Preparation Breeds Courage, Part 2: Behind the Scenes of Bravery

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Randy Black: People look back at that moment and call it courage.

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Randy Black: And it was.

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Randy Black: But what they didn’t see was the preparation.

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Randy Black: The early mornings, the quiet reps, the unseen discipline.

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Randy Black: Courage isn’t built in the spotlight.

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Randy Black: It’s built before the spotlight ever turns on.

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Randy Black: Today, we’re continuing our look at how preparation builds courage as we go behind the scenes of bravery.

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Coach Jim Clayton: You know, believe in yourself or nobody else will.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Set the bar high, achieve greatness, and stay motivated through the process.

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Coach Jim Clayton: You know what that spells?

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Coach Jim Clayton: BAM, son!

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Randy Black: This is Shooting It Straight, the podcast where life lessons don’t come sugar-coated and excuses get checked out.

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Randy Black: at the door.

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Randy Black: I’m Randy Black, podcast guy, educator, and resident technique.

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Randy Black: And apparently still the only one here who doesn’t yell bam son in public.

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Elizabeth Clayton: And I’m Elizabeth Clayton, stepping into some big shoes, ready to ask the tough questions.

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Elizabeth Clayton: call it like it is, and maybe even challenge Randy a little along the way.

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Randy Black: Each week, we’re taking what life teaches us.

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Randy Black: The discipline, the drive, the lessons you can’t just read in a book and translating it into real-world success.

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Elizabeth Clayton: That’s right.

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Elizabeth Clayton: This is about showing up when life gets messy, pushing through when the pressure’s on, and figuring out how to get better, no matter what.

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Randy Black: And if you’re looking for fluff, this probably isn’t your show.

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Elizabeth Clayton: We’re here to help you believe bigger, achieve louder, and motivate stronger.

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Elizabeth Clayton: So buckle up and whatever you do, keep shooting it straight.

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Randy Black: Bam, son!

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Randy Black: Welcome back to shooting it straight.

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Randy Black: I’m Randy Black and I’m flying solo today as we

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Randy Black: Continue our discussion about preparation, breeding, courage.

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Randy Black: Today we continue that with part two by going behind the scenes of bravery.

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Randy Black: Because what people often call courage is really the visible result of invisible preparation.

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Randy Black: And that invisible part is where most of the real work happens.

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Randy Black: Nobody celebrates the early mornings of the repetition, but when the pressure hits, that preparation is what steadies you in the moment.

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Randy Black: And most of the time, people only see the pressure in the moment.

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Randy Black: They see the decision.

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Randy Black: They see the boldness.

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Randy Black: What they don’t see is the foundation built underneath it.

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Randy Black: The years, not just the seconds

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Randy Black: So let’s start there.

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Randy Black: When people look back at that moment and call it courage, what preparation led up to it?

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Randy Black: Courage oftentimes looks like it’s spontaneous.

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Randy Black: And it’s from that’s when we look at it from the outside looking in.

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Randy Black: But

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Randy Black: Behind every single brave moment we have is a quiet and consistent moment or moments of preparation.

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Randy Black: So when people look at that moment now, they see courage.

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Randy Black: But what preparation again led up to it

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Randy Black: Courage is very rarely a spontaneous thing.

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Randy Black: It’s something that doesn’t just happen.

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Randy Black: What looked like bravery in a moment was actually built privately over time.

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Randy Black: The moment was supported by the habits individuals have built, by the discipline that they were able to put together

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Randy Black: by the consistency in their practices, by being able to keep themselves focused, to build the skill set they need for when courage is needed

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Randy Black: And we have to understand by looking at this is what happened, what was happening in that individual’s life in their moments of preparation, long before that moment of courage that everybody remembers came to them.

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Randy Black: Well, there’s some things that had to be done.

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Randy Black: The first thing is they had to have moments of quiet growth.

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Randy Black: Time where they spent preparing themselves mentally, preparing themselves physically, preparing themselves emotionally.

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Randy Black: in those quiet moments that nobody else saw, that were, quote unquote, invisible to everyone else

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Randy Black: They had to have moments of skill development, time where they spent honing their craft, making themselves better, making things

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Randy Black: stronger internally and externally for themselves.

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Randy Black: So they had the skills to step forward and and achieve those moments of courage

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Randy Black: They also had to have character formation.

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Randy Black: You cannot have character formation take place without the effort and the time to do so

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Randy Black: Not everybody is born with character that is positive, that is built in a way to make their situations better.

