Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Question Everything and
Find a Better Way
To Do Anything
Chapter Two
What Do You Want Most?
Chapter Three
Be Nice No Matter What
Chapter Four
It’s The Tough
Things That Teach You
Chapter Five
If You Don’t Like
What You’re Doing, So What?
Chapter Six
Seek Improvement Everywhere
and In All Things
Chapter Seven
Stand Out From The Crowd
Chapter Eight
Take People With
You On Your Journey
Chapter Nine
Work-Life Balance
Chapter Ten
If You’re Going To Do Anything,
Do It All The Way
Chapter Eleven
Give Back To Everyone You Can
Chapter Twelve
Heal Yourself With Your Mind
Conclusion
Chapter Six
Seek Improvement Everywhere and In All Things
My father was the most competitive person many people knew. And he always said it was good to be competitive. I believed in that and leaned into that—I competed hard in everything I did. In competition, you learn to win with grace and lose with grace. Don’t be happy that you lost. Don’t be content that you lost. But when it’s done, and you have, in fact, lost whatever the competition was, just shake hands and practice more.
In my youth, competition meant that somebody wins and somebody loses. And that’s true today and will likely be forever. But when you reach a certain age in adulthood, your competitive tendencies have to change because you reach a point where you’re competing with yourself and nobody else. You are looking at who you are today and how you can be better tomorrow