Money - The Ultimate Team Sport
by Chemain Evans Imagine if you will that you are NASCAR
driver. (Now don't overextend this metaphor-just go with the
flow!) You start the race and put the pedal to the metal. The
crowd is flying by in a whirl of colors. You're exhilarated by
the speed. You're starting to pass some of the other drivers.
You are feeling pretty confident about this race. "Eat my
dust!" you yell to no one in particular. Just when you're at
the top of your game, you suddenly realize your fuel is
getting low. You pull over to the side, turn off the car, get
out, refuel it yourself, get back in and restart the car, and
off you go once again, having lost valuable time.
A few laps later and things are looking up. You're starting to
cut down some of the lead that the other cars have had on you.
Next thing you know you blow a tire, which you had forgotten
to check at your refueling pit stop. So once again you exit
the race, turn off the car, get out, change the tire, get back
in and reenter the race. Now you're only 30 laps behind, but
you think, "This baby's got power-no problem!" You hit the gas
pedal and try to make up for lost time. After only a few laps,
though, you're low in fuel-again! Once more you exit the race
and refuel your car yourself. As you watch your competitors
flying by, you are beginning to realize that this is a race
you cannot win.
You compare yourself to the winner of the race and wonder what
the difference is. Is it your car? No, it's the same model as
his. Is it his accessories? Wrong again. You've got everything
he does. Is it your skills? Who knows? You seem to drive just
as well as he does. Then what seems to be lacking? He must
have something you don't. You rack your brain and finally
conclude that the only thing he has that you don't is a
"small" thing called a TEAM. His team takes care of his
refueling and tire changing and all those necessary details,
allowing him to focus on the task at hand - winning. You, on
the other hand, have been trying to do it all yourself.
A team makes all the difference between winning and losing.
The losers of this world are those people who take it upon
themselves to do everything single-handedly. These are the
do-it-yourself-at-all-costs folks. They believe that nobody
can do things as well as they can. Winners, however,
understand the importance of synergy (1+1 = more than 2).
Winners assemble a team.
How do you win the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, World Series, NBA
Championship, World Cup, or any other athletic event for that
matter? With a team consisting of coaches, players, staff, and
a whole lot of other supporting people. Nobody wins on his
own. A great coach is nothing without great players. A great
player gets nowhere without a great coach (and probably a
great agent, too!). Great coaches and players can do nothing
without facilities and the people to take care of them;
without doctors and nutritionists, physical therapists and
other sports medicine professionals; without team owners and
financial backing from advertisers. The list could go on
endlessly.
You see, everything you do is inherently connected to a team:
eating your food, reading your newspaper, buying a home,
driving to work. Think about all the teams involved in each of
these situations. In fact, the world is so dependent on
connections that we cannot function without teams. And yet
when it comes to money that is exactly what many of us try to
do. We think we know everything we need to know about handling
our finances, and no way are we going to pay someone to help
us, even if it nets us more in the long run.
Like the winners of the world, the wealthy of the world
assemble teams to help them build their financial futures and
keep them. The wealthy see their team as an investment, an
investment to protect their investments, so to speak. Their
team consists of (but is not limited to): a good honest
attorney, a tax consultant, an accountant, and many others
whose job it is to keep them [the wealthy] wealthy.
So, how would you go about building a team whose job it is to
lead you on to financial victory? The first place to start is
a mentor, who is probably the most important part of your
team. A mentor is someone or something that guides you along
your path to wealth (and presumably he or she has already
walked that road). Mentors don't have to be actual people
(although this is extremely useful for feedback and one-on-one
support). Mentors can also be books and other information.
Experiences can also serve as mentors. You may have many
mentors at different points in your life; often they show up
just when you seem to need them. Mentors can also be key to
introducing you to other potential team members, such as
attorneys, planners, consultants, investors, accountants, etc.
Using a team to achieve your goals is really much simpler than
doing it yourself. Nobody can know everything about
everything, which is why there are different jobs for
different people. There is no way you could learn in your
lifetime everything you need to know to achieve financial
success if you try to learn it all by yourself, one piece of
information at a time. Using the collective resources of your
team will greatly simplify your life and infinitely expand
your returns. Truly, a team is the only way to win. GO, TEAM,
GO!
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© Simple Joe, Inc.
Chemain Evans is a quality control
specialist for Simple Joe, Inc., makers of the popular Simple
Joe's Income & Expenses PC software. Income & Expenses is a
quick and simple way to keep track of your expenses and stay
within your budget.
Income &
Expenses is ideal for tracking personal, business, home and
club expenses.. This article may be freely distributed as
long as the copyright, author's information and an active link
(where possible) are included.
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