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Randy Black: Character development then leads to that development of courage because without the courage, without the character behind it, the courage ultimately is meaningless and it doesn’t have the same impact

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Randy Black: Before that moment hit, we also had those small decisions that had to be made, not just in our lives, but in the in the lives of those around us and how they impacted us.

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Randy Black: But those small decisions

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Randy Black: are ones that we made, ones that we saw that no one took the time to applaud.

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Randy Black: No one took the time

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Randy Black: To say, oh man, that was awesome.

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Randy Black: You did great building that up.

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Randy Black: You had a great choice on that.

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Randy Black: And ultimately, courage is cumulative

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Randy Black: And I think say that and you’re thinking, how how’s that possible?

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Randy Black: Well, over time you build that courage up

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Randy Black: You continue to make it stronger, to continue to grow and have that as a skill that you can use to handle situations when they arise.

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Randy Black: The whole idea of cumulative is that it builds over time.

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Randy Black: You’re not born courageous.

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Randy Black: You’re not born with the skills to step out and

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Randy Black: and do the right thing all the time, to stand up and do what’s what’s expected or unexpected

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Randy Black: That has to be built up over time.

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Randy Black: And that’s where the idea that courage is cumulative comes from

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Randy Black: You know, we have to sit and think about how did how did preparation change how the individual experienced the pressure that was placed upon them.

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Randy Black: Well, pressure exposes what preparation built.

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Randy Black: When you have that pressure applied, the work you’ve done will show.

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Randy Black: If you’re not ready, everybody’s gonna see it.

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Randy Black: But if you’ve prepared, if you’ve done the work, if you’ve built up everything inside of you for that moment, that pressure is going to pull those things out for everybody to see

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Randy Black: Without the preparation, what we see happen is that pressure overwhelms.

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Randy Black: The pressure takes control

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Randy Black: The pressure becomes the defining moment, not the courageous action that you take.

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Randy Black: With preparation

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Randy Black: versus pressure versus with or with versus without it, the the the pressure clarifies the situation for you.

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Randy Black: When you’ve been prepared, that pressure simply helps you to pull those things out.

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Randy Black: Pull those skills you’ve developed out

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Randy Black: so that you can meet the need of the situation.

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Randy Black: You can step up in the moment.

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Randy Black: You can do what is the right thing.

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Randy Black: to survive, to, to move on, to to help others, whatever it is, preparation.

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Randy Black: Helps you to be there and that pressure hits, it clarifies your moves.

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Randy Black: It helps you to move your mindset

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Randy Black: Without preparation, your mindset is probably going to be along along the lines of, whew, I hope I can survive this.

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Randy Black: And that’s hard.

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Randy Black: That’s hard to live your life that way.

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Randy Black: To go into these moments and say, Well, I made it through.

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Randy Black: Hope I make it through.

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Randy Black: Hope I survive this.

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Randy Black: Or you come out of it, oh, I didn’t.

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Randy Black: I didn’t do it.

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Randy Black: I didn’t I didn’t survive.

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Randy Black: Whereas if you’ve prepared, it changes your mindset to I’ve trained for this.

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Randy Black: I have this.

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Randy Black: I got this.

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Randy Black: Everything I’ve done has built me up to this moment and I am ready to take this on.

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Randy Black: I got it.

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Randy Black: I can handle it.

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Randy Black: This is an easy task.

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Randy Black: It’s a very different mindset.

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Randy Black: I hope I survive this versus I’ve trained for this.

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Randy Black: Extremely, extremely different.

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Randy Black: So when you think about it, you have to look at the idea here of this.

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Randy Black: Did preparation

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Randy Black: Did it give you the peace like we talked about previously on the last episode when things got intense?

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Randy Black: Did preparation help you to be at ease in that moment?

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Randy Black: Preparation anchors you during moments of intensity.

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Randy Black: Being prepared helps you to keep your feet grounded, keep your mind clear.

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Randy Black: Keep yourself focused on the task at hand and being able to step up and doing the thing that needs to be done.

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Randy Black: When you have prepared, you fall back on that training rather than reacting with emotion

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Randy Black: It goes along with the idea that you’re being proactive versus reactive.

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Randy Black: You’re prepared for the situation and you know what steps you need to take.

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Randy Black: You know what your next actions are going to be.

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Randy Black: Rather than, oh my gosh, I can’t believe this is happening.

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Randy Black: What do I do?

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Randy Black: I’ve lost control.

