Have you ever thought about what classic characters or lessons to learn that would make us excel in today’s financial wonderland? One of my favorite characters is Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”
If you don’t have any ideas where you want to go, it really doesn’t matter which way you go. We all have ideas about life that are inaccurate. Until we see it differently, we just don’t know. Sometimes you have to fall down a rabbit hole to get to where you need to be. The important thing is that you must look for a way out instead of being content with being there.
It’s better to start living your life with purpose, experiencing everything the world has to offer, taking some risks, and doing some things spontaneously. As what J.P.Morgan said: “The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you are not going to stay where you are.”
Most of us see the inherent wisdom of planning. We plan for our children’s education, next year’s vacation, or our own retirement. But for some strange reasons, it never occurs to us to plan our lives. It didn’t occur to me at first either. We also often put off financial planning as something of a nuisance we know we should think about it at some point-just some point next month or next year. Thought of investments, insurance, taxes or estates can be both daunting and tedious, and that is easily pushed aside for another day. Or that one day never comes.
Alice famously said.” She believed six impossible things before breakfast.”
Do you know between 2 am and 10 am, every entrepreneur has at least six new ideas about their business? If you have decided to take the risk of being self-employed in this financial wonderland, you are going to torture yourself with worries about cash flow, sales, and the never-ending clients’ services. Setting high goals and striving to meet them is something that you could do and should do. It’s important never to let anyone else in your life define what is impossible for you!
Instead of simply existing, you should decide who you wanted to be and who are the clients you wanted to serve. You must think big and have a plan filled with purpose and vision, which keep you focused when you grow, as there are many things to pull you away in different directions. Your passion in what you do will drive you through the execution. Your purpose in business will take you to profitability based on the plan you have or else you will lose sight of why you started in the first place.
We often fear exploring the unknown. Our adventure through this financial wonderland requires a certain degree of curiosity and risk-taking, by falling down the rabbit hole sometimes, in order to gain valuable wisdom. By being open to new information and experiences, we can develop a curious and growth mindset, learn to push our boundaries, and stay positive in our life journey.
‘I could tell you my adventures–beginning from this morning,’ said Alice a little timidly: ‘but it’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.’
So often, we are burdened by mistakes we have made in the past. The overpromises we made to our clients, the unfulfilled goals, disappointments, or the choices we didn’t make truly get us down and out. Things happen and things change. Those things happened yesterday or the day before, so just embrace the change and grow instead. We are a different person today than we were yesterday, and we can be a different person tomorrow too. What you can do is choose how you respond in those situations and learn the lessons, to be the new better you!
“- so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, if you only walk long enough…
All of us get lost from time to time. We drift off the path, sometimes, because we simply don’t know what’s happening. We may not sure how to get back on track. We think we know the right direction, but then we don’t like the destination!
Without a destination, we have no way of knowing when we would reach there and you probably end up drifting in life with deep regrets and despairs. It’s also very costly in terms of time and resources when we zigzag our way through life with an uncertain destination.
Life is not a rehearsal. There are real consequences to getting it wrong. In fact, many of us are working our way through those consequences now – the aftermath of our choices. But the good news is our decisions are the one thing we can control!
In the book ‘Living Forward’, the authors suggested that one of the best ways to get the clarity you need to articulate a vision for your life so that you can tell better stories is to ask yourself 3 powerful questions:
Question 1: How do I want to be remembered?
Question 2: What matters most to me?
Question 3: How can I get from here to where I want to be?
Asking the right questions changes your self-limiting beliefs and it can lead you to the good outcomes you want in life.
Above all, do what Alice said,” The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible.“
By the way, have you ever fallen down a rabbit hole, to get to where you need to be?
