Don’t Wait Until Something Bad Happens…

It’s not hardship that will break you, what will break you is that you didn’t prepare for it…

This paraphrase comes from Dr. Eric Thomas (aka Eric the Hip Hop Preacher), in one of his most popular online videos. In the video, he explains that the first thing the Navy teaches new recruits is what to do in the worst-case scenarios… What a smart approach. 

What I’m finding in financial planning - and in life - is that there is a notable difference between planning and preparing. In practice, planning is a one-dimensional task where we outline what we want to do and what we will do to get there. Whereas preparation is multi-dimensional; it demands action and readies our minds to encounter possibilities along the way. 

 In one of my other posts, I wrote about the lure of focusing only on the upside. Admittedly, I brushed over how (perhaps) equally important it is to address potential downsides. In a robust plan, it’s not enough to have a clearly defined path to success - especially when it comes to business financial planning. I believe it’s beneficial to also think through what might slow or obstruct the plan. Then, work through solutions or alternative paths given the potential challenges. And, if you want to take it up a notch, mitigate the risk of those potential challenges now. 

Working with clients, I go beyond helping them plan to helping them get ready. I introduce both positive and negative what-if scenarios. I never make any guarantees - nor should anyone in my line of work - but I believe that preparing clients to take the hits is one of the best ways to position them to achieve their goals.

Back to the video, Dr. Thomas goes on to say that “It’s not the thing that broke that broke you, it was you never even thought about the fact that you could be broken. You never prepared.” We should all take heed to that statement.

I’ve yet to meet anyone who breezed to the top. My observation of everyone who’s reached remarkable heights, even in the context of their personal goals, is that they’ve had to overcome challenges to some degree. The fact that they still reached their goal, or are still on track, indicates that challenges are not in themselves detrimental. The determining factor of whether we achieve success is how well we handle challenges.  And, how well we handle challenges depends on how prepared we are.