When you have flexibility and control over your future, this means that you can pivot out of a situation that you don’t want to be in anymore. You can take control of the situation and you’re able to steer the ship in another direction and not hit that glacier.

To have flexibility and control, it requires having assets in three areas:

• Financial
• Social 
• Human Capital

If you have a strong reserve in all three areas, then you’re going to be able to avoid a lot of miserable situations. It takes discipline to build up these areas and they will rarely come passively to someone, but it’s something that you’ll be glad that you had instead of wishing for it in the moment. It’s also important to take on too much risk where you end up depleting these resources. If you tap into them, make sure that you build them back up because you don’t know when the next moment of need will happen.

Journal Prompts

1. What will happen to your life if you get stuck in a miserable situation? Are you currently dealing with this?
2. What can you do to improve your flexibility and control over the future?