Years ago, a corporate trainer introduced me to a “regression” exercise to show the power of looking into the future and acting now. With much curiosity and reluctance, I agreed to go for it.
“Sit down comfortably, close your eyes, and relax. Imagine yourself being on last few moments of your life. Reflect on your entire life and answer this question… what is the one thing you regret not doing?”
I entered the future and my mind running wild on regrets. I wont revel all that ran through a that moment but the one thing that really stood out for me was to “start something on my own.” I had the knowledge to share so why didn’t I do this during my lifetime? Swoosh! Back to present and the trainer looked at me with an obvious question…” did you find it great? Have you got something to work upon?” My response was an emphatic YES!!
Since then, I have been thinking, thinking! and thinking! with no action. Every time I would get a piece of paper or open an excel sheet and build a plan. Everything looks great and it is doable which left some smile on my face. You can guess what this looked like after weeks of inaction? Frustration!
Let us review some top points…
1. Lack of urgency. The macroeconomic environment is quite different and will keep changing quickly as we progress. Job for life is a concept of the past with redundancies everywhere. Our pension cannot keep up with the rising cost of living and retirement age will be well in the seventies soon. I am sure we could paint a gloomy picture but its time to realise and start with meticulous planning and investing irrespective of your age. Starting your business small or big is worth considering building in an extra income stream. You never know how a small idea could turn out big. The past is gone, and we cannot predict the future. Now! Is the time to act and transform the situation.
2. Patience. When starting anything new, it needs some time to grow and prosper. Be realistic and don’t expect your venture to start ringing the cash register the moment you press the button “go”. Be consistent and determined to make it a success.
3. Fear. This is for real. Fear of what? The most common answer is “what if I put all the effort and it fails.” If we are looking for guarantees and none exists except the two, I can think of …death & taxes. Try and fail rather than not trying at all in the first place. Do not expect to earn millions within a short span. Take small but definite steps and never forget to keep the goal on your mind.
4. Procrastination. Planning out, doing a scenario testing, risks, returns, analysis-paralysis culminating into inaction. “Let’s do it later, I don’t have the time, I am busy, need to help someone, need to straighten my situation,” these are all the statements heard commonly and are examples of procrastination. Once again as I have mentioned before, break down tasks into smaller ones and execute. Focus on the process of achieving the goal rather than the goal itself, celebrate “any” success however small, see the bigger picture as whatever you are embarking is going to benefit in a big way on the long run.
“Never give up” is the attitude you must inculcate. Every failure is a learning process making you better. It takes few failures before being successful.
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