By Sherrie Nish
To illustrate how important it is for us to include all the details when writing our 25-year plan, Marilyn told of an experience she had heard about many years ago. It seems there was professor at a large university who had 24 students in his Grad Program. Near the end of the semester, he met with the class and told them that the final would be in about a week. At that time, students were to bring back a written plan that would cover the next 25 years of their lives. He didn’t give many details; instead leaving it up to the discretion of the student.
The students returned at the appointed time thinking they would present their written plan to the class. To their amazement, the professor simply collected each of their papers and placed them all together in a large envelope, which he then sealed. He explained that the envelope was going to be placed in a safe deposit box and the 25-year plans would be read at their 25-year reunion.
Time passed. Some had forgotten about the assignment, but remembered and returned for the reunion. For their final assignment all those years ago, some students had merely made a short list of the things they hoped to accomplish in the next 25 years. However, there were four or five who had taken time and written out a detailed paper of what they hoped to achieve. One young man had gone so far as to describe what he wanted his wife to look like!
When all the students had finished reading through their final papers from long ago, it was discovered that those four or five students who had taken the time to detail what their lives would be like over the next 25 years had a higher net worth than the other 20 students COMBINED!
Take the time to include the details in your life plan. Think deeply about why you are trading and the benefits it will bring into your life. Darrell has suggested to think about the question “Why am I trading?” and take it at least three levels deeper than the surface answer. For example, if your first answer is to make money, ask yourself why you want to make money. If the answer to that question is to pay off your bills, ask yourself why you want to pay off your bills. Find the answer to that question. Keep asking and answering the questions to get the real answer to the question of why you are trading. Add in the details and you’ll have a life plan.