“Punched in the mouth.”
How do you handle adversity?
“Everyone has a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson
Depending upon your age, you might recall the Mike Tyson in his early years of heavy weight fight. Knock outs were the norm. Mike didn’t hesitate. From the opening bell he was across the ring throwing violent punches at his opponent.
Mike Berardino, a columnist of the Baltimore Sun Sentinel, had the opportunity to interview Mike Tyson in advance of the former heavyweight champion's appearance at the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino, where he performed his one-man stage show, "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth." He asked Tyson if he remembered the origins of that quote.
"People were asking me, before a fight, 'What’s going to happen?' “Tyson said. “They were talking about his opponent’s style. 'He's going to give you a lot of lateral movement. He's going to move, he's going to dance. He's going to do this, do that.' I said, "Everybody has a plan until they get hit. Then, like a rat, they stop in fear and freeze.' "
What I like so much about the quote is that its application stretches far beyond boxing. It really has meaning in any area of life, whether the blow comes from a health issue, losing your job, making a bad investment, a traffic jam, whatever.
It's how you react to that adversity that defines you, not the adversity itself.
"Exactly," Tyson agreed. "If you’re good and your plan is working then somewhere during the duration and before the outcome of that event you're involved in, you're going to get the wrath, the bad end of the stick. Let's see how you deal with it. Normally people don’t deal with it that well."
This is a great analogy to financial planning. You put together a monthly budget and two weeks into it, an emergency comes up you didn’t expect. The right-hook to the mouth. You prepared for it in training, but then life happens. Now what?
Something always happens.
It’s not fair. You finally did a monthly budget. But life threw you a curve ball and messed up all your plans.
In the far recesses of your mind you hear the small quiet voice of your financial advisor saying, “Keep three to six months of living expenses in an emergency fund.” At least I hope so. Imagine if you heeded that advice and put some money into a boring money market account for emergencies. It’s the difference between throwing it on the credit card (more debt) and knowing, ‘I have money set aside for situations like this.’
I remember the mid-eighties when I was a Midshipman at the Naval Academy. My girlfriend was in town and I wanted to be with her, not behind the walls of Annapolis. I was able to get out in the backseat of a friend’s car. I had a great time that day. The problem was getting back in. A marine was guarding each gate. I was supposed to be back at 1800 hours (6 pm for you civilians). It was 2000 (8 pm). What now? This was an emergency. Time to go to plan B.
The normal secondary option is to try and climb over the wall. The lowest point in the wall is behind The Chapel, not too far from Gate 3. Midshipmen affectionately call this Gate 0. The only problem is that the administration is also aware of this well-worn exit and entrance by Midshipmen over the years. Many an Officer of the Watch has parked himself at this low point in the wall, close to the end of liberty, to catch unsuspecting Midshipmen as they come over. I didn’t want to challenge these odds, so I racked my brain for another option.
Oddly enough, my naval history class and Paul Revere’s ‘One if by land two if by sea,’ quote came to mind. It just so happens that a friend’s sponsor family had a business in channel navigation and rescuing boats on sandbars. Plan C. I contacted the sponsor and headed out on his boat. The interesting thing about the Naval Academy is that while there are three well-guarded gates you can enter by and the wall I mentioned covering the rest of the grounds, there are several miles of both jagged rocks and cement sea wall that borders the Severn River. Thirty minutes later, I was getting out of the boat onto a part of the sea wall by the football practice fields. I had remembered to bring my official USNA PT gear with me, and I jogged back to my room. Fortunately, exercise is encouraged at all times in the Yard!
The moral of the story? Things rarely go as planned, so plan for the best and prepare for the worst.