This philosophy can be misunderstood but is sorely needed to be understood. Many go through life "breezily" or "happy go lucky" as if everything will go as planned not really thinking about the inevitable tough times, curves in the road or potential tragedy. A backup can be instrumental when your world encounters an obstacle.
My definition for "Always have a Backup":
For anything important in life, one should "Always have a Backup" in case that element is damaged, lost, ruined or killed. It can be as minor as backing up the phone numbers on your cellular phone or as major as having a plan (backup) in place if a spouse dies.
We all have important aspects in life that are dear to us. Some of the common areas where I have seen the lack of a backup are home, occupation, financial, business, lifestyle, relationships and marriage.
Let's examine a few:
1) Married/Committed - If married, one should be faithful. Period. Although, a man should be able to develop relationships outside of marriage to learn, evolve, and enjoy the friendship (backup) of other women or in a woman's case, another man. These friendships should be nurtured like a typical male/male or female/female friendship and in case of tragedy these backups will prove invaluable.
Why do so many men and woman lose or not build friendships with the opposite sex once they settle down or get married? My friendships with women have helped me immensely in ways that a male friendship could never live up to. To have quality same gender and opposite gender friendships is the ultimate luxury for prospering and living a well-rounded life.
2) Money - Having a backup in finance means never putting all your money in one investment even if it is a high flying company like Apple. I knew a woman who over a ten year period ONLY put her money into her company's stock. It seemed a wise decision until the fortune's of the company changed. She lost 80% of her investment.
Diversification is crucial when investing and if you are in the stock market, a portfolio must be watched at least once a week. Being diversified means that when a stock/investment is doing poorly, one always has another one (backup) to rely on. I firmly believe that it should not be difficult to build a quality portfolio if you diversify and have a backup.
3) Work - As the saying goes, "you should be looking for a job as soon as you start a new job". This is wise advice because if you don't at a minimum have opportunities in the pipeline and your job ends, where's the backup? That doesn't mean that a person should spend 25% of the time looking for a new job and not focusing on the goals of the current job. But it does mean that serious and consistent effort must be put into looking at other opportunities to be ahead of the game.
Entrepreneurs should be expanding (backup) so that they don't rely on one niche/area for profits. Google could have remained comfortable and relied solely on the revenue from their advertisements but they knew that wasn't smart. They have expanded magnificently and now have numerous backups in their business.
4) Life Changes - For a major life change like taking on a new job or moving abroad, a backup should be top of mind. People enjoy taking risks and that is okay but for quality of life, a backup is a must. If you move anywhere, make sure to have a place to return if things don't work out. In addition, try to keep your life equal or better in any location move.
Taking on a new job with the same pay or perks can be dangerous. It's worth the risk if you feel fairly secure in accepting a new job and your old job is ending but it is always wiser to get a significant increase in pay or perks (backup) for any job change.
5) Write things down - In any business/important situation (corporate, private or entrepreneur) you should always write things down (backup) and not haphazardly. Write down names, times, people in the room and exactly what is said as best as you can. Done properly, one can gain an edge, clarify or right a wrong if needed.
6) Home - Do you have a safe at home for jewelry, valuables or important items/documents? If not, why not? A robbery or fire could ruin the things you treasure in an instant. Anything important to you should be locked in a fireproof safe in your home or in a safe deposit box outside the home. At the very least, effectively hiding your valuables is a smart move.
7) Parent - If your parent gets sick and needs 24 hour care or is incapable of relying on self, who is going to be responsible for organizing the care for that parent? If you have brothers and sisters, that person(s) should be known to all. Having a backup in case a parent gets ill and cannot function independently is very important.
If you're an only child, make sure that you or someone you trust is prepared to step in to make sure the parent is properly cared for. If one or all siblings live far away from the parent, someone living in the town of the parent should be designated as primary contact.
8) Losing a loved one - If tragedy strikes in the form of losing a child, spouse or parent, one has to be ready with a plan. It can happen to anyone as it did to a friend of mine with two small children who lost his wife last year. The plan can be as practical as having a person(s) to spend time with during the grieving process or having a relationship with a professional life coach/therapist that can be there for you in your time of need. One must have a strong support system (backup) nearby just in case.
In addition, part of that plan is knowing the person's information for all financial elements (401ks, insurance, debts,etc) and miscellaneous items (wishes or requests like organ donation,etc) so as to NOT rush around figuring these things out AFTER a tragedy. The more you know about a loved one before death, the easier the transition and grieving process will be.
9) Miscellaneous Backups
-- Cellular phones - At least 3 times a year, I get an email from a friend saying that they lost their mobile phone and asking for my information. What a major inconvenience for the friend and a waste of my time. Why don't more people back up the numbers on their phone via computer and print it out? It is simple to do and the worry of losing a phone is taken away.
-- Keys - An extra set should always be at the home of a person nearby like a close friend or relative. If you are locked out or lose your keys, you want a quick way to get back in.
-- Renters Insurance - I have come across educated people that didn't have renters insurance. Most people don't get robbed but what if you do? What backup do you have for the losses of a robbery? And let's not forget the possibility of fire destroying you entire apartment. Get insurance if you are a renter. You might never need it but if you get robbed, you will be thankful for the backup.
-- Pictures - It's smart to backup all pictures on an external hard drive or DVD but what if they get stolen or are lost in a fire? The pictures are gone forever. An additional back is to keep them online either free or with a site that stores pictures. Google has a wonderful free service that holds thousands of pictures with each email (called gmail) address and there are quality sites that charge a nominal fee for storage. This way, one never has to worry about losing personal pictures and an added bonus is that you will be able to access them anywhere in the world with a computer.
-- Wallet - Make a list of what is in your wallet and update it at least every 3 months. Write down every important card or piece of information you have in your wallet. If it is lost or stolen, it is much easier to go directly to the list to call and cancel cards. When I ask people to tell me what is in their wallet, they always miss one or two important cards. That omission could allow a thief to charge, charge, charge.
-- Will - Do you have one? Is it updated? Why would you risk your money or valuables going to someone else or the government instead of those you care about and love? An ex girlfriend told me after her wealthy uncle died, "yes, he had a will but he hadn't updated it in 20 years". She went on to say that the family had to pay a couple hundred thousand dollars of his money because he failed to update it.
It's not enough to only have a will but you should update it at least every 5-7 years. Attitudes, people and feelings change over time and you want to make sure that what you stated on your will years ago, is still what you desire.
10) Review backups consistently throughout every year of your life.
I could go on about the "Backup" subject but I hope you get the point. Focus on improving in some of the aforementioned areas where you don't have quality backups.
Backups are practical, offer great rewards, make life easier and show that an individual cares about his or her well being. Life is tough enough at times for everyone so thinking about and getting a backup for those things you deem important is vital.
A question to always keep top of mind.:
What or Who is your Backup?
Happy Gswede Sunday!
The 2001 "Three Musketeers" spending quality time in New England, USA. As you can see, at least one of us had a backup in case of trouble!
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