A lot of bad news is thrown at us every day when we open up a newspaper, turn on our TV or check out online news sites. To the extent that we all are (have to be) desensitized and immune to the tragedies of other people. We usually can only keep this up as long as it does not happen to our family, our friends or right in our neighborhood and then some bad news get through our protective shielding and hunt us no matter what.
One very sad event from this week hit me yesterday morning, while I was taking care of my morning chores over at our barn.
The deliberate crash of the Germanwings Flight 9525 in France on March 24, 2015.
The co-pilot barricaded himself in the cockpit and intentionally rammed the plane full speed into a mountain in the French Alps killing 150 people on board including himself !
Now this post is not about why the co-pilot did what he did or to condemn him or try to understand his actions.
This tragedy gets to me because a) I don’t really like to fly, b) I will fly to Switzerland in the beginning of April, and c) because it makes me think of how easy we are willing to give up control over our life.
It’s normal
It’s common
it’s often even suggested
and we all do it one way or another
While we don’t really have much choice and have to give up control and trust the pilot, the co-pilot, the mechanics that worked on the plane, in short the airline, if we want to travel across the ocean by airplane, we do have the choice to stay in control or take control of many other areas of our life … still some people choose not to.
We eat (processed) foods without even knowing or understanding what is in it
We eat meat without knowing (or caring) where and how the animal was raised and killed
We follow the recommendation of a doctor instead of listening to our own body
We try to be who we are not, just to fit in
We rely on tools, appliances and gadgets to run our life without knowing or understanding how they work and how to troubleshoot them if needed
We hand over our children to the school system trusting they will learn all they need to know to lead a good life
and the list goes on….
The passengers and crew members on that Germanwings Flight 9525 had no way to interfere and turn their cruel fate around. But most of us have the choice and option every day to take control of our life, make conscious choices about what we eat (or not eat), take a good look at the consequences when we rely on tools and gadgets, take the time to teach our children ethics, integrity, honesty, kindness, compassion and all that good stuff…..
When you have your own business for example, isn’t that also because you wanted to be in control? In control of your life, your time, your creativity and your ideas … ?
So why is it that a lot of you very smart, talented, creative and successful people are dreading to take control of your finances? Ahh here I said it, the “F”-word !!
Why would you rather go to the dentist (I heard in disbelief) than to open your mail, organize your paperwork, get an overview of your finances, create a budget that reflects your vision and goals and to go see and talk to your accountant?
Why would you rather have sleepless nights worrying about it and let your business fly without pilot?
Somebody I talked to suggested it is fear, fear to know the truth, so you act like an ostrich and put your head in the sand.
Do you agree?
I think it might be because you are overwhelmed because you don’t know where to start. We don’t learn in school how to handle our private money and if our parents don’t know how and can show us, we are left alone with this. Even if we go to business school they don’t show us the real practical and fun ways on how to keep our finances in shape. We are told to let the ‘experts’ handle it.
While a little bit of organization and learning a few useful skills (that benefit your personal and business finances) would go a long way. Knowing how to be organized and keep track of your finances can be fun (yes FUN!) and rewarding. You will feel in control and way less stressed and that will have a ripple effect over to other areas in your life.
So I encourage you to take your finances in your own hands (and NO I am not suggesting to fire your accountant) and learn to be the driver (or pilot) of your business, not the passenger, financially speaking.
Take care !