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Randy Black: I don’t know what to do.

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Randy Black: Very, very different scenarios

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Randy Black: Now, have you ever hit one of those moments in your life where you realized that your preparation had you ready to go?

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Randy Black: And you said, I’m ready for this.

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Randy Black: Because readiness is often quiet.

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Randy Black: You don’t realize it’s there.

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Randy Black: And sometimes it can be as simple as the absence of panic.

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Randy Black: The fear’s still there.

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Randy Black: The fear still exists.

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Randy Black: But it doesn’t have control.

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Randy Black: I’ve had those situations in life.

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Randy Black: We all have when we have truly prepared.

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Randy Black: You know, I went into a a job interview.

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Randy Black: Not that long ago, a couple years ago.

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Randy Black: And I knew I was prepared.

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Randy Black: And nothing they threw at me in that interview surprised me

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Randy Black: Was I scared and nervous?

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Randy Black: Yeah, of course.

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Randy Black: But everything they presented to me, every question they asked me, I was ready for.

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Randy Black: I was prepared to step out there and answer their questions and give them responses that I felt best met the need of the situation and of the school I was interviewing at.

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Randy Black: So we’ve all had those moments.

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Randy Black: I walked in there saying, I’m ready for this.

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Randy Black: And I walked out of it and said, I knew I was ready for this.

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Randy Black: And I and this went well.

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Randy Black: And I got the job.

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Randy Black: So we have to look at at those moments in our lives and realize that, you know, sometimes this is just the way it works.

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Randy Black: This is the way we handle it.

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Randy Black: We prepare for it.

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Randy Black: You know, I’ve I’ve been a guest on podcasts before where I knew what the topic was.

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Randy Black: So but since I knew what we were going to discuss, I could prepare for it.

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Randy Black: And I was able to bring out points and make comments and carry on the discussion in a way that showed I was prepared, I was ready, I was courageous enough in what I did

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Randy Black: uh in preparing that I easily held that conversation and was able to take part in it.

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Randy Black: Now, what we have to then think about is

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Randy Black: Um the idea of, you know, did did preparation ultimately help us to stay steady?

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Randy Black: in those situations rather than being reactive.

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Randy Black: And I just gave you some examples there.

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Randy Black: But preparation encourages or not encourages, it increases

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Randy Black: our our response and it reduces our reaction.

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Randy Black: By knowing the information going in, by having the skill prepared going in, we’re not simply reacting and maybe pulling something out that isn’t necessarily

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Randy Black: What was needed.

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Randy Black: Reactive leadership is emotional.

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Randy Black: It’s rushed

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Randy Black: And a lot of times it creates bigger problems.

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Randy Black: When you are reacting, you may make the wrong choice because you simply were not prepared.

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Randy Black: Sometimes it’s okay to be reactive, but it doesn’t necessarily always produce a positive outcome

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Randy Black: Whereas if you have prepared leadership, you’ve prepared ahead of time.

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Randy Black: Your actions in those situations

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Randy Black: Instead of being reactive, they’re measured.

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Randy Black: They’re intentional.

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Randy Black: You know exactly what you’re coming into and what you’re going to do

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Randy Black: Preparation gives us options.

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Randy Black: It gives us the ability to look through things and go, okay, how do I do this?

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Randy Black: What’s the next step?

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Randy Black: What do I do in this situation based on what I know?

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Randy Black: Reaction gives us impulse.

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Randy Black: You immediately doing this.

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Randy Black: Nope, gotta do this.

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Randy Black: Nope.

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Randy Black: Gotta do this.

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Randy Black: And it’s quick, it’s fast, and it may not always be.

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Randy Black: the right decision.

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Randy Black: It may not always be the right way to handle it.

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Randy Black: So when you look at at preparation overall to to build courage,

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Randy Black: What kind of preparation matters the most?

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Randy Black: Mental?

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Randy Black: Physical?

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Randy Black: Emotional

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Randy Black: Maybe even spiritual.

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Randy Black: Well, each of those have their own point their own points you have to think about

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Randy Black: Mental preparation.

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Randy Black: That’s understanding the material and understanding the situation.

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Randy Black: You’re walking in and you know these are the facts.

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Randy Black: These are what I have to know.

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Randy Black: And this is the situation I’m in.

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Randy Black: And that m those facts, that material, then can be applied to the situation to make it be the best.

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Randy Black: Physical preparation.

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Randy Black: You’re building up your stamina.

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Randy Black: You’re building your consistency.

