The What If Factor
Positive or Negative?
Have you ever noticed what two little words can do for your confidence? I’m talking about “What If”.
So you set your goals. Let’s say you want to purchase a car. Having done your due diligence, you fixed your desires on a particular vehicle. Mind you, the price is within your spending range, and performance is what you want. Your confidence level is at the max. For weeks you ate, slept, and drank that car, even though it sat on the showroom floor.
Now let’s say you hadn’t mentioned your desire to own that vehicle to anyone; not even a spouse or a loved-one. There are some well-meaning people, some in our families, some closest to us, who will come up with a ‘What If’.
“’What If’ it breaks down? It’s gonna cost you a fortune to repaired it. My mechanic told me those cars are hard to work on. You have to take them back to the dealer.”
Except you are the unflappable type, there will be a knock at the door of your confidence.
And you’ll say to yourself… “You know what? That’s something I didn’t think about.”
Doubt sets in.
Take another example of the negative “What If” factor.
Let’s say you had a thought to invest in the stock market. Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, and Warren Buffet: all of these men made millions of dollars due to their personal investment programs. And they continue to advise the public to invest their money; to make their dollars work for them instead of working for the money.
We all know that every individual is not the same. We think differently, look differently, and act differently. Sometimes we believe what is good for the goose, is not always good for the gander.
Right now you might be caught up in the linear income phase of your life. You work every day to pay the bills. But one day on your way to work, as if a little bird whispered in your ear, you were struck with an epiphany.
“In order to keep ahead of inflation, I need to invest in the stock market.” These are the words you casually mentioned to your spouse. No big deal! Like I said, just a casual remark.
“Are you sure you know what you are talking about? What If you lose the money? How will we survive? You know that thing is like gambling.”
There it is again: “What If”.
So you set your goals. Let’s say you want to purchase a car. Having done your due diligence, you fixed your desires on a particular vehicle. Mind you, the price is within your spending range, and performance is what you want. Your confidence level is at the max. For weeks you ate, slept, and drank that car, even though it sat on the showroom floor.
Now let’s say you hadn’t mentioned your desire to own that vehicle to anyone; not even a spouse or a loved-one. There are some well-meaning people, some in our families, some closest to us, who will come up with a ‘What If’.
“’What If’ it breaks down? It’s gonna cost you a fortune to repaired it. My mechanic told me those cars are hard to work on. You have to take them back to the dealer.”
Except you are the unflappable type, there will be a knock at the door of your confidence.
And you’ll say to yourself… “You know what? That’s something I didn’t think about.”
Doubt sets in.
Take another example of the negative “What If” factor.
Let’s say you had a thought to invest in the stock market. Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, and Warren Buffet: all of these men made millions of dollars due to their personal investment programs. And they continue to advise the public to invest their money; to make their dollars work for them instead of working for the money.
We all know that every individual is not the same. We think differently, look differently, and act differently. Sometimes we believe what is good for the goose, is not always good for the gander.
Right now you might be caught up in the linear income phase of your life. You work every day to pay the bills. But one day on your way to work, as if a little bird whispered in your ear, you were struck with an epiphany.
“In order to keep ahead of inflation, I need to invest in the stock market.” These are the words you casually mentioned to your spouse. No big deal! Like I said, just a casual remark.
“Are you sure you know what you are talking about? What If you lose the money? How will we survive? You know that thing is like gambling.”
There it is again: “What If”.
"No doubt about it; that’s something to consider."
Your confidence is shaken.
Lastly, the big one…
This time we’ll look at a personal desire to be a Public Speaker. Every last one of your closest friends know that you have the gift of the gab. Not only did you kiss the Blarney Stone; you also broke off a piece and swallowed it.
All of a sudden some meaningful family member says to you…
“What If you got up there in front of all those people and caught stage fright? Won’t that be embarrassing?
‘What If’ is one of those old clichés that is generally meant to shake the confidence in a client, a child, a partner, a spouse, and countless other people.
I haven’t really done any research on whom or where the term derived. What I know is this: When I was an insurance salesman, the “What If” interjection helped me to close a ton of sales.
“’What If something happens (God forbid) to the bread winner? How will the family survive?”
But there is also a very positive side to the “What If” factor.
“’What If’ you do not start an investment program soon: How will you deal with inflation in the future?
Your confidence is shaken.
Lastly, the big one…
This time we’ll look at a personal desire to be a Public Speaker. Every last one of your closest friends know that you have the gift of the gab. Not only did you kiss the Blarney Stone; you also broke off a piece and swallowed it.
All of a sudden some meaningful family member says to you…
“What If you got up there in front of all those people and caught stage fright? Won’t that be embarrassing?
‘What If’ is one of those old clichés that is generally meant to shake the confidence in a client, a child, a partner, a spouse, and countless other people.
I haven’t really done any research on whom or where the term derived. What I know is this: When I was an insurance salesman, the “What If” interjection helped me to close a ton of sales.
“’What If something happens (God forbid) to the bread winner? How will the family survive?”
But there is also a very positive side to the “What If” factor.
“’What If’ you do not start an investment program soon: How will you deal with inflation in the future?
Here is Ken Little's Golden Rule for investing:
"The best time to start investing was yesterday. The second best time is today. Tomorrow is better than nothing"
“’What If’ you do not teach yourself how to invest: How will you learn?
“’What If’ you do not teach your child how to invest? How will they survive the impending future?
You see, there is a myth about investing. They say you need to be a rocket scientist to invest in the stock market.
Investing is hard; that’s another myth. And yet another myth: You need to have someone who knows about the stock market to handle your investing.
When you give your money to someone else to hold for you, whose interest do you think will come first? What If you gave it to them and they lost every red cent, how would you feel then? Wouldn’t it be better to have lost it knowing what you did wrong, and learn from your mistakes?
There are a couple of books I recommend. “Alpha Teach Yourself – Investing in 24 Hours” by Ken Little, and “Investors Business Daily” by William J. Oneal.
“’What If’ you do not teach yourself how to invest: How will you learn?
“’What If’ you do not teach your child how to invest? How will they survive the impending future?
You see, there is a myth about investing. They say you need to be a rocket scientist to invest in the stock market.
Investing is hard; that’s another myth. And yet another myth: You need to have someone who knows about the stock market to handle your investing.
When you give your money to someone else to hold for you, whose interest do you think will come first? What If you gave it to them and they lost every red cent, how would you feel then? Wouldn’t it be better to have lost it knowing what you did wrong, and learn from your mistakes?
There are a couple of books I recommend. “Alpha Teach Yourself – Investing in 24 Hours” by Ken Little, and “Investors Business Daily” by William J. Oneal.
Read the first book first and follow with the second. Between them they will set you on the road to good financial health.
What if you don’t study the books and work on the ideas?
What if you don’t study the books and work on the ideas?
No comments:
Post a Comment