There’s a famous expression often used to explain your crappy old car: “it gets me from A to B”. What an intriguing little phrase. It makes getting from one point to another sound remarkably easy: it only requires a battered old banger to achieve it.
In my personal life, I have found the reality of the journey from A to B much more challenging. In fact, I have all too often found getting from point A to point B very difficult indeed. I wouldn’t need an old beat up motor, but instead a top of the range brand new v8!
First of all, let’s have a look at why getting from A to B is important. For me, this part is quite simple – there must be something at point B that we really want or need. To succeed in life, we need to reach our desired destination – whatever or wherever this may be. We need to get from where we currently are (point A) to where we want to be (point B). However, there are many potential points of failure in this journey. From my experience, these potential failure points can be summarized into five parts:
- Not understanding where you are (point A)
- Not knowing where you want to end up (point B)
- Not appreciating why you want to get there
- Not setting off on your journey (not taking any action)
- Not mapping out how you’re going to get there
I’m British.
I’ve failed many times in my life.
Saying these two things is almost a contradiction in terms. Not because the British don’t fail. Oh no, quite the opposite. Failure is a huge taboo in Britain and this is an extremely dangerous flaw in our national persona. By not accepting failure, we cannot understand why we failed. We cannot learn how to avoid this failure in the future. Ironically, the lack of this learning cycle leads to more, you guessed it, failure!
Therefore, what better way to start my Yakezie journey than to publicly humiliate myself and share some of my many failures under each of these categories!
1. Not understanding where you are (point A) – “My First House”
It was July 2007, the peak of the UK housing market boom. I was about to move from my hometown of Skegness (a small tourist town in England) to Newcastle (a larger city about 4 hours away) to start my career in professional services.
There was a plethora of tasks to complete and important things to sort out before I started work. However, the most pressing of these (in my naïve head) was buying a house.
I understood point B (I wanted to have a house) and appreciated why I wanted to get there (I didn’t want to “waste money on rent”).
However, what I completely overlooked what my current financial position at that time. I had just finished university with 3 years of student loans. However, I had managed to work hard enough before, during and after university to save up the required deposit on the house.
I had saved up a 10% deposit. Currently, this may seem irresponsible (it is), but at the time 100% or 110% mortgages for first time buyers was the norm! I paid all the legal fees with my savings and the bank said I could “afford” my repayments. All was good.
What I really didn’t understand was my current financial position (my point A) and whether I could truly afford the mortgage payments. My starting salary meant that I was bringing in around £1100 per month. My mortgage payments each month totaled around £680, with an additional £120 per month service charge.
At the time, this was split between myself and my ex-girlfriend. However, having housing costs of 36% of my total income was not a good idea. This got even more difficult after my ex-girlfriend and I split up and I stayed in the house. Needless to say, mortgage payments of 72% of my income, a flat in severe negative equity and no savings to delve into did not lead to very happy times financially!
I also hadn’t understood the ins and outs of freehold and leasehold property before I purchased the flat. I bought a property with less than 80 years on the lease, which has since cost me several thousand pounds to extend.
The result: my lack of understanding of where I was (my point A) led me to make rash and financially poor decisions in order to meet my objective of “get on the housing ladder”.
2. Not knowing where you want to end up (point B) – “Triathlons”
Not knowing, and formally defining, where I want to end up is a fairly common failure for me.
My new “triathlon hobby” is a fairly recent example of this type of failure. Having always been a keen cyclist, a reasonable runner (having completed several marathons & half marathons in the past), I decided that swimming would help my fitness and I would combine all three and take up triathlons.
Inspired by the success of the world famous “Bronwlee brothers”, I signed up to my first triathlon in the summer of 2012 and bought all the kit. I already had the road bike, but I went out and bought the triathlon suit, the clips, the running laces, clothing…the works.
However, I hadn’t defined what the end-game of my triathlon hobby was. Did I want to complete 10 triathlons in 3 years? Did I want to reduce my personal best to under X mins? Did I want to finish in the top Y% of a race?
The result: Unfortunately, despite thoroughly enjoying the triathlon and the associated training (the variety of training for all three disciplines combined with weight training in the gym really helped motivate me), I never made it past that first triathlon. The equipment is getting pretty lonely in the back of my cupboard now.
