We all experience this one constantly. Be it
personally,
professionally or anything else, we all know that ups
and downs
come with the turf.
If we are in a relationship, there will be days when
we are
flying, when our partners are the greatest people we
have
ever known, when we cannot believe how lucky we
are to
have these amazing people in our lives - then
something
goes wrong. They leave the toilet seat up once too
many
times, and we’ve told them how that drives us nuts,
or they
wince at our driving in just the wrong way, and
suddenly we
are wondering if we can cope with this person (that
we have
temporarily forgotten we love) for even one more
second.
Then comes work. There are days when we get that
promotion, or make a great tip, and our boss is
behaving
well, and we feel great, and hey, I am lucky to be
here, and
I could be doing construction so things are pretty
good,
really - then the next day the boss bites your head
off for
getting their coffee order wrong, and a customer was
just
plain mean, and they complained about us, and
suddenly
construction is sounding pretty good, especially as
you get to
hit things with sledge-hammers, and pretend they
are your
supervisor.
Is any of this sounding familiar? It should, because
life is like
this. It has ups and downs. You feel great, you feel
lousy,
then great again. And, as you begin the process of
educating
yourself about money and set out on your financial
journey,
you need to know that this roller-coaster will happen
here as
well. The trick is to never get stuck in where you
are right
now and, especially during the challenging times,
remember
the great maxim “This too shall pass”.
There are, however, a couple of things one can do to
even out
the bumps in the road.
1. Keep your eyes on the prize.
We have written before on the importance of goals,
and,
when you hit the inevitable blocks, this is an
important time
to pull them out. A coach once told me: “Your
goals have to
be bigger than the rocks you encounter. Otherwise
all you
will see is obstacles, and then you will give up”.
Reminding
ourselves of our goals will keep us moving forward,
and will
help get us around the obstacles we encounter.
2. Do your homework.
Often, the key to making good financial decisions is
to remove
the emotion from the process. This is easier said
than done,
but, if you have educated yourself about your
situation, then it
will be simpler for you to identify the correct course
of action,
as opposed to reacting to a situation emotionally.
3. Enjoy the highs, learn from the lows.
When things are going well, enjoy yourself, but don’t
get
carried away into over-confidence, because that is
when we
make mistakes. We also need to remember that rush
when
we are down, because it will sustain us through a
rough
patch. The other question we need to ask ourselves
at our
low points is this: “How did I contribute to this
situation?” We
know that responsibility is an essential step
towards
taking
control, so it is important that we analyze every
situation
(especially those in which we may have made
mistakes) in
order to learn what, and what not, to do should a
similar
situation arise.
It is important to develop these skills from the
beginning so
that as you become more financially advanced
your emotions
will not become the wall that keeps you from going
any further.
For example, when you start investing, you may buy
a stock
that will instantly take off. You will start having
visions of
weekends in Paris, a new BMW - and then something
will
happen, and the price will crumble, causing you to
conjour
Dickensian images of poor houses and debtor’s
prison. This
will happen BUT, if you have done your research and
chosen
wisely, then “this too shall pass”, and you will cling
on when
others are running for cover like rabbits in hunting
season,
and make your money when the stock recovers,
while others
have taken thumping great losses because they
panicked (a
very emotional thing to do).
Most artists who are ultimately successful have
worked hard to
master their emotions. It is what allows them to
remain
steadfast and continue plugging along even through
the stages
where it feels like they will never get a break. Treat
your
financial journey the same way and you will,
without question,
reach your goals.
