Alertness comes from a calm and clear mind.

Contemplation:
Situations do bring a lot of challenges for us, but where there is
fear or worry while facing them, there cannot be clarity in the mind.
So we cannot be alert to the solution that is hidden.  On the other
hand, the one who has a clean and clear mind is able to see the
solution hidden within every problem and so is able to achieve success
quickly.

Application:
When faced with a problem I need to look for the solution with a clean
and clear mind.  I need to make special effort to clear mind of all
waste and negative, specially about the problem itself.  That means I
might for sometime have to even stop thinking about the problem and
allow my mind to dwell on something more positive.  This will
naturally allow my mind to come up with the right solution.