Major Oil Leak Shows Us What NOT to Do
By Rob Minton & John Mazzara
It is easy to be an armchair expert. That's not the point of this post. The tragedy is real and a solution is needed. Pointing fingers solves nothing. I AM NOT BLAMING ANYONE OR ANY COMPANY. The point of this post is to extrapolate the life lesson to all parts of your life. Think about the "what if's" and plan for it--or you might be faced with a "what Now?"
The scope and seriousness of the oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico are astonishing. Even more astonishing is the way everything has been handled after the oil rig exploded.
More precisely, it's astonishing that they have no way of handling it. It sure seems as though the world has had no real plan for what to do in the event of such an oil leak, almost as if they believed it couldn't happen. If you are drilling 5,000 feet down into a reservoir of oil that can send 20 to 40 million gallons of oil into the ocean in six weeks, don't you have some kind of emergency plan in place?
If it were me, I'd have contingency plans for my contingency plans. Where are the contingency plans today, and that's a big lesson. Again, it is easy for me to be critical from thousands of miles away. It is clear everyone wants this solved as soon as possible.
I am not a pessimist, but thinking like one on occasion can help you make plans for bad situations you might find yourself in at some point. I don't think you should plan ON the absolute worst thing happening to you, but you should plan FOR the worst that could happen.
If you own a business, put cash away when times are good. Plan ahead as if you know bad times are coming, and plan for them to last a while. What would happen if you lost your best customer? What would happen if your best marketing piece suddenly stopped working?
If you're an investor in the stock market, plan for the market to turn for the worse. Know where you will move your money BEFORE you lose it. If you're a real estate investor, put some of your cash flow into a reserve account and keep it there. Pay down debt on leveraged properties.
What is the worst thing that could happen to your household's financial situation? Plan for that. What will you do if you lose your job? What will you do if your spouse loses his or her job? Would you be prepared if your car suddenly died tomorrow? Do you have an escape route planned if your home catches fire?
Look, life's "emergencies" happen all the time. Some things, like a sudden illness or a bad car accident, can't be foreseen. But other things, like loss of income, CAN be planned for. Your life's plan needs to have contingencies built into it.
Since the oil rig exploded, nothing so far has worked, and it might be months before a solution is in place. No one knows the ultimate impact the disaster will cause.
There is too much at risk to not be prepared for potential disasters. This massive oil leak has certainly taught us that lesson.
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