Reflect on the Past, Clarify the Future

As we enter the last month of 2021, many of you may be asking – “Where has the year gone to?” We have certainly experienced a very interesting 18-24 months, where some have thrived, others have struggled and others are still wondering how to make sense of it all.    The end of the year is often a time for reflection and review and it is important to hit the pause button to do so.    In a recent lunch meeting with a colleague the subject of Tim Ferris’ book – The 4 Hour Work Week came up. Naturally, the topic moved to a discussion where we discussed how we can achieve more by working less. There are a number of key lessons that one can take from Tim Ferris’ book, namely:  

• It IS possible to work way less than we normally do and earn way more than we do and in so doing live the life we have designed for ourselves.  
• The goal isn’t having more money. The goal is what I can experience and who I can impact (legacy) when I have more money.  
• We do not have to be slaves to our email – lots was discussed on this topic however I won’t go into this in this article.   
• Go on a low information diet. Tim states the following: “Most information is time-consuming, negative, irrelevant to your goals and outside of your influence.” Choose to fill your mind with information that is only productive and beneficial.  
• Outsourcing/delegating is important for opening up space – Time!    
• Focus on the 20%   
• You fill in the amount of time designated for each task. Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. In other words; if you set out 10 hours to complete a task it will take 10 hours, however, if you set aside 1 hour you will take 1 hour to complete the task.  

These are some of the key lessons that we normally take out from Tim’s book. I am of the opinion that we often miss out on a very important lesson from the book, one that he used as a “foundation” for his book and that is the following:    Our social security systems all around the world cannot continue to fund an increasing number of people entering retirement. This coupled with an increasing life span and very poor savings for retirement and you can see that we are heading for disaster. As a result, we will most likely be working far longer than we had anticipated and in so doing, how do I create a business that allows me to work (in a balanced way) for a longer period than I had planned for.  Here lie some important questions to reflect on as we review what needs to change in 2022:    

1.  To what extent have I adequately made provision for retirement for whatever date I choose to retire?  
2. How do I create a business that allows me to be actively involved for longer than I might have planned to be, whilst retaining the lifestyle that I want?   

Working beyond the normal retirement age might be a reality for many of you if you haven’t made adequate provision for retirement. Your only sources of generating cash are your business and any passive income that you get from assets that you have invested in. If you have not made adequate provisions, the reality is that you will be needing to work for a longer period. To do so in a sustainable way means that you would need to build in the disciplines that Tim talks about in his book. Doing so will create the lifestyle that you want, however, it might also be the answer to being able to be actively involved in a business way beyond the normal retirement age.    Use this time of the year to reflect on what you need to do in your business in 2022 to fund your retirement lifestyle.   

• Build assets that generate passive income.   
• Create leverage and space in your business to live the life you have desired now.  
• Build systems and people to create a business that can serve you for longer than you might have planned, whilst working fewer hours!   

At ActionCOACH we would like to thank you for your support over the last 12 months, and wish you all a blessed Christmas and a very prosperous 2022. Stay safe and enjoy the time with family and friends. God bless you all.  

Pieter Scholtz, ActionCOACH Country Partner