3. Not appreciating why you want to get there – “MMath”.
When I went to university, I applied to study mathematics. I had taken 3 separate A-levels in Mathematics (Maths, Further Maths and Additional Further Maths) and was one of only a very small handful of people in the country to do so. I was ruddy good at A-level maths and hence this was a natural route for me when I went to university.
I fully understood where I was (point A). I knew my strengths and weaknesses in academic fields and hence I would make my decision based on this. I also understood where I wanted to end up (point B). I wanted to obtain a good degree in a mainstream field of academia which would leave my options open for the future.
However, what I was doing was basing my next 4 years of my life on fully understanding my point A and having a point B, but without any consideration at all of why I wanted to reach point B.
I applied for the Masters of Mathematics course at Warwick University and was accepted: great. I then spent two years attending classes and completing exams with no belief in the goal I had set.
The result: I did not perform strongly enough in my 2nd year exams to continue the MMath course and was placed back on the BSc course. Luckily, the failure in this case did not lead to any significant change. In fact, it was maybe quite fortunate. If I had understood my point B and why I wanted to get there, I would have probably come to the decision that an MMath and a BSc would lead me to the same destination. Therefore, by enrolling on the BSc initially, I could have saved one year of tuition fees and the worry at the time of being a “failure”.
4. Not setting off on your journey (not taking any action) – “Beat my goal”
A few years ago, long before setting up moneystepper, I came up with an idea. It was a website and app which I called “Beat my goal” (a pun on the Collapsed Lung theme: Eat my goal). It would allow people to set goals and then join groups of other people who were also aiming to achieve that same goal. It would give people the inspiration to continue with their goal and a sense of community spirit. There would also be advice and quotes from others who had completed that goal in the past.
All in all, I thought it was a thoroughly great idea. I researched my point A (what my skills were to achieve this, where I needed help, the finances, etc), I had the image of my point B, I understood the journey and I knew why I wanted to get there.
My journey from point A to point B and eventual success was ready. However, for one reason or another (the primary reason probably being fear of failure), I didn’t take any action.
The result: Lift. Essentially doing the same thing as my idea (I’m not sure which came first…), the “lift” app has now had millions of downloads. Feel free to use the “Beat my goal” idea…
5. Not mapping out how you’re going to get there – “The Piano”
This is probably my most common cause of failure. I usually can quickly determine where I am, where I want to be and why I want to get there. However, all too often, I find myself rushing in and not fully mapping out the journey. The most recent example that comes to mind is learning the piano.
In France, we are renting a furnished apartment and, for some reason, the landlord decided that a piano is required in a furnished apartment. That works for us!
I wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity. Therefore, I planned to spend my 2 years in France not only enjoying the French culture, the sun, the skiing, etc. I would also learn how to play the piano.
My point A was that I could play the piano when I was 6 years old, but I had gone into a VERY early retirement from piano playing at the ripe old age of 7! My point B was that I wanted to be able to play a range of 5-10 songs for people to sing along to when we have parties and get-togethers. This served as my point B and why I wanted to get there. I also took action. I sat down at the piano for the first time with my ipad showing me how to play the intro to Billy Joel’s piano man. All good.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t mapped out my journey of how I was going to play these 10 songs. Could I just learn the songs? Would I need to relearn my scales first? How often would I practice? Which songs would I learn? How many songs each month/year would I need to learn?
I had no idea how I was going to get to point B. It was like driving to a destination and just turning left hoping to one day end up in California!
The result: quite predictably, I can play the start of the intro to piano man. And that is all.
This brings us to moneystepper.com. With this very significant venture in my life, I’ve tried to make sure that I learn from these failures and address each of these five areas.
* I know my point A. I’m a chartered accountant and personal financial geek. I have a desire to help people who are interested in improving their financial future. With my geeky statistical analysis of financial figures and personal improvement in saving & investing, I feel like I have something to offer to an audience which is currently underserved in the UK.
* I know my point B. I want moneystepper.com to help people. I want to receive feedback from my audience saying that they have found my advice useful. I want people to save more and enjoy a rosier financial future as a result of my advice. At the same time, I want moneystepper to contribute to my own personal financial future, by providing me with additional income.
* I believe. After spending some weekends in villas on the Cote d’Azur, I want (maybe even need) to be in a position where I can enjoy these luxuries in my retirement. I think about one image almost every day when I work on my website. This one clear picture of enjoying steak and rosé with friends on a balcony overlooking the sea is more than enough motivation to get me out of bed at 5am to work on my website each morning before heading off to my full-time job.
