Often leaders and politicians rant and pontificate about all sorts of things. They make promises. They quote made-up facts and philosophies. Sooner or later along comes the real data, the real facts, reality. Choosing to ignore that is almost certain to lead to your demise. Your partner tells you to cut back spending and you don't listen? But then when you go to the cash machine one day and there is no cash to withdraw, reality strikes, hard! Words, promises, threats, lectures, etc are all wonderful, but they will never be as effective a messenger as indisputable facts and data.

Ignoring facts is an option. But that too always has a time limit. Sooner or later the data and facts catch up with you and often when ignored and viewed late, it's too late to act effectively. That's often how CEO's get fired and politicians lose elections. That's how sellers end up selling for less than they should have. That is how buyers lose out on buying really great properties. That is how we make our biggest mistakes in finance and business planning.

Do you make spending cuts and increase revenue before you go bankrupt or do you wait for bankruptcy? Do you wear sunscreen and limit your sun exposure or do you wait for a Melanoma diagnosis.

Often it is much wiser to analyze facts, figures, precedence and history before making unwise decisions and choices. Yes, solid research works. Yes, listening to the wise and verifying their claims is wise. Preventing the consequences of poor choices is always much, much cheaper and easier than the cure after gambling on personal feelings, philosophies or unreliable, self-serving or uninformed sources. All of this requires an open mind, a smaller ego, doing your homework and keeping your eyes wide open, a little extra work doing so goes a long way!