We all dread those words… Load shedding! As South Africans, for normal households (who received notice of scheduled load shedding whilst being at work) their evening will roughly look as follows: 

Get home, ensure all phones and laptops are on their chargers, make sure your five-plus rechargeable LED lights are fully charged and placed at their designated areas, food? What to feed everyone, you cannot use the stove, so takeaways or hotdogs? Do I bathe the kids now or wait for load shedding then there is at least something that will keep them preoccupied for a few minutes? Dogs and cats, have they eaten, let us do this before it gets dark. With 5 minutes to go, it looks like a Shakespear’s play is about to start. Everyone in their places. What can still be done during these crucial minutes?

I am out of breath just typing the above. 

And then suddenly, with a bit of hope that maybe our area will not be affected tonight, darkness. Even my three-year-old will look at me and say, “Mommy, it’s load shedding?!” as if I should have done something to stop this from happening. A moment of silence will fill the room whilst everyone gets a grip and acknowledge that this is happening, the next two hours will be tough. 

Children who are now fifteen years old were born in the year (2007) when power outages in South Africa first began. Back then we were surprised every time the power went out due to grid constraints or the fear of overloading a weakened system. Now, years later, there are still those who act surprised, confused and lash out when they receive a load shedding alert as if this is the first time they are confronted therewith. 

If we set aside the nuisance of load shedding and look at the lessons, we have learned we can commonly agree that we were taught (or some will say forced) to acknowledge the importance of being prepared. 

Preparing for something that might happen is much easier than preparing for something that caught you off guard. Ignorance cannot be used as an excuse.

Too many people are not planning for tomorrow and only live day by day. They do not realize that there might come a day when today’s decisions will influence the well-being of tomorrow.  You might reach the retirement age, or your current employer may fall into a financial position where the Company must reduce staff or make payment cuts. Proper financial planning can save you from unnecessary future financial burdens. 

At Diversit-e Smart Trade College we teach our students to ensure that they do not put all their eggs in one basket.  Robert Kiyosaki wrote in his book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” the following: “Always build multiple sources of income, never rely on one”.  We encourage our students to get to know the financial markets and to attend our weekly online coaching sessions, which empower them to make informed decisions when it comes to their finances. Our course Coaches discuss topics like risk management and how to keep your emotions intact when making financial decisions. Our Smart Trader Course covers content for the beginner as well as the more advanced student. This is what sets us apart, we assist you with so much more than just technical analysis. We show you how to safeguard your capital and prepare yourself psychologically to manage your investment portfolio.   

Why do our presenters prepare for these coaching sessions? We are not a Company with pre-recorded videos for our students to look at. We want to interact with them because at Diversit-e Smart Trade College our clients, their opinions, and their questions count. 

There is no right age or right time to start investing in your knowledge. The right time is now. I have heard a potential client say, “I don’t have the time”. My first thought always is, to make time. Prepare and make provision for the day when you will have all the time in the world. On average, $6.6 trillion is traded daily on the foreign exchange markets.

Our MD, Mr. Francois Oosthuizen, has a saying “Failure to plan is planning to fail.”

When I rub shoulders with someone that is prepared, I get a sense of power, confidence, discipline, and trust.

If you don’t discipline yourself, life will do it for you.

Just like a farmer cannot expect a good harvest if he does not first prepare the soil, plant the seeds, and give water, we cannot expect to prospect and move forward in life if we are not prepared to put in the effort. 

Don’t let yourself be caught in the dark. Take the positive out of uncomfortable situations, maybe load shedding is the universe’s way of bringing families together, forcing them to talk and spend quality time together, and… teaching people to plan.