There’s such a thing as healthy fear, and it can help you to retire with confidence
The table saw has to be one of the most dangerous tools widely available for sale today. Where other cutting tools have you hold the wood in place and move the tool, to make a cut with a table saw, you must push a piece of wood towards the open, spinning blade.
The table saw has to be one of the most dangerous tools widely available for sale today.
According to a study by the National Institutes of Health, table saws cause more than 30,000 injuries per year that are serious enough to require medical treatment, with an annual cost of $2 billion.1
Anecdotally, the majority of people who are missing parts of fingers, have done it on a table saw. This isn’t even counting the woodworking friends who have received severe cuts or suffered broken digits on this very common machine.
One contractor friend who was nursing a heavily bandaged thumb (a methodical and safety-conscious person) said it happened while making a routine cut on his table saw. For a moment he let his attention lapse.
The reason table saws aren’t banned is because they’re such a useful tool. They enable you to quickly make long cuts with an accuracy that would be difficult to achieve using any other tool. Unfortunately, the available safety features offer little protection. So to operate a table saw and still keep your fingers, you need a constant awareness of the danger presented by the blade.
In other words, you need a little fear about what it could do to you. Not a phobia but a genuine respect for potential consequences. Writing for Business Insider, financial blogger Sam Dogen talks about how a little fear can be a healthy motivator towards financial success.2
“Fear can be very debilitating if we let it overwhelm us. However, fear is also a fantastic motivator to improve your life.”
“Fear can be very debilitating if we let it overwhelm us. However, fear is also a fantastic motivator to improve your life.”
Using himself as an example, Dogan says that having experienced firsthand what it was like to grow up in poverty, he was motivated to never to live that way again. In the same way, a person thinking about retirement needs to take a cold, hard look at what their life might be like without a sufficient nest egg. This reality check can be the motivation they need to prioritize their long-term saving, putting it ahead of recreational expenditures like vacations and expensive toys.
Deep anxiety, however, can lead to inaction.
“Don’t let fear paralyze you,” writes Dogan. “Instead, use fear as a motivator to do better.”
The best way to keep healthy fear from becoming paralyzing anxiety is by having a step-by-step plan for attacking the problem that is causing the worry. Remember, you don’t have to face your fears, even the healthy ones, alone.
One of our trusted advisors at Family Wealth Partners would love to talk to you about pursuing your goals for retirement. We can help you come up with a roadmap for your goals, and then hold you accountable for your goals along the way.
Sources:
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4154236/
2. https://www.businessinsider.com/why-confronting-fears-can-help-you-achieve-financial-independence-2020-9
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