Review Time 4!
Periodically, it’s wise to assess our progress. Let’s make sure we are on track to achieve our dreams!
Before we complete our financial template, I think we should stop and assess where we are. I’ve previously mentioned that the weekly posts are simply the course and/or the book broken down into short weekly segments. I advocate reading the posts to reinforce what you have learned from taking the course or reading the book (due out in mid-2025), not something to do in place of those options. The course and book are reasonably priced and provide more information than I can in a weekly post.
In life, it pays to periodically assess your status to ensure you are on track to achieve your goals. Let’s look at a couple of examples to illustrate the point.
Staying on course
If you own a sailboat and enjoy sailing, let’s say, in the Caribbean, it’s important to remember two important words: Set and drift. Set and drift are terms used to describe how currents affect your boat. Set is the direction in which the current is flowing. Drift is the speed of the current. You would need to be aware of and compensate for both issues to avoid getting into trouble. Here is an interesting fact: Some sailors mistakenly believe that because they have a GPS to tell them what course to steer, they do not need to understand the effects of the current. This is not true. While your GPS will indeed display the straight line between you and your destination, it will not predict the effects of set and drift, which can change a favorable wind direction into a headwind. Headwinds and tailwinds are other important terms. Read on for more.
If you are an airplane pilot, drift is defined as the difference between the aircraft’s intended heading, the direction in which the nose is pointed, and its actual ground track. Drift is caused by crosswinds pushing the aircraft sideways. Besides drift, pilots, like sailors, need to be concerned with two other phenomena: Headwinds and tailwinds. Headwinds are winds that are blowing in your face. They have the effect of slowing you down and causing you to use more fuel and take more time to get to your destination. Tailwinds are winds at your back and are typically favorable to you as they tend to push you along, cause you to use less fuel, and speed up your journey. In the northern hemisphere, our prevailing winds are generally from west to east. Flying from Washington to Los Angeles typically takes longer than flying from Los Angeles to Washington due to the winds. At some times of the year, headwinds can be so strong that the aircraft cannot reach its intended destination with the projected fuel and passenger/cargo load. In these cases, the pilot must either limit the weight or plan to make a fuel stop along the way. See Note 1 for an explanation of this effect.
Then there’s this…
I apologize ahead of time for asking this question, but I can’t resist. How many of you have been in financial or planning meetings only to hear talk of the headwinds facing us in the current budget year or the tailwinds that will allow our project to be completed ahead of time? You may have even seen funny little symbols used in PowerPoint presentations to represent these. A headwind could be a wind symbol blowing from right to left, while a tailwind symbol could be blowing from left to right. Yeah, I’ve been in these meetings too!
As with sailing and piloting, it pays to ensure we stay on course
For each of us, we can often see that our life is like a sailboat and an airplane. As we grow and progress over time, we find all these same variables affect us. Various events in life can slow us down or even stop us in our tracks. Some events can speed things up and help us. If we are wise and we’ve planned out our life so that we can get what we truly desire out of life when we want it (that is, achieve our dreams and live our best lives!), we are also wise enough to know that obstacles occasionally crop up and we need to plan for them and then we need to stop and see if we need to course correct. As we learned in the sailboat example, even if you use a GPS and are on track, other variables must be accounted for to reach your destination successfully and safely.
What have we learned?
That’s why we occasionally review our progress. Let’s see what we’ve covered since our last review, shall we?
We learned the value of feedback: Feedback can come in various forms, such as touching a hot stove, communication gaps, getting fired from your job, getting into financial trouble, or getting sick from being around sick people.
We learned about templates: Templates are the Afterburner Success Partners differentiator that can rocket you to the success you desire. A differentiator has four characteristics: They are rare, they deliver on their promises, what they say is provable, and they are relevant. Why should you consider Afterburner Success Partners a true differentiator? So you can achieve your dreams and live your best life! But you already knew that, didn’t you?
At Afterburner Success Partners, we want to help you become wealthy, not rich: And, truth be known, you want the same thing. Let’s work together for a win-win solution, shall we?
We learned what financial freedom is: Financial freedom is the 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.
Big rocks first: Life has an order of operation that has been proven to work and will result in success. Determining the order to ensure your success and following it is important. What happens if you stray (drift) from the established order? Well, then, I think you know the answer, and it sometimes does not end so well. This is an extremely important concept. But don’t just take my word for it. See Notes 2 and 3 for a few links that align with the concepts we teach at Afterburner Success Partners.
The financial template: Your financial differentiator and the key to your financial success.
Completing the financial template, Part 1: One of the hardest things you will ever do in your life. We will complete the template in the coming posts.
I always like to suggest going back and rereading the previous posts to ensure clarity. When it comes to important decisions or important learning, it pays to step away for a bit, sleep, ponder, pray, and then ensure your original decision is still valid. So, if you need to, please read any or all of the previous posts to ensure a crystal-clear understanding of these important concepts. That’s all for this week!
What’s in it for Me
If you have been following these weekly posts since the beginning, you have read over 40 posts so far. Great job! I would also like to say thank you, and please tell any family or friends of yours who may be interested in achieving their dreams and living their best lives. Would you do that for me? And do it for them, as well! By now, you know that every column ends with a “What’s in it for me” paragraph. I do this to help keep in mind that I’m not writing just to read my own words but to provide something of value to anyone who desires to achieve their dreams and live their best lives. That’s all of us, and that’s what’s in it for you!
Call to Action
Share these posts with family and friends who desire to achieve. Sign up for the course. Give the course or book to someone you care about to help them! Maybe as a graduation present! Start your journey to your dreams today!
Recommended Resources
Click the “More” tab at the Afterburner Success Partners homepage and then click “Books and Resources” to view an extensive list of resources that can help in your journey. Click on any of the links to take you directly to the link to purchase any of these resources. Click on the links in Notes 1, 2, and 3 below.
Up Next
Overview of the Financial Template, Part 2.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Wind direction and ocean currents are affected by something known as the Coriolis Effect. Due to the rotation of the earth, winds generally blow from east to west in the middle of the earth and from west to east in the upper and lower portions of the earth. As many of you know, I was trained as an aircraft mechanic and now teach aircraft maintenance as a substitute instructor. The Coriolis effect is something that mechanics, as well as pilots, must learn about. Click on the links below to learn more about this interesting phenomenon: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/04currents1.html Here is another interesting link describing the Coriolis Effect: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/coriolis-effect/
Warren Buffett’s Ten Secrets of Success: https://www.bobsearch.com/blog-human-resources/warren-buffetts-ten-secrets-of-success
How to deliver success through the 80/20 rule: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-deliver-success-through-8020-rule-stuart-ross-/