Margins Not Miracles
"The journey of a thousands miles begins with a single step." ~ Lao-tzu
It is true. You must take that first step towards your goals/dreams/objectives in life or they will never happen.
But just as important is that you must also take the second step ... and the third ... and so on. Unfortunately, all too often most of us miss that little fact of life.
Immediate Gratification
I believe much of the challenge is that in American society we are pre-conditioned for immediate gratification. Something good has to happen NOW. If we don't get the result we want right away, we give up.
Look around you. Most people operate their lives on a daily basis looking for miracles rather than focusing on their choices at the margins. They play the lottery (ever notice that rich people don't play the lottery?). They look for the hot stock pick. They start crash diets only to go back to eating cheeseburgers within a week. Workouts in the gym in January turn into "8 ounce curls" on a couch in front of the TV in February (if it takes that long).
Real Change Takes Time
Your current reality is a direct result of your choices in the past. Note that I said, "choices" as in plural ... many ... not just one.
You didn't gain that extra 5 pounds because you ate one bad meal. You didn't blow all your income buying one flat screen TV or one batch of lottery tickets (at least I hope not). That terrible job - you chose every day to go spend 8 hours at that place ... and you made loads of smaller choices about how you treated your co-workers and customers during each of those many days ... or what you did the other 16 hours of those days to get so you could find a new job.
It All Adds Up
Very big results come from lots of little choices, never one big decision.
Changing your reality for tomorrow isn't going to happen because today you don't eat the bad meal, do the 8 ounce curls on the couch or treat your co-workers or customers poorly.
Yes, you must take that first step ... and the second ... and the third.
They don't have to be big steps. What matters more is how often you take them and how many of them are in the same direction.
Money At The Margin
The same thing goes with your money - it all boils down to the choices you are making at the margin. How did you spend your last dollar? Did you try to get good value for it? Do you even know where it went? What about the next dollar? ... and the next?
If you can save $20 per month (maybe on your phone bill - trimming services you don't use or finding a lower cost service provider), that equates to $240 in one year. That could buy two or three really nice dinners out with your significant other ... or ... if you save it instead and grow it at 8% per year it adds up to $27,247 after 30 years.
The $20 savings in one month would seem insignificant, but - like all choices - over time it adds up.
John
ALTUS Wealth Solutions offers the Cash Flow Hydrant™ process to help clients understand how they can make better choices with their money at the margin. The Cash Flow Hydrant™ is a cash management tool that provides a different, positive and empowering way to look at and understand all the money that is flowing through your fingers. Cost $397 - learn more at Cash Flow Hydrant™.