On September 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007, with service from Anchorage to Seoul, disappeared in the Sea of Japan. At a time when tensions were running high during the Cold War, it wasn’t long before rumors of espionage and secret missions started to surface. Almost a decade would pass before the full truth would come out: KAL 007 had wandered into Soviet airspace and had been shot down by a Soviet fighter pilot, killing all 269 people on board. What led to this tragedy?
Flying on autopilot.
Shortly after takeoff, the crew of KAL 007 switched the autopilot to HEADING mode, which kept the plane on a constant course. As the hours passed, the crew drifted further and further off course but failed to notice the increasing deviation. The recorded conversations in the cockpit show that the crew had no idea that they had drifted into Soviet airspace. After an investigation of the accident was completed, manufacturers of airliners took immediate action to modify the autopilot controls to make them easier for pilots to choose the correct setting. No similar incidents have happened since.
Many Americans are living their lives dangerously on a sort of financial “autopilot”. They work 40-plus hours per week at their job and then come home and just plop down on the couch in front of their TV or smartphone. Their thoughts revolve around what to eat, what chores to get done, and what the neighbors may or may not be thinking of them. While those concerns certainly are normal, they are not part of critical thinking. And unlike airplane manufacturers that took immediate action to fix a problem when they saw its disastrous results, many Americans keep following the same old financial advice even though it’s hasn’t helped them get ahead.
What we need to do is to use the most valuable asset we have – our brain – and to dedicate time in our day for critical thinking and to learn about making money.
Critical thinking time can let us see the world as if for the first time. It involves the questions “why” and “how” and trying to draw to new and exciting conclusions, and uses reason, not emotion. This means that negative emotions like fear of failure have no place in the mind of a critical thinker.
Learning about making money can be an exciting and enjoyable process. The book Forever Cash teaches you a few simple truths that the rich take advantage of to create generational wealth. And with this knowledge comes a change in the way that you view money. Instead of viewing it as a source of stress, it becomes something to bring you peace of mind.
Stop flying on autopilot and take control of your future.