Dealing with Setbacks in Life -
Stop Getting Mad at Them
When dealing with setbacks in life the best way is not letting yourself get mad at the things you cannot control. If you do, like I often do, it drains all your creative energy on an uncontrollable instant. Don’t let this happen to you.
I recently go my car insurance renewal in the mail. It has increased by $40 per month this year. Crazy considering I have never made a claim and I have been driving for over 10 years. Unfortunately the province of Ontario decided to make some changes to car insurance this year so everyone’s rates went up.
I was bummed so I did what any financially smart 20-something would do in this situation by shopping around for a better quote. I started applying for quotes online and calling different companies. No luck, the rates were basically the same. And when I did find somewhere that was slightly cheaper my home insurance was much higher (you want to keep them at the same place since you get a discount).
I was steaming like a baked potato that just came out of the oven!!! I'm sick of setbacks in life!!! The last thing I want to do is pay an extra $40 a month. I’m trying to get ahead financially. I’m trying to rebuild my birds nest (i.e. savings/rainy day account). I want to make my car payments none existent. It’s not fair that I have to use the money I budgeted for this goal towards this. But what can I do?
Or have you ever been in this situation?
I started investing in my RRSP (registered retirement saving plan in Canada) when I was 24 years old. That same year I started seriously saving money to move out. At that time I read an article about compound interest. To sum it up, the earlier you start investing in your retirement, the less you have to invest plus the more you’ll end up having.
I wish I started investing in my retirement the moment I started earning an income. Time is definite so I cannot be mad at something I cannot control. All I can do start investing at that moment moving forward.
I cannot be mad at something I cannot control.
That’s right! How often have you been in this situation where you have tried to do anything imaginable but there’s no solution. As long as I live in the province of Ontario and want to continue driving I must pay this rate.
Sure maybe I could switch to a different car but I love my car. It’s a reliable 5 year old Honda Civic. If I switch to something less than fabulous than my Civic I could be open another can of worms all together, such as car repairs.
Save your energy to be angry at things you can control. Missing out on opportunities because of fear or laziness are setbacks in life you can avoid.
What is stopping you from following your dreams or jumping on an opportunity?
If you decided that you wanted to start working out and you created a schedule to work out in the morning because you don’t have time at night and you cannot get yourself out of bed- that’s when you should get mad at yourself.
Or if you create a monthly budget for yourself and you’re constantly going over because you cannot control your spending on luxury items- that’s when you should get mad at yourself.
You can control how much time you put in towards your goals and dreams. So turn off the television and stop surfing the internet. Those are things you can control.
I could go on… but I think you can get the point.
What I have learned being a first time home owner? Prevent dealing with setbacks in life by following these tips:
Allow your finances to have breathing room because your expenses will unfortunately go up.
Since I moved in almost 2 years ago my condo fees have gone up $50 per month, my internet has been raised $10 per month, and my home insurance has gone up $50. Most likely these things will still continue to increase.
I avoid potential financial setbacks such as these home expenses. I can control are where I go grocery shoppin and how often I use my daytime minutes on my cell and my Burlington hydro bill.
Click here for more ideas to avoid setbacks in life.
Back to SMART GOALS FOR SUCCESS homepage.
