Most of us go through life without any plan. We simply rise or tumble depending on the ups and downs of circumstances. This is no way to live.
To succeed in your career and life, you must have a plan. It is simply a written statement in which you describe:
- What you like to have (a good-paying job, a thriving business, marrying someone beautiful and talented, acquiring an MBA degree, whatever) – your goal
- How you intend to get it – the steps
- When you can get it – your timeline
This means you write out your Goal, the Steps to achieve your goal, and the Timeline to reach it.
When you have written it all down, that is your Plan A. Of course you will have to spend time, effort and lots of leg work doing research on your Goal: Is it realistic for me to want it? Are the Steps that I have outlined sufficient, or are there more things to do? Who can help me to reach my Goal? Is the Timeline too long, too short?
Don’t spend too much time tweaking Plan A, though. Consider it a work in progress. Just implement it and continue making adjustment along the way.
Now, proceed to write out Plan B.
Disasters will hit you, guaranteed! For example, given the mindless eating habit of affluent, urban Americans, there is a high chance that you will be hit by colon cancer, diabetes, stroke or heart disease. These are no laughing matter – if any one of them happened to you, it’s a disaster!
Then there is financial disaster. Many people live from pay check to pay check. Losing your job and finding yourself permanently unemployable is highly probable in these recession-prone and unstable times.
We all have a simple life programme – our present job, mortgage, bits of investments – to manage for the present. This is more or less our Plan A. But we need a fallback Plan B when things go wrong.
Each responsible individual (teenagers and adults) needs to draw up a practical Plan B. The three most important tasks to include in Plan B are:
1. Boost your financial reserves. Why do you think China get so much respect nowadays? Even tiny Singapore gets lots of respect on the world stage. The reason – people there work like mad and save like mad, and so both countries have huge financial reserves.
Spend on your savings, not spend from your savings. Just as you spend on rent, utilities, dining out with your mistress (or wife), pocket money for your kids, and vacation, you also set aside money to put into your savings. As long as you regard savings as a necessary expenditure, you will not have any mental difficulty doing it.
2. Boost your qualification. If you have only a college certification, you must set aside money and time to get an advanced trade certification or a Bachelor’s degree.
Work experience is important, but when 30 people with similar experience apply for the same job opening, only those with better qualifications will be considered.
3. Boost your health. Eat less, run more, lift weights, to increase your stamina and strength.
If you have cash, qualifications and robust health, you can recover from any disaster.
