Don’t Let a Personal Crisis Go To Waste

All over the world, people are always making plans to either make more money, invest the hard-earned money in profitable ventures, and for the parents with young children, many always think of saving for the good future of the children. Thinking about the future is not a bad idea; the only problem is the method that some people use in achieving the set goals. Even though man is not a perfect being, some mistakes that most of the people make are at times disastrous. There are people or organizations that may have very brilliant plans to allow them achieve success but no follow up is done to make sure that they succeed in their ventures.

In a bid to understand the concept in saving, planning, and investing, I searched for articles that would bring out the connection. I looked for journals that were connected to the topic in all business related journals. Eventually, I settled on the Wall Street Journal as it has business related articles from all over the world. In one of the articles in the Wall Street journal by Chuck Jaffe under the heading “Don’t let personal crisis go to waste,” the writer gives a personal account about his health. He describes how he ended up having a blocked artery as a result of his “bad habits”. He, unconventionally, chose the moment when he was being treated to see ways in which he will live healthy rather than thinking about the condition he was at the moment. He elaborates how he deals with the situation, the plans he makes, and how he handles the challenges he encounters in pursuing these plans.

The writer goes ahead and relates health problems with finances. In the article, he says that, “There is a personal finance angle to all of this, because saving, budgeting and investing properly are remarkably similar to diet, exercise and eating right. Just as many people have trouble with a diet, so do they have issues living on a budget, spending within their means, and saving properly.”, In the aforementioned explanation, he points out that just as many people have problems with diet and exercise, so do they experience problems with personal finances.

Follow Up

In the hospital bed, the writer was able to come up with a three-year plan on how to restore his health just as any other person would have done if found in the same position. This implies that when faced with financial crisis, people always make plans on how to solve the problem. He further states that a plan without proper follow up is fruitless. I totally agree with this claim; however, the part that I do not find convincing is his assertions that there is always room to make mistakes. Financial mistakes lead to serious consequences and any such mistake might have a very huge impact on the final financial situation. Many people always have very good plans to help them solve financial problems such as investment and saving dilemmas. People save for various reasons; some save for their children’s education while others save to buy things such as houses or cars in the future, yet other save for holidays.

Whatever the reason for saving, a plan must be put in place so that one can ascertain the amount to save as well as the time and amount limits. Some people may require regular saving, while others save annually. Some reasons for saving such as holiday may require a short duration and the plan might culminate once the holiday is complete. However, other reasons for saving like a child’s education might take several years until the child is through with his/her education. It should however be noted that many people do always come up with very good ideas on how to save or invest when faced with a crisis. Sometimes saving seems like a burden to people because when the problem is over the plan is shelved. There are some other people who initiate the plans but do not make any follow up to ascertain whether the ideas are working or not. There are still some people or organizations that might have excellent plans to solve the problems facing them, but are too afraid to implement the plans as they are not sure of the success. In such a scenario, the organization or person may continue to wallow in problems owing to their fear to take risks or try out novel ideas.

Setbacks

The writer notes that every plan might have a setback, but it should not be a barrier in achieving the desired goals. By dealing with the setbacks in the right manner and with positive attitude, one might eventually succeed. The writer tries to bring out the fact that even the right plans will always have difficulties. Therefore, when faced with such challenges, one needs to rise up and take the problems head on instead of feeling sorry or being overwhelmed by the situation. Most people when faced with setbacks in implementing a plan tend to look at it as another failure, instead of looking at them just as challenges. Just like in the writer’s case, some problems might be life threatening but when dealt with in the right way, they can become great opportunities for victory.

Problems, once dealt with do not necessarily mean that they might not arise in the future, but might recur again-and-again. When such incidences take place, most people lose hope of ever finding permanent solutions to the problems. Setbacks should be viewed as the everyday challenges that people face just like health problems. A person might suffer from a cold, go to a doctor and receive treatment. However, the same person might suffer from a cold again months later. The doctor can not be blamed for not doing a splendored job, but the solution pegs on prescribing another type of medication for this patient.

Conclusion

The article clearly brings out the connection between saving, planning, and investing. Financial issues are a very significant issue to every person; hence, making the best decision is very vital. However, plans without follow-up mechanism might not bear any fruits. In this respect, it is important to back up every plan with action. Financial security for future generations is very vital; hence, parents investing for the future of their children should look for the appropriate plan in order to avoid costly mistakes. The article is very vital to international business at it helps one make the best decisions regarding the type of business venture to pursue. Life is full of challenges and so is the financial world, every form of investment, and saving. At times, some of the challenges faced when implementing certain plans are meat to make the plans more successful.