Kids really do know way more about life than we give them credit for. Sometimes their pure, unbiased, matter of fact way of looking at things makes me stop and think about the complicated, negative mess we make out of things that aren’t at all.
My two boys were having a chat this summer. Jarred has an expensive list of electronics he wants and so he was trying to think of a way to make some money for whatever new thing he wanted. Landon was eating an apple at the time and Jarred got the idea that they would plant the apple seeds, grow a tree and then sell the apples. They were chatting about the stand, where they’d sell them, how much they were going to charge, the whole nine yards. Then Landon says ” I’m not going to sell all my apples. I’m going to keep one apple and plant a new tree with it. Then every tree that grows I will keep one apple to make another new tree. Then I can have infinite apples and infinite money.” This kid understood wealth… at 6. It really is that simple too.
When he said it I immediately thought of it in terms of investing. Keeping a portion of all you earn for your future self, that is the exact principle of investing and building wealth. There are lots and lots of different types of investments and different amounts of risk, etc. Investing is a specialty all it’s own, but at it’s core investing is that simple. The hardest part in investing is making the habit of not selling all your apples today.
It also is a great metaphor for investing in yourself too and this is the same idea I tossed out in the blog on adding joy. The ones with the wealthiest lives invest in themselves regularly and consistently. They invest time into their well-being, their health, their relationships and anything else important to them. They invest money and time into learning new skills and habits to move them ahead. The most successful in business, finance, romance, sports, life in general didn’t get there on accident.. they invest in themselves and their growth. Period.
That can be as simple as listening to a podcast or reading a blog or book. It can be surrounding yourself with people who are doing what you want to improve on. If you want to be successful in business, sit yourself at tables with people who are successful in business, even if you have to pay your way there. There are also coaches, mentors, guides in pretty much every area imaginable. If you want to kickstart your growth in a particular area, maybe hire someone who specializes in that, someone who will call you on your excuses and push you outside of your comfort zone. There are courses, classes, intensive workshops and other learning avenues to dive deep on a topic too.
If you are determined to grow, there are a million avenues of all shapes, sizes, intensities and price ranges to help you move in the direction you want to go. There is no excuse to stay stuck on any topic with the internet and all the millions of free resources that come along with it. Anything you want to learn you can learn if you choose to go for it.
How you go about the learning and growing is almost secondary to your commitment to making the time and for it and that is the point I’m hoping to bring home with Landon’s apples story. It’s about making sure you carve out the time regularly and consistently for you and your personal growth. Remembering to always keep that one apple to invest in your future self. That is how we grow wealth in every area of our lives.
It was in the listening to podcasts, reading books, joining groups that I discovered just how much those things mattered in moving forward away from stuck. The more progress I seen in myself and in the things I could accomplish, the more time and money I dedicated into it and the more rapid and huge the progress. It did start as just a podcast while cleaning, or reading a couple pages of a book in between playing referee to the kids while they played in the yard. I used to squat it in when I could. Now I know the value of these things so I schedule this stuff in as non-negotiable time and it is a significant line on my budget that I no longer feel any guilt about because I know it’s value without a doubt.
So think about how much of today’s time and money you are using to expand your future self. If it’s none, or not a lot, think about how to incorporate just a bit more and make it regular. Soon you’ll be hooked on watching savings accounts and yourself grow.
Lots of love
Dawn
Tax Wise 