This post will look into some simple ways you can look at life through a lens of readiness and preparedness so that your family can prosper no matter what unthinkable event comes your way.
Let's reminisce for a minute, or two.
Think of what you were doing just a short year ago.
If you're like us, you were mapping out your attack on the crammed holiday schedule. Grandparent's here, grandparents there, work party over here, an appearance at aunt Suzie's holiday mixer, and the annual softball Christmas party. And, who could forget that Saturday afternoon standing in the never-ending line for Santa so the kiddos could provide us with that meltdown, no-nap crying face for the annual Christmas photo!
Ahhh, the good ole days.
Now, snap back to reality.
We've all been put through the ringer in 2020, and if we are completely honest with ourselves, none of us saw it coming. Some of us got really sick, some of us have been mildly ill and, God-forbid, some of us have lost loved ones. Some of us lost jobs, whole businesses and livelihoods. A lot of us have become overnight superheroes as stay-at-home employees and teachers. And no one can forget the miraculous performances by our health care and public safety professionals.
It doesn't matter how you've been affected, one thing is certain: We've been stressed to the max due to an abrupt change in the way we have become accustomed to simply doing life.
We Have Been Exposed
2020 has exposed how easily we can be caught off guard, and how ill-prepared we are to face a life altering event. This was blatantly obvious after witnessing the shear panic that consumed everyone when they noticed that they were on their last roll of toilet paper. And let's not even get into how hard it is to hold a sneeze in public these days.
In a societal life of everything at our disposal, preparation is just not our thing. And why would it be? We have become so accustomed to getting whatever we want, when we want it. I fall into the same boat of (and I love) how easy it is to just push that button and things magically show up at our door a day or two later. Being prepared is a concept that just seems to fall into the background of our everyday lives. We have, however, created entire TV shows dedicated to showing the world how prepared some people are, and it's made to show that those people are a bit nuts. But, are they?
We do not have to go to someone else's extremes to have a sense of preparedness, confidence and stability.
Moving forward, we should look to fight for our family's success against those unthinkable events by looking at our lives through a lens of readiness and preparedness.
No, I am not advocating for you to purchase a 2 year supply of survival food, outfit each one of your children with their own "bug-out" bag, or create underground tunnels that lead to a three-story underground homemade bunker.
Being prepared for life's unfortunate or unthinkable event begins with a shift in our mindset.
It starts by evaluating and taking inventory of ourselves, our situation and our future.
TAKE INVENTORY OF OURSELVES
There is a great book written by Michael Hyatt titled, Free to Focus. Its theme is centered on how leaders can have more freedom and be more productive by "doing less." It seems like a complete contradiction, but the book highlights a three-step-process that has always stood out to me as it relates to the concept of "Taking an Inventory of your Life." The three steps for us are to: Stop, Cut and Act.
This year has forced us to Stop and evaluate a situation that was out of our control. We were forced to Cut out any unnecessary or non-essential items that did not contribute to the overall health and wellness of ourselves and others. Finally, we were forced to Act and adapt to rapidly changing events. These abrupt changes have had a direct correlation to our stress levels and how unprepared we were to handle them.
Take a moment to reflect on and inventory yourself. Think about what would bring you undue stress and anxiety in a time of chaos. What steps would you need to take to free yourself from that undue stress and anxiety?
INVENTORY YOUR SITUATION
After over a year of research, preparation and organizing, I officially opened up my Home Inventory Business in February of 2020. I was beyond excited to embark on a new journey of starting my own business and designing a lifestyle, outside of my firefighting profession, that I had complete control over. I had a good amount of clients lining up and ready for my services. I felt like this was going to be a great launch.
And then.. well... I was not at all prepared for what was about to happen just a short month later.
I immediately felt a rush of panic, fear and failure. I was thrown to the wolves, forced to pivot and find a way to completely change a business model without ever being able to start serving my customers that were looking for a home inventory.
My situation is not unique to anyone else's. Again, an abrupt change exposed how ill prepared I was. But that's the whole point getting your mind right in regards to preparedness.
Regardless of what situation you're in, 2020 has proved that we have no idea what tomorrow will have in store for us.
Take some time to inventory the situation you're in. If tomorrow you lost everything you owned, how would you recover? What would be your next step?
INVENTORY YOUR FUTURE
Going forward, how do you know that you will be prepared for another 2020?
It's quite simple actually.
You know the old saying your grandpa used to tell you: "You can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been?" While this year has been tough on all of us, the silver lining is this:
You've been given a tremendous opportunity to evaluate things in your life that matter to you, and things that don't.
Take a moment and grab a pen and paper. I want you to write down the top 5 things that matter to you. Go deeper than just to think of material things such as your car or the phone that you're glued to, as those things can be wrecked, broken, discarded or lost. Think of things that bring intrinsic value to your life and will guide you in times of chaos. This exercise will help you to realize that the action of being prepared starts with having the right mindset. When you can become crystal clear on what matters to you, you tend to evaluate situations with a set of guiding principles that will ease the stress and anxiety of an event that's out of your control.
Don't forget that if you're married, you and your spouse are on the same journey. Have your spouse write down their Top 5, and then compare your lists. Have a conversation on how to incorporate or accommodate your spouse's list into your own. When faced with as much adversity as we all have been through in 2020, being unified is the single greatest way of being prepared to handle anything that life can throw at you.
No matter what outlook you have on being prepared, the most important thing is that you are thinking about it. I'm a firefighter, and I own a home inventory company, so being prepared for things is pretty much what I do. I don't expect anyone to look at things the way I do, but if I can help you move you in the right direction for you and your family's future, then Mission Accomplished.
Craig Plassmeyer,
Capital View Inventory
Inventory Specialist and Appraisal Examiner certified through the NICA.
Firefighter / Paramedic
With over 10 years of experience in Fire & Emergency Services, I can assure you that fires, natural disasters and life's unfortunate events happen every single day. These events leave a broken path both financially and emotionally, where recovery lasts much longer than it should.
I believe that no one should have to sacrifice so much of their precious time order to enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that they can financially recover after a disaster. That's why we create the best personal property inventories to give your family's future the right step forward after the unthinkable happens.
Visit our website at capitalviewinventory.com
Like us on Facebook @ proveitsyours