Reserves - How Empty Is Your Tank?

Wendy, a retailer, was talking about how her business had fared during the recent series of tornados.

“I’m so glad I have a good relationship with my bank.  I had to call him and increase our credit line to get some cash to hold us over.  And thank goodness we’ve got good insurance as it will help cover the lost business from being closed for 7 days.”

Although she’d had more than her share of bad luck, it seems her “good luck” with her banker and insurance company was coming through.  Her business was going to weather the storm, literally and figuratively, ok. Or was it luck? I call it having a reserve.

Reserve is a margin, the gas in the tank, a contingency plan or the cushion in the account. In Wendy’s case, it was the credit line that had already been set up with the bank, before she needed it.  It was the cash management process she used so that she wasn’t already maxed out on the line when the storms hit.

Although we usually think of reserves in terms of money, it can exist in many other areas, including your relationships.  In Wendy’s case, it was the time she took to meet with her banker on a regular basis throughout the year to educate him about her business, share updated financials with him, and review her business plans.  Through these steps, she had created a reserve of trust, information, and shared experiences, so if/when the time came; he had what he needed to go to bat for her.

She’d been careful to review her insurance policy every year with her broker, carefully going through all the “what if” worst case scenarios to ensure that she’d have enough coverage.

Here are ten areas of reserve: time, space, money, energy, opportunity, love, information, wisdom, self, and integrity.

Time is an interesting one.  I was always one to schedule just enough time to arrive at my appointments right to the minute. Since my time was too valuable to waste, I never bothered to build in downtime to arrive even a few minutes early.  Consequently, any circumstance – traffic, stop lights, elevators - tended to make me late. I was convinced that none of these circumstances were my fault.

Then one day I read an interesting quote.  “Being late is like saying F-you to the other person.”  Wow. Kind of harsh but kind of true. All these things that were supposedly out of my control existed because I habitually failed to build in any reserve time. Now, I leave in enough time for the inevitable to happen.  I also bring work with me in case I arrive early.  It’s kind of nice to have some time to sit and think.  And it’s definitely created less stress from all the things that can happen along the way.

Energy is a huge area.  How would your life be different if you actually had a reserve of energy?  The number of hours in a day is fixed, but the quantity and quality of energy available to us is not.  That’s the premise of the book, “The Power of Full Engagement,” by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.  (It’s also available in CD format, so you can listen to it in your car “reserve time.”) It’s a great read (or listen) with lots of case studies and solid examples of how you can build routines in your life to build energy reserves.

To have reserve is to be freed from the demands of circumstance or crisis. Ask yourself: "What are my reserves of time, space, money, energy, opportunity, love, information, wisdom, self, and integrity?" And, “How would my life be different if I had reserves in all of these areas?”

From Business Resource Services, Inc. Reprinted with permission.