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Strategically placed an arm's length from my office chair lives a copy of Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion by Pema Chodron. This valuable book is my frequent companion as I stray into the zone of uncertainty day after day - not so much when I am working with clients, but other times, when I am forced to wear the hat of HR Director, Compliance Officer, Chief Information Officer and CEO. These roles sit more squarely outside of my comfort zone yet are a part of my everyday life. When that familiar grubby feeling of uncertainty arises, I grab the book, read a page or two, and am generally reassured that my discomfort is nothing more than my brain telling me, "No, you can't!" I remember that I can and will deal with the challenges in front of me, uncomfortable and scary though they might be. In more extreme situations, when the book just doesn't speak loud enough, I call my accountant, my attorney, my mentor or a friend with the appropriate knowledge and experience. Talking out the situation with the right person helps me move forward, even if I'm still dragging my self-doubt and fear behind me. Onward! Decisions to be made, a business to run, I move forward, acknowledging but not succumbing to my feelings of fear or doubt.
Many of us carry a great deal of uncertainty and therefore discomfort regarding our financial lives. This can be caused by many factors, but the one that pops up the most is the feeling of disempowerment or inability to change our behaviors and attitudes in order to improve our lives. What keeps you mired in debt or without resources to live a comfortable life? You can answer this question by looking at it from these vantage points:
Where am I now?
Where do I wish to be?
How do I get there?
The first question is a simple statement of your current reality. The second requires a little bit of thought. It is the third step that mystifies and confuses - perhaps because the brain is so busy screaming, "No, you can't!"
Let's delve a little deeper. By "your current reality" I mean: What's really going on? What is the current state of your state? Let's run through a quick checklist.
1. Have you created a budget and do you know your monthly fixed and discretionary expenses?
2. Do you maintain balances on revolving debt?
3. Do you contribute systematically to a savings or investment plan?
4. Have you established written goals with time deadlines?
5. Do you have current estate planning documents (Will, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Directives)?
6. Do you consult with a CPA to review or prepare your taxes?
7. Have you reviewed your risk management program for sufficiency?
8. Do you have an emergency fund of cash or cash equivalents to cover six to nine months of living expenses?
9. Do you track your progress?
How did you do? Are you feeling at ease with your current financial life or are there any changes that might benefit you?
Now that you've assessed your current situation, consider what you want your future to look like?
Consider, for example:
1. What's important to you?
2. When would you like to reach those goals?
3. Are you debt-free? Do you live a life of financial options?
4. How much wealth have you accumulated?
5. What does your life look like in all aspects at this future time?
6. Why is it important for you to attain your dreams?
Now we saunter over to the third question: How do you get there? What keeps you from reaching the heights of the life you of which you dream? Could it be that little voice inside your brain that screams, "No, you can't! You don't know how! Change is painful! Why bother? It's useless, you'll never change."
Newsflash! Newsflash! The brain lies. Sometimes that voice we hear - you know, the one that pretends it's protecting you - is really just a power-hungry monster trying to maintain the status quo. But consider this: the script can be rewritten when you realize that fear of change is really just fear of discomfort. Fear of change focuses on that space between knowing and not knowing, that area between same old/same old and a new paradigm, that place between what is and what can be. Sometimes, you can piece it together by yourself. Sometimes it helps to utilize a team of advisors Find your own book or team to reach for when the need arises and you will soon discover that you need not be bound by fear or uncertainy. In fact, recognizing that you are limited by your belief is a great aid in improving your life to live your dreams.
I reach for my little book whenever I doubt myself; the stories inside remind me that I can get past obstacles of fear and doubt. After all, what's the worst thing that can happen? Change?
