Got a guest post for you dudes today by the Wealth Effect Blogger. It’s a real life story about that rabbit and the tortoise kid’s story. Us grown-ups should probably pay better attention to the kid’s stories.
I was about halfway through the charity bike ride and feeling pretty good about my pace when “grandpa” starts passing me by. Now I don’t really know if he was a “grandpa”. Maybe he was a “great-grandpa”. No wait. That would have been even more embarrassing. Anyways, he looked like Santa Claus complete with white hair and beard and a jolly face but minus the jelly belly.
Well like any stubbornly proud guy I couldn’t just let “grandpa” pass me like that so I started pedaling faster. Unfortunately, every time I would reach him I would be out of breath and I would have to slow down for a few seconds then I would start pedaling fast again to reach him.
My “feast or famine” approach of trying to overtake him contrasted dramatically with his “steady-as-he-goes-I-was-alive-when-bicycles-were-invented” style and I’m sad to report he finished the race ahead of me.
Like a golfer who blames their club for their missed shot I blamed my bike so I went out and bought a new one that was rated “top notch” and “five stars” by several magazines articles.
Fast forward to the next race and I was feeling pretty good as a crossed the halfway point and “grandpa” was still behind me. Slowly but surely, however, he kept closing the gap and by the time we had finished about three quarters of the race he had actually passed me.
The worst part was that his bike was nothing special. I was hoping there was some fancy gear contraption or it was made of some previously unknown alien metal but instead it was just a basic average bike that I didn’t even give a second thought to as I walked passed it in the bike store on my way to purchase my new “five star” bike.
As a consolation prize, at least I came away with some lessons:
1. You can maintain a “steady as you go” pace for much longer and typically have a more enjoyable time doing it than a “feast-or-famine” or “all-or-nothing” approach.
- This applies to many aspects of our day to day lives such as saving or dieting.
2. Equipment alone doesn’t make a great athlete.
- Neither a “five star” fund nor an “average/index” fund will help you reach your financial goals if you don’t diligently put enough into them.
If you have to lose to “grandpa” at least enjoy the ride.
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