Review Time 5!
It good to periodically review our progress. This week, we are going to do that. Let’s do an After Action Review (AAR)!
The After Action Review
Have you ever heard of an After Action Review (AAR)? Have you ever participated in one? No? Well, today is a great opportunity to learn something very valuable!
The AAR was originally developed by the Army in the 1970’s as a way to review catastrophic events to prevent them from occurring again. It is a structured, documented process that is completed after the event is over and serves as a learning moment and a way to develop processes or procedures to prevent reoccurrences of these tragic events. Ironically, an AAR can be used when good things happen as well as a way to duplicate good outcomes for future benefit. In all cases, the point is to learn, to become a learning organization, and to improve. Click on the link in Note 1 to learn more. Here’s what’s interesting: you can use the AAR process in your own life to assess what went wrong and what went right and adjust accordingly! In fact, we use an abbreviated AAR process when we do periodic reviews!
Review Time 5
Because the purpose of these blog posts, along with the course and the book, is to provide education and learning (So you can achieve your dreams and live your best life!), we know that periodically taking time to review and assess our progress is a good thing. We’ve covered a lot of information in the past few sessions, so let’s recap what we’ve learned:
Previous review items: There are a few items we previously discussed but are worth reviewing again.
Big Rocks First: Do the important things that will benefit you the most first.
Daily goal setting: Long-term financial goal accomplishment means doing the little things daily. Little things add up to big things and compound over time.
SMART Goals: All of your goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, Time Bound.
How you think is everything.
The Financial Template: The financial template is the Afterburner Success Partners differentiator and the key to your financial success. We spent a lot of time developing the template and discussing the various rows and columns. I will be presenting a lot of important information in the coming sessions that will better enable you to complete the financial template. During this session, we:
Listed milestones: We listed milestones from today to 30 years after retirement. Think of a milestone as a mile marker or way point on your journey to financial security.
Added Dates: We assigned a date to each milestone so you can track your financial progress throughout your life.
“Your Number”: We briefly discussed “Your Number” as the most important number you will ever need.
Two very, very important concepts: We discussed two extremely important concepts on your journey:
Developing your lifetime financial plan is likely one of the most difficult and important decisions you will make in your life
Reaching your number is that point in life where you are confident that you are financially prepared to live the rest of your life, in the style you desire, and not have to worry about money, regardless of what happens
Time to reflect and ponder: We are now in a period of time where we reflect on what we see listed on the financial template and ponder what it will take to get there. Reflection, pondering, quiet time, and prayer are key concepts to use during this time.
OK, the review post for this week is short and sweet. The information we went over is not, however, is not, and there is a lot of very important material for you to consider. Please take the time to do that on your own. That’s all for this week!
What’s in it for Me
Financial security is what’s in it for you, and that’s enough!
Call to Action
Be sure you fully understand all of the information up to this point, as it is the building block going forward. Go back and review any information you don’t fully comprehend.
Recommended Resources
None this week.
Up Next
Things I learned from my father.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
After Action Reviews: A Simple Yet Powerful Tool-Warton Executive Education, The University of Pennsylvania: https://executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu/thought-leadership/wharton-at-work/2021/07/after-action-reviews-simple-tool/