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Randy Black: You’re building up a physical skill set

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Randy Black: That allows you to step up and do things that are courageous, that are you’re prepared for.

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Randy Black: Emotional preparation.

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Randy Black: That’s when you’re processing things beforehand, before you ever walk in the door.

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Randy Black: You’re already thinking through what possibilities could happen.

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Randy Black: What can I do if this happens?

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Randy Black: What can I do if this happens?

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Randy Black: And that’s powerful.

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Randy Black: Having that skill, that preparation allows you to make decisions that are fully grounded in what’s happening in the moment.

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Randy Black: What about spiritual preparation?

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Randy Black: Well, spiritual preparation is the idea that you’re anchoring identity beyond the outcome.

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Randy Black: Spiritual can mean different things to different people.

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Randy Black: For me, I’m a Christian, and my spiritual preparation comes through prayer, through reading the Bible, through speaking to God

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Randy Black: And for other people, that may not be the way they do it.

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Randy Black: That’s how I do.

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Randy Black: But I’m anchoring my identity beyond the outcome.

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Randy Black: So no matter what happens spiritually, I know I’m okay because I’m doing these things.

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Randy Black: Oftentimes, what we find is the most stabilizing preparation is those that take place internally, those that we use to build up ourselves on the inside where people don’t see it.

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Randy Black: Preparation is invisible and most of the time no one knows it’s even happened

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Randy Black: So did the preparation we have here ever feel like think about situations in your own life.

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Randy Black: Did the preparation ever feel unnecessary until it wasn’t?

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Randy Black: Preparation, you know, feels repetitive.

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Randy Black: It feels excessive.

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Randy Black: We’re doing this stuff without seeing the value of the moment.

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Randy Black: It rarely feels dramatic in real time.

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Randy Black: But when we look back in hindsight

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Randy Black: All the work we did, all that preparation that was unnecessary, suddenly is justified.

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Randy Black: And we see that we did the right thing in preparing.

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Randy Black: The moment reveals the value of unseen work.

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Randy Black: It reveals to us what we’ve done has now had a positive influence, a positive impact.

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Randy Black: And that is amazing.

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Randy Black: So you then have to think about it.

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Randy Black: Think about how preparation, how did preparation affect

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Randy Black: Your confidence, not in yourself, but in others.

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Randy Black: Hmm.

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Randy Black: That’s a big one.

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Randy Black: Prepared people

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Randy Black: by their definition, are reliable.

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Randy Black: You’ve prepared.

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Randy Black: You’ve done the right thing.

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Randy Black: You’ve worked hard.

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Randy Black: You’re ready to go.

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Randy Black: You are reliable because you have those skills

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Randy Black: You start to be consistent.

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Randy Black: Consistency then builds trust.

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Randy Black: When you consistently do something that is the right thing, that helps with things, then you are becoming trust.

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Randy Black: A trusted individual, someone that other people look to.

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Randy Black: Imagine flipping that now that you see somebody else.

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Randy Black: Who’s doing that?

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Randy Black: Someone else who is doing the right thing, who’s consistently being there, consistently doing those uh the right way.

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Randy Black: Now trust has been built in them for you.

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Randy Black: Preparation as a whole strengthens the entire team, be it in sports, in the work world, in an organization like a church.

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Randy Black: Being prepared strengthens everyone to be involved in the situation, and it helps everyone build that confidence.

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Randy Black: Courage may be individual in the moment, but preparation ultimately it supports everybody.

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Randy Black: And that’s probably the most important thing we can look at here in what we’ve said on this episode today.

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Randy Black: You know, we look back and we have to think about it, you know.

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Randy Black: Preparation.

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Randy Black: One of the biggest things we’ve seen today is that it doesn’t feel dramatic.

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Randy Black: It usually feels very ordinary

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Randy Black: It’s repetitive.

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Randy Black: Sometimes it’s even unnecessary.

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Randy Black: Until the moment comes when it isn’t.

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Randy Black: Then you realize that what was what you felt was small was actually shaping something very significant.

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Randy Black: Courage may just show up in a moment, but it was formed long before that moment ever arrived.

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Randy Black: And that, my friends, should change how we think about the days ago in between.

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Randy Black: Because those days when preparation is taking place

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Randy Black: Those days are building something.

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Randy Black: With all that in mind, it’s now time.

