Understanding and containing the chance of losing money in investing is a full time job. The markets remind us of that practically every day.
So, how much ever homework you do, some of your investments are bound to fail…or will fail.
You shudder when the thought of losing money springs up — something you just don’t want to think about.
However, if you don’t know what’s really worrying you big time, how would you work out a solution to contain that worry?
You need to know what is that big worry with respect to your money that keeps you awake at night. And writing it out is a great way to start working up a solution to the same.
Maybe you are worried if your savings will last through your retirement.
Maybe you are worried whether you will save enough by the time you retire.
Maybe you are worried about the quality of stocks you own in your portfolio.
Maybe you are worried about your large borrowings and how you would repay them from your savings.
Maybe you are worried about not saving enough for your children.
Maybe you are worried that a health emergency will wipe out all your savings.
You see, thinking about your money in terms of “maybe” is a risky thing to do. You need to be very clear of what really worries you. Only then, as I mentioned, you would get down to solving them.
This is exactly what I did during 2008-2011 – the phase when I was making up my mind to quit my job and work towards things that I loved doing.
I wrote down my biggest financial worries then and how I could manage them during this process of shifting the gears of my career and life.
I inverted my problems and worked on them backward. So instead of asking myself, “What I could do?” I asked, “What if I am not able to do that and how should I tackle that worry?”
So I asked –
- What if I am not debt-free by 2011 by the time I quit my job? And what should I do to get debt free?
- What if I am not able to create a successful small business after I quit my job? And what should I do to create such a business?
- What if I don’t earn enough money out of my business during the initial years? And what should I do to ensure that I don’t have to depend on anyone else during those initial years?
I got all my answers this way, and I am happy to report that things have worked out just fine for me.
I am sure, if you write down specifically your biggest financial worries, you would be in a better position to solve them before things go out of hand.
You can start by sharing your single biggest financial worry with me.
Based on the responses I receive, I will write a series of articles on the possible solutions that may help you start working towards solving your own financial worries.
You see, money is the chief cause of stress and insomnia for many of us and we should not ignore the symptoms.
In fact, if you can get a handle on all your money worries by first knowing what they really are, your nights will be much peaceful and dreams much sweeter as a result.
I have tested it successfully. 🙂