Want the Best Result? Do Your Own Research
Posted by Jim Morton
GTMR, Inc.
Pax Leader
Every office or shop has a person who is the residential expert on everything, and, usually, they are pretty close to being right on a lot of subjects. But what ever happened to doing your own research and finding the answer yourself?
With the advent of the Internet, it is easier than ever to find the answer you’re looking for, and it may even inspire you to do more research on a subject.
I almost made a costly mistake by listening to the “expert” and not doing my own research. When I was working on the financing for my daughter’s first semester in college, I was told that the Veterans Administration would only pay for so much per semester. It didn’t sound right to me, and I had already done some preliminary homework on the subject.
At first, I thought, “Okay, we are going to have to pay more than I thought.” It gnawed at me until I started calling the VA myself and doing more research. I discovered that this “expert” was wrong, and, indeed, my initial findings were correct. It was my mistake for not being fully versed in the subject before I started dealing with this issue head on. I made a nice recovery, but could have saved myself some sleepless nights.
In today’s fast paced work environment, it seems we are satisfied with the 5-cent answer. With all the new regulations and with changes coming with medical insurance, it is imperative that we as a business community educate ourselves in these changes. Yes, our insurance companies will do the heavy lifting in telling us what the changes are and what it will cost, but we also should be doing our own research.
There is also an election coming up, and we as citizens have a lot on the ballot we need to educate ourselves on. I am not counting on the media coverage of this election to inform my vote. The coverage is biased, and most of the problems we have in Congress have been caused by individuals not doing their own research! So please educate yourself on the issues and then go vote!
