How to eat an elephant
Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time
It’s a dad joke but a good one none the less, and it stems from a quote attributed to Creighton Abrams: “When eating an elephant, take one bit at a time”. Not only is this one of my favourite quotes, but it is one of the underlying philosophies of the financial advice that I give my clients.
“In my time in helping people hit their financial goals, one trend that stands out is what I call the ‘Back-Burner effect’.”
The conversation that I had this week with a new client was typical of so many conversations that I have had with my clients over the years. He had a financial goal and we were discussing the best way to get there and how this goal should be prioritised against his other goals. This was his biggest goal, and thankfully had the longest time frame attached but as my experience tells me, this meant that this was the goal that he was least likely to achieve.
“Letting a big important goal sneak up on you is a Financial FAIL.”
In my time in helping people hit their financial goals, one trend that stands out is what I call the ‘Back-Burner effect’. This is where the less immediate goals lose significance because they’re off in the distance, and regardless of their importance, they don’t get the attention that the immediate ‘in-your-face’ goals do so the result is that these big, important, long-term goals are neglected…. Which allows them to sneak up on you.
Letting a big important goal sneak up on you is a Financial FAIL.
Back to my conversation with my client… his exact words were “this is 15 years away so I think I’ll sort these other things, get them out of the way, then in about 5-10 years, I’ll really smash this one”. It’s safe to say that he wasn’t really ready for my reaction (truth be told, neither was I) I stood up and at the same time I slammed my hand on the table and said “NO WAY!… This is an elephant, you need to take your first bite now”
“what is underestimated is the power of developing a habit of chipping away at your goals”
He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about… but who could blame him?
The $100 per month that this guy can put towards his big, long-term goal (aka: the elephant) today, is so much more powerful than the $500 per month that he will maybe put towards it in 10 years. This is because of the magic of compound returns, but what is underestimated is the power of developing a habit of chipping away at your goals. Taking one bite at a time.
What I tell my clients… repeatedly… is that whatever their goal, they need to start now, even if it means starting small.
There are so many cliché quotes/examples that I can give… “a journey of 1,000 mile starts with a single step”.. ‘be the tortoise, not the hare’… give your goals a ‘death by a million cuts’, but the lesson remains….start.
Start now, start small if you have to, but take one small step towards your goal every single day. You will get there sooner, I promise.
The Asset Lab