Failure Doesn’t Exist

Back in April my life was changing like crazy.  All of the changes were good and a lot of fun.  I got myself a fiancee, she moved in with me, I purchased a 2nd house and I started a brand new job.  It seemed like things in my life just couldn’t get any better.  I felt like a kid in the candy store that his parents owned; I could have anything I wanted and I ate plenty.

The excitement couldn’t last long because I had tons of work to do.  I had to to finish remodeling the 2nd house and get it on the rental market. Unfortunately, by the time I was finished I missed the sweet spot of the rental season.  Also my relationship with my fiancee had been going down hill the entire time.  Two weeks ago I found myself with a still empty 2nd house, a messy and disorganized primary house, a payment for an engagement ring that was no longer being worn, discussions with an ex fiancee who was packing to move out, and a car that kept going to the repair shop.  On top of all this, I was able to look at my finances and see that my budget was no longer balanced.  My current way of life had me in the red; I no longer made enough money to cover all the expenses.  Any one of these things would have quickly fixed that: get a new roommate, rent out my other house, be able to return the engagement ring.  After weeks of trying, I was still stuck.  It seems that once again life showered me with change, but this time it has a much more bitter taste.

Choose to Win

If I were a loser, I’d finish my complaining and the story would be complete.  Fortunately my blog isn’t called the Smart Path to Unhappiness.  I’m a positive fella and I still had one thing going for me, time.  By staying on top of my finances (I’ll write about how I do that later), I was able to see the danger well in advance.  I wasn’t truly in any sort of immediate financial doom but I knew that in 4 months I would be.  Although my budget that was in a deficit, I do have an emergency fund.  I hit the drawing board and made all sorts of recovery plans.  I had a plan A.  I had a plan B.  I had enough strategies that I could have lettered well past W.  I was planning things as simple as eating sandwiches every day for lunch and dinner to as complicated as liquidating my assets.  No idea was too small or large.  I had enough things that even if 3/4 of them failed I would have been fine.  I couldn’t play it safe though because I wasn’t sure if some unexpected emergency would pop in there.

Past Comes Back to Bite

It turns out that some of the small seeds I was planting months ago just began to sprout.  When I started working on them I had the idea that, “doing these things will some day help me get rich”.  I had no idea that doing them would actually keep me out of the poor house.  I went through the effort to consolidate my school loans a few months ago to lock in on the low interest rates.  They finally finished and I got my new statement in the mail; turns out my payments were cut in half.  That one little change I made months ago single-handedly put my budget back in black.  I can’t stop there…I still need to be prepared for any other lemons.  Yesterday I got a call out of the blue for some freelance work.  This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t already been building my reputation.  So now my budget is clean and I’ve got some more income to bolster my emergency fund.  Neither of these things were on my plan to help me succeed but they wouldn’t have been an option if I chose to sit on my butt all those months ago.

Make Your Own Outcome

The first real point of my story is that I got lucky.  I wasn’t expecting my expenses to drop or for some extra work to knock on my door.  I also feel lucky that I took the time months (or years ago) to set some balls in motion.  At the time I didn’t really know what, if anything, would come from the effort.

The second point is that I still never lost my attitude.  I told myself that I would not lose my stride and I searched for ways to make sure I wouldn’t.  No job is beneath me.  I’d scrub toilets, fix cars, or flip burgers.  If it paid money I would have applied for it.  Also, unless the expense was a loan I had to repay or provided one of my basic needs, I was willing to live without it.

If you can look at yourself now and you’re doing ok, spend some time building some skills or a small side business.  Don’t do it for money today, but for the idea that it might help you when you least expect.  If you don’t have 6 months to invest because you need money yesterday, it is time to make your plans (A through W).  It is time to throw all but your basic needs.  You need food, water, and shelter.  You need food, but not fancy food.  Ramen noodles might not be fun to eat but you’ll survive.  Entertainment is no where in there.  Cut off your cable.  Cut off your internet.  Stop using your AC.  Do whatever it takes to slash your costs.  You certainly deserve the luxuries of modern life but you are no longer allowed to experience them while your head is under water. On top of that, go find yourself some more employment.  You’re motivated.  Earn money any legal way you can; work hard to get any job because you’re going to work harder than any other person.  Success is the name of the game, not your image or ego.

Work hard when things are good and be willing to push 110% if that is what life requires.  Creating more confidence and the ability to deal with anything life throws at you will take you one more step towards infinite happiness.