We seem to be living our lives under the gun. Always in hurry. Haste makes waste is what they tell us. The pressure is all encompassing. Everywhere we look, everywhere we turn; it is inescapable. We are living in a world that demands quick decisions. We have become a short term thinking society. We want results and we want them now. What is the fastest road to success? That is the road most are looking for. The world is full of those who promise to lead you to your desired place of health, wealth and happiness. We have life coaches, influencers and motivational speakers. There is no shortage of colleges or universities that are willing to strap you with life crushing debt so you will be fulfilled, successful and happy. They have the keys to help humanity. If you’ve got the money, they’ve got the time.
Life to me is made up of two types of decisions. Short term decisions and long term decisions. We need to focus on today but we need to plan for our tomorrows should they come. When we are young it is hard to understand what the world will look like in 30 years. We may have more of a short term mindset. We have appetites and desires raging within us. We want what it takes some 20-30 years to gain now. When we have the ability to look back 30 years we see how our short term decisions affect our current life. We may be able to see where we made bad decisions that caused years of financial lack or struggle. We may understand how we married the wrong person or treated the one we loved poorly. Honest hindsight is sometimes hard to swallow but the truth will set you free.
Are you impulsive? Do you make quick decisions and regret them? Have you ever bought things you could live without? Are you a human being? Do you have a pulse? Have you acted in a way you regret or are embarrassed looking back? Welcome to the club. The membership roles of this club are never ending. Add your regret and bad decisions to the list and move on. We all have regrets. We can all look back and see where we should have been more patient, more understanding with others and more willing to wait out things that seemed so important at the moment but turned out to be not so important.
The more of this life you live the more you understand the long game. I am not a golfer. I am a subpar occasional miniature golfer who is as bad at that as I am a bowler. So I avoid both. But real golf is made up of a short game and a long game. It is a great game to watch when played by professionals. Golf is a good metaphor for life. The ball has to move big distances at times or merely inches. Each instance has its own techniques, skills and clubs. The goal is to put the ball in the hole with the fewest attempts. Some players may shine in the long game and struggle in the short game. Others may be precise in the short game and lack ability in the long game, but nevertheless things have a way of leveling out along the course. Players have to navigate through obstacles, traps and deal with the natural elements. What some make look easy is about as easy as me getting a hit off of Nolan Ryan, I was as good at baseball as I am a bowler.
The long game of life isn’t something I wasn’t warned about in my younger years. I remember clearly a meeting in the break room of one of my jobs. A longtime employee was giving a talk about the great 401k the company provides. The match this, retirement that. Yada yada yada. I had an older coworker trying to explain the rule of 72 to me in the aisles of our warehouse on a piece of scrap paper once. This is an equation to see how long it takes to double your money in an investment. They both had an impact on me just as others did along the way. It didn’t mean that I acted on their advice immediately but I do acknowledge warnings and encouragements that I ignored while playing the short game. I was too worried about having fun with the guys on the weekend than padding my retirement account.
The long game default warning is to save money. The focus becomes more about money than anything else. Can we agree that money isn’t the only thing in life when it comes to playing the long game? Yes we all need to have the basics of life. Each one has to decide for himself. Money is a necessary commodity in our daily life. We need it. You should save some. You should live within your means and you should not get in life imprisoning debt. That’s all I need to say about money. Money does not define the man or woman and cannot answer every need in our lives. It has often been said if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. Another piece of the long game puzzle. A 401k may pay a doctors bills but the love of friends and family may give a man the desire to live and bring joy. What is of more value?
Every day we play the short game. But do we play with the long game in mind? Are we building immovable foundations in our life or are we going to be blown to and fro by every wind? This isn’t about packing a lunch and skipping Starbucks a few days a week so you can save money. A lot is at stake. If we misplay either part of the game it may hamper the other. Or if we do it right one part of our game may cover where the other is lacking. I need to explore this. We need to explore this.
This is just an imperfect introduction to what I am writing and thinking about lately. I am focused on surviving the ebbs and flows of this life. Finding the insights, truths and tools to survive another day. That’s what I am trying to get a grip on. We all have a philosophy of life we live by whether we acknowledge it or not. How did we get to where we are? Who’s to blame? I know all I have to do is look in the mirror.