* I took action. I thought that I had something to contribute. Having read personal finance sections of mainstream media for years, I was becoming fed up with the lack of analysis and proof provided. Each day, I would read a new sensational headline. When you look behind it, you would find no support. I spoke to other people about this and they got annoyed with the same thing. This inspired me to actually take action. I started writing my e-book in April 2013 and registered the domain “moneystepper.com” in July 2013. The engine was running and I was off.
* I have a plan. Each phase of moneystepper’s journey is planned out. I have weekly, monthly and annual targets set for performance in several areas. These include, but are not limited to, number of emails received from my audience, comments obtained, social media interaction, page views/visitor statistics and financial goals. I’m doing this properly! My GPS is set up (I also have an old fashioned paper map in the back just in case) and I know the turn I need to take at each roundabout that I may approach. Just as with every journey, this may change. Roadworks, traffic jams and diversions may all get in my way. But having my road map in place will help me get through these with minimum disruption.
Where am I currently on my journey?
Well, having left my “point A” in July 2013 by setting up Moneystepper, 9 months later I’m certainly still in the first stage of my journey. However, just as with a real-life physical journey I took yesterday, it takes a while to leave our house in the city center and get to the highway.
By becoming a Yakezie network member, I feel like I’ve just gone through the péage/toll onto the fast, clear and well-managed main road to my destination. Now, with all my failures out in the open, I am free to enjoy the ride with this wonderful community!
Great post…so many lessons that ring true, not just in the beginning, but because we’re always moving forward!
This is really true. Thanks for the comment Eve. Its taken me a long time to understand that to move forward efficiently, its important to have these five steps, but also to be reflective on failures in the past to understand specific problems to avoid the next time!
I like your methodical thinking man.
One question: Can you do math problems in your head while doing triathlons? If so, that would be an impressive feat as your swimming across the channel!
How is the UK housing market nowadays? I hear it is just as crazy as San Francisco.
I wish I had a pied de terre in London across from Hyde Park, and also Central Park in NYC, those would be nice.
Haha – math isn’t the first thing that came into my head when I was half way through the triathlon – other than the math of not dying!! :)
For the UK housing market, its not all as it seems from a distance. The London market is shooting up, but other areas of the UK (including where my rental property is based :( ) is not doing so well (below inflation increases for many years now):
http://moneystepper.com/financial-planning/housing-bubble-in-the-uk/
Congratulations becoming a Chartered Accountant. I used my math skills to go into accounting and finance. It helped me reach financial independence in my late thirties. I am going to a Billy Joel concert (Hollywood Bowl) next month, I am sure he will play piano man
Thanks Larry – the exams were pretty tough, but worth it. I put a lot of the success down to the MMath experience above and making sure I understood the value of the qualification in my career.
Our victories are always awesome but we learn so much about ourselves from the failures. We simply can’t ignore the lessons they can teach. Thanks for sharing some of yours and congrats on completing the challenge (from a wannabe triathlon competitor).
Spot on. If we succeed, we celebrate and strive to do the same again. When we fail, we are encouraged to “forget about it”, whereas I believe that the path to success starts with studying these failures and, as you say, learning from the lessons they teach.
Congrats on completing the challenge and becoming a Member! I didn’t realize that failure was so taboo in England. Great job facing some of your failures and noting what you learned from each.
I’ve had tons of failures myself. We all have. If we can learn from our mistakes and help others from repeating our same mistakes we’re doing something right. :)
I might be wrong (maybe some other UK community members can chime in), but I’ve always thought of that as a British stereotype…
Great point – you don’t always have to learn from your own mistakes – learn from other peoples’ as well…
What a great post! I am working on a new website right now, and I am actually going to write out each of your concepts and make sure I have clear thinking about each step to get from Point A to Point B. Thank you! (I love your sense of humor. “I can play the start of the intro to Piano Man” cracked me up!)
Great – I’m glad I could help HSL! I’ve just timed it on youtube – the “start of the intro” that I can play amounts to an amazing 6 seconds! :)
Congratulations Graham and best of luck with moneystepper. The more you fail, the less you are afraid of failure and the more prone you are to succeed.
Thanks Pauline. That’s good news – it means I’m a sure thing to succeed now!! ;)
[…] I have been accepted as a member of the Yakezie community. As part of my initiation, I wrote my Yakezie member post, where I really dissected some failures in my life. However, one comment reminded me of a very […]