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Randy Black: for my favorite segment we’ve ever that I’ve ever created as we look at this week’s Wisdom of the Week

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Randy Black: Now it’s time for our wisdom of the week where we take a quote or phrase or something and use it to share a piece of inspiration with you, our audience here on Shooting the Street.

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Randy Black: This week’s wisdom of the week is simple, but it cuts very deep.

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Randy Black: And it’s this character is proven in the moments no one sees

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Randy Black: Let that sit for a second.

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Randy Black: We live in a world that rewards visibility

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Randy Black: Social media, it highlights generosity when it’s posted, leadership when it’s applauded, and discipline when it produces viable results.

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Randy Black: But real character, real integrity, it doesn’t usually come with an audience.

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Randy Black: Character is who you are when the spotlight is off, when there’s no applause, when there’s no accountability partner watching, when cutting a corner would be easy.

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Randy Black: And no one would ever know.

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Randy Black: That’s where integrity lives.

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Randy Black: Integrity is quiet.

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Randy Black: It’s choosing to do the right thing when the wrong thing would be faster.

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Randy Black: It’s giving full effort when nobody is grading you

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Randy Black: It’s being honest in a conversation that could easily drift off into exaggeration.

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Randy Black: It’s refusing to compromise your standards even when it costs you something.

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Randy Black: The truth is that public moments don’t build character.

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Randy Black: They reveal it.

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Randy Black: What people see on the surface is usually the result of dozens, maybe hundreds, of unseen decisions that are made in private.

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Randy Black: An athlete doesn’t suddenly become disciplined on game day.

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Randy Black: A leader doesn’t suddenly become trustworthy when the pressure hits.

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Randy Black: A person doesn’t suddenly become ethical when the stakes get high.

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Randy Black: Those outcomes were shaped long before, in quiet rooms, early mornings, late nights, and ordinary decisions.

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Randy Black: And here, here’s the powerful part.

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Randy Black: Because integrity is quiet, it is also personal

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Randy Black: No one else controls it.

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Randy Black: No one else can manufacture it for you.

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Randy Black: And no one else can take it away from you

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Randy Black: You don’t build character for the crowd.

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Randy Black: You build it for yourself, for your family, for your calling, for the kind of person you’ve decided to become

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Randy Black: So here’s the challenge this week.

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Randy Black: When no one is watching, who are you?

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Randy Black: Because that version of you, that’s the real one.

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Randy Black: And that’s where character is proven.

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Randy Black: When we step back and look at it, courage is rarely something that happens in a single moment.

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Randy Black: It’s the result of the work we do long before anyone sees it.

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Randy Black: the quiet preparation, the daily habits, the repetition that no one notices at all.

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Randy Black: And the takeaway for our listeners is simple.

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Randy Black: If you want courage when it matters,

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Randy Black: Commit to the preparation when it doesn’t.

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Randy Black: Because those unseen efforts are what steady you when the pressure comes

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Randy Black: So as you go through the week, think about the areas in your life where preparation could make all the difference.

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Randy Black: And remember, courage isn’t accidental, it’s cultivated.

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Randy Black: If this episode encourages you, share it with someone who might need a reminder that courage is built long before that spotlight hits.

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Randy Black: And if you’re in a season where the pressure feels overwhelming or the path seems uncertain, remember, steadiness comes from the preparation you do now.

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Randy Black: The work you put in today is what shows up tomorrow.

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Randy Black: Here on the show, we would love to hear from you.

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Randy Black: Leave us a voicemail or a message on the contact page of our website, shooting it straight podcast.

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Randy Black: com/slash contact.

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Randy Black: Or leave a comment on the post for this episode at Shooting It StraightPodcast.

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Randy Black: com slash zero two one.

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Randy Black: Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast in the app of your choice so that each episode

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Randy Black: hits your feed as it’s released, and you can find links to follow the show at shootingitstraightpodcast.

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Randy Black: com slash follow.

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Randy Black: And we would love to have your continuing support in the mission we have here on the podcast.

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Randy Black: And we have several different levels of support through Supercast.

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Randy Black: Each with its own set of rewards.

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Randy Black: So if you can, head over to shooting it straight podcast.

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Randy Black: com slash support to check them out and join today.

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Randy Black: We hope that by listening to this episode today,

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Randy Black: You have gained a little bit more in understanding how preparation builds courage.

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Randy Black: So thank you for listening.

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Randy Black: We hope you’re inspired to embrace the preparation that builds courage, to be steady, to be ready.

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Randy Black: And most importantly, to keep shooting it straight.

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Coach Jim Clayton: Bam, son!