What to do in uncertain times
When I create an initial financial plan with a client, I always remind them that the only thing we know with any certainty is that our plan will NOT go according to plan.
That’s because uncertainty – much like the coronavirus or a stock market pullback – is the only certainty in life.
The way I see it, there are two ways we can tackle uncertainty:
Accept and embrace it.
Fight it and ride the emotional rollercoaster that comes with denial.
As a planner by nature and profession, the first option used to be a non option for me. Accept the many things I couldn’t control? Embrace it? Um, no thank you. I falsely believed I could conquer anything with more effort and I needed to feel like I was in control of everything. So I fought it...hard.
But then things changed. Or maybe I changed. I got older. I started a business. I got married and had kids. And I stumbled upon stoicism.
All of these things helped me accept that fighting against uncertainty was a battle I couldn’t win. And make no mistake, giving up that false sense of control was, and frankly still is, scary. But accepting and embracing it did make my life much better.
When you let go of the many things outside of your control, you can then focus your time and actions on the limited things you do control and the things that matter most to you. Things like how you spend your time and who you spend it with.
Tackling uncertainty is NOT about having everything go according to plan – because it won’t! – but rather planning and adjusting as new information presents itself. Or as Dwight Eisenhower succinctly put it:
“Plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”
Take it from me, fighting against uncertainty is a road filled with disappointment, anger, and resentment.
We control our actions but not the outcomes. And the more we can focus on the former instead than the latter, the better off our lives tend to become.
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