2020 has taught us a lot of lessons, The main one being Don’t put things off. The scary thing is many of us have come to that same conclusion but all for different reasons. Some of us have been affected by the passing of a loved one or friend, some by the passing of a celebrity (most recently Chadwick Boseman) while others have had the rug of life suddenly pulled from underneath them by a sudden termination, delays in work advancement, in addition to endless personal battles and conflicts. The list of surprises has unfortunately been endless this year.
Always get back up
We all react differently to bad news, it takes some of us more time to bounce back than others. Maybe the fact that you are reading this post means that you are looking for answers. Personally, this year has led me to ask why before and after every major decision I make. The reason I do this now is to evaluate if my feelings are the same before and after those big decisions. From there, If I don’t feel good about a decision, I have no reservations about starting over. This is a great tool we can all use to break us out of our routine or whatever is keeping us from turning back or starting over.
Doing the right things like saving in your 401k, Roth IRA, and HSA accounts are all great but how many of us are saving and investing with no real reason except that it’s what we are supposed to be doing. We put our lives on auto pilot without question and expect all the answers to be waiting for us when we retire.
If you haven’t thought about short and long-term goals in a while, make time to remind yourself. Ideally every day if you can.
Ask questions of yourself
Once in a while it’s good to ask ourselves, Why?
-Why am I waiting till I’m 65 to retire?
– Am I putting off things that make me happy?
– Why am staying at this job if I don’t enjoy it?
We struggle to find the sweet spot in life. Do we stay in that well-paying job we hate, or do we make the switch to that lower-paying job we love? Most people will usually choose the former. Unfortunately for some of us when we realize we put off being happy in the long run for money, it is too late to turn back the clock.
Happiness for many of us always seems to be 20,30,40 years down the line. The end of the rainbow (retirement) seems to be where many of us say “When I get there I’ll finally be happy”. I don’t think the long-term goal of retirement is bad, but happiness should be found along the way; in life’s small moments (i.e., short-term goals).
My life changed for the better when I finally stopped for a second to take a breath and figure out the balance of where and what I got Happiness out of every day.
Stop saying tomorrow
When it comes to self-evaluation, it’s always easy to say I’ll sit down and do it tomorrow. We always find other things to do to pass the time and before we know it, the day passes us by and we’re left saying the same thing we said the day before “I’ll do it tomorrow”.
That cycle will continue until you make a change, don’t wait for another traumatic outside event to remind you of how short and fragile life is.