MY TWO CENTS:
…so how do we do that? (Click HERE if you’re wondering “Do what?” because it’s in our last edition.)
Systematizing a thing doesn’t restrict creativity. In fact, it consistently addresses the mundane so that creativity can flourish uninhibited by the minutia.
Yeah, sorry…I got a little carried away with that one! The nutshell of that “blah, blah, blah” is that we can pay attention to stuff we care about when we put a system in place to handle the basics.
During college, I took an aviation safety class. An example the professor gave about training our responses in advance of a circumstance was regarding animals that run into the road and become an obstacle for us to avoid as we drive. He shared that most animals respond to sound, and a good way to have them run away from our cars rather than toward them is to honk our horns when we see them.
So, to train that behavior in ourselves, he recommended that we put a colored sticker on the horns in our cars. Then, whenever we saw an animal, we were to hit the colored sticker and honk our horn. To emphasize the training and get the behavior to stick, he recommended that we hit the colored sticker if the animal was running toward us, running away from us, sitting safely on it’s front porch or in the neighboring tree, or even if was flattened dead on the road from an earlier encounter with a vehicle. He warned us that anyone riding with us would see this as a very odd thing to do, but that it would help us train ourselves if we would stick to the plan.
I tried the experiment and…IT WORKS! To this day, more than 25 years after taking the class, I still hit my horn when I see an animal running toward the danger of my vehicle in motion. I no longer honk at dead squirrels, but I have redirected quite a few living animals from meeting their doom (and me from experiencing the expense of repairs) with my vehicle. When we plan for the plan-able, we allow ourselves to be open to positive responses for the unplanned.
When we’re settled in knowing that our financial goals are well in-hand, the day-to-day activities can be approached with a mind free of anxiety and worry about our responsibilities. When we’re confident of being able to handle those responsibilities, we can progress to seeking opportunity to live out our priorities and investing ourselves in others.
An invitation to live beyond ourselves is hard to embrace when our lives feel like there’s too much chaos or too many uncontrollable circumstances. So…let’s make a plan. Let’s systemize the mundane. Let’s put in order those things that can be ordered. Let’s be in a position to respond positively for the unplanned. Then, we can pursue our areas of calling and purpose with confidence, enthusiasm, and energy.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a fun way to live. If it sounds that way to you, too, and you’d like some help making a plan, please let us know. Or, if you think this idea might resonate with someone you know, please feel free to forward this message along to them because the journey is always more fun when we make it with other!
Make it a great week!!
Scott Cousino, CFP®
President