never forgot them, I think that somehow they were being held in probate waiting for this moment when I would share this tidbit of wisdom in the hopes that maybe it would help a future offspring to live a better life. So whoever is reading this I hope you have a good life even if you don't use the theory of the "P's".