March 16, 2003

Setbacks Happen and Plans Help
by Marcel Chartier

Setbacks, both life's and financial setbacks come in regular tides, some are predictable, some are not. I guess the reason I have started this article is pretty straightforward, I have just suffered both a life and financial setback. The irony is that despite being strong throughout the process. It still hurts. It isn't fair, but life isn' fair. Does this affect me in the short term, yes. Will needing to fork out thousands of dollars that has not been planned for hurt me financially, yes. Will this affect me and my family negatively, yes. Will I learn from this. Yes.

Will I continue with my original plans for wealth creation, yes. At the end of it all there is nothing I could have done to change this loss. An even bigger irony is this has occurred within days of being presented with a great opportunity to invest in a private company that may be of interest to me.

Sometimes you can't win. Or are not suppose to go a certain direction. I don't know what to call it, Karma or fate. But sometimes I think back to times where I was really upset over some event happening to me and looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. The same happens when you are facing financial processes. You have to plan, and stick to it the best you can despite the negative events that you may encounter. It is disheartening when these things happen, but when I look back I do realize that if I did not have a plan, and did not try to stick to it even when challenges presented itself, then I would have allowed those challenges to move me off track.

Well defined plans allow you to remain focussed despite outside events. The longer you utilize a well defined plan the more difficult it is to have that plan go off track, as good financial plans encourage themselves to continue as they have momentum. Good financial plans allow for setbacks, so when they happen it isn't a disaster, but a disappointment.