Three brothers meet for a drink back in their parents home town.
One went to university, got a vocational job in the sector he trained in and started climbing the managerial ladder. The next tried multiple routes through education and training and was in and out of positions across a wide range of industries. The last, after graduating, took several unrelated roles to his degree, never obtaining satisfaction with a single career path.
Over the course of the evening, the typical oneupmanship you might expect from siblings showed up huge disparities in goals, opinions and strategies for achieving their desires.
Coming from the same family, instilled with the same upbringing from their parents and separated by only a few years between them, how could this be the case?
Everyone is different
Subtle differences, some macro and some micro, can push and pull people onto a different path. Internal drives and external impacts have an outside influence on what path an individual takes.
One brother wants financial security; one lives for the moment, while the other wants to reduce his impact and that of others on the world.
Their experiences shaped who they became, and yours will be wholly and totally different to make you who you are.
Your goals are not my goals
Of course, setting goals mean that the result is more likely to occur. Working towards something and putting in the extra effort to get to the desired outcome make the satisfaction sweeter.
Each brother wants and works towards something different, with challenges and successes in the past and the future.
Whether goals are kept to yourself, shared with those close to you or shouted from the rooftops, they’ll be unique to you.
A strategy by definition, is unique to the circumstances
Some of the more well-known quotes around strategy have military origins, including “that no plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength.” (Moltke)
Opportunities and emergencies have presented themselves to each brother, opening doors and closing others to get them to where they are today.
While plans cannot anticipate when comes next, planning for a range of outcomes is indispensable.
Achieving the end result
This blog aims to guide, inform, and inspire you on your own financial journey to succeed and attain whatever you are working towards.
