Who doesn’t love a good surprise? A movie with a twist ending. A birthday party with all of your loved ones.
A larger than expected tax refund. Selling your home in the first week for more than you were asking. Or the Grand Daddy of all surprises… “I’m pregnant!”
All spectacular surprises!
But not all surprises are happy…cancer…disease…death…affairs…addictions…good-byes…all are shocking, painful, disappointing and potentially life-shattering.
Potentially is the key word. While you can’t predict negative surprises (that’s why they’re surprises) you can certainly do some things to mitigate the damage.
I don’t want to give you the impression it won’t hurt. You can’t insulate yourself from all of the pain, but you don’t have to bear it all either.
While you might be caught unaware you don’t have to be caught unprepared.
Preparation is the key to make sure the unexpected doesn’t ruin your life.
For example, I bet you would agree with me that your death would ruin your life and the life of your loved ones. In an effort to minimize some of that pain, I bet you purchased life insurance. Not because you are planning on dying any time soon, but in the case you do your family is at least financially prepared. You probably even have a will to provide clarity on your wishes during such an emotionally destabilizing event. I’ll go one more… you’ve even prepared spiritually for the day you’ll meet your maker. (If not I can help.)
There’s a difference between unaware and unprepared. Being caught unaware is painful enough, but to add unprepared doubles the misery unnecessarily.
Last year, I was encouraged to prepare professionally for the negative surprise of death by creating a sealed envelope that was to be opened only in an emergency.
Inside this envelope was a document that answered such questions as…If I were to become incapacitated or dead who would be in charge? Who could fill in? Possible leads on the next pastor? Who knows what I know? And of course the nuclear launch codes.
At first I resisted the idea…because who wants to think about being replaced? But once I got past my personal emotions I was able to see the tremendous wisdom in taking the painful steps of preparation.
A little planning now would save a lot of pain later on.
We then had our staff do the same exercise for their position. If they couldn’t name someone they knew immediately that was task #1…train up their potential replacement.
Who’s your replacement? Who else knows besides you about your succession wishes?
It’s tough to think about being replaced but if you’re irreplaceable you will never get promoted.
We are talking about preparing for the worst-case scenario. But the benefits are much more than just providing clear-eyed guidance free from emotional fog.
The best-case scenario is you have just doubled the structure and capacity of your team or organization. Think about that…you doubled the structure and capacity by forcing everyone to have a replacement that is ready to hit the ground running. Can we say leadership pipeline?
Negative surprises don’t have to ruin your life, your organization, or keep you up at night tossing and turning with fear. A little planning can give you more peace than you can imagine.
Are you prepared with the basics for the inevitable?
-Will
–Living Will
–Advanced Health Directive
–Health Proxy
-Life Insurance
-Short Term & Long Term Disability
-Long Term Care Insurance (over 60)
-Savings/Retirement
-Succession Planning
After a little thoughtful planning rest in your faith. God is firmly in control of the universe and is NEVER late or surprised.
