Don't burn your umbrellas when it is sunny- rainy days will come.

Origins.

I heard this nice metaphor, of course it originated from you tube. Some psychiatrist used it to describe what happens in a narcissistic relationship. Example goes like this. In a narcissistic relationship the victimized partner will get sunny days, rare and occasional these may seem, only happens when his/her intensions are aligned with the narcissistic person. However, when the victim lets, his or her guard down, they will again fall into the same exhausting routine fights again, in matter of minutes. So, this metaphorically represented by burning down the umbrella on a sunny day, when it is no longer needed, forgetting the fact that rainy days are coming.

Burning

Rainy days in financial life

I just realized it is a nice metaphor for many things happening in my life too. If I consider my financial life, going bankruptcy is not an option. However, if I burn my umbrella on my sunny days, that might just happen like for countless other individuals and organizations as had happened in the past. I might stupidly invest all my retirement plan, on a speculative portfolio and burn my emergency fund for daily needs. When I need more money I might take debts, as I am at full capacity earning from a day job. But as you can see this plan is doomed to failure. This is why most traders lose money rather than gain them in long term. Rainy days will come no matter, as that is the law of nature.

Rainy days in Student life.

Your summer, and vacation, are sunny days. The exams and results are rainy days. During a semester you will have plenty of free time, to go to library. Keep a handy study plan, get involved in discussions and practice some questions. Yet, majority will loiter around the campus looking for entertainment. Wasting time on unnecessary tasks. Without making an any effort. When it rains, just feel sad yet again, and sit for repeat exams.

Forming a habit for rainy days

One of the most important, neglected parts of forming a habit is, what to do when it fails. This should be a fundamental question in any smoothly running system. The breakdown protocol. Your habit will be tested not only when you are motivated, but exhausted sick and simply too emotionally overwhelmed. What happens at this time would be, mostly your habit will break. Unless you extensively plan this ahead and be prepared for rainy days. Not assume that your willpower will hold when it is tested against strong winds of your adventurous life.

There are simply many more domains in life, that you can use the rainy days metaphor. I have listed them in a table, so you can pick one or two which are important and think, what you are going to do. Consider this as a homework, if this happened to be a "Class on Rainy day Preparedness"

Domain	Umbrella (Protection/Preparation)	Rainy Day (Difficulty)	Meaning
Finance	Savings / emergency fund	Job loss or unexpected expense	Don't spend everything when money is plentiful.
Health	Exercise / healthy habits	Illness, injury, aging	Maintain your health before you need it.
Career	Skills / qualifications	Unemployment or industry change	Keep developing skills even when your job is secure.
Business	Cash reserves / contingency plans	Recession or falling sales	Keep resources for difficult periods.
Education	Knowledge / learning habits	Difficult exam or unexpected challenge	Prepare before you are tested.
Relationships	Trust / communication	Conflict or difficult times	Don't neglect relationships when everything is going well.
Friendship	Genuine friendships	Loneliness or personal crisis	Maintain friendships even when you don't currently need support.
Mental Resilience	Mindfulness / reflection / coping skills	Stress, failure, uncertainty	Build inner strength before difficulties arrive.
Technology	Backups / security systems	Data loss, hacking, equipment failure	Keep backups even when nothing has gone wrong.
Family	Mutual support	Financial or personal crisis	Strong family relationships provide support during difficult times.
Reputation	Integrity / goodwill	Mistake or controversy	Build trust before you need others to trust you.
Time	Free time / spare capacity	Emergency or unexpected opportunity	Don't fill every moment; leave room for the unexpected.
Creativity	Hobbies / creative activities	Burnout or loss of motivation	Keep activities that restore your energy.
Science	Research / accumulated knowledge	New disease or technological problem	Today's unnecessary research may become tomorrow's solution.
Environment	Forests / wetlands / water reserves	Droughts, floods, climate events	Don't destroy natural protection for short-term benefit.
Society	Hospitals / infrastructure / emergency services	Pandemic or natural disaster	Systems that seem unnecessary during calm periods become vital during crises.
Politics & Democracy	Laws / institutions / checks and balances	Abuse of power or political crisis	Safeguards matter most when circumstances deteriorate.
Knowledge	Diverse skills / general knowledge	Unexpected problem	Knowledge that seems useless today may become valuable tomorrow.
Options	Alternative plans / opportunities	Failure of the main plan	Don't eliminate alternatives simply because your first plan is working.
Money & Career	Multiple income sources	Loss of one income source	Diversification provides protection when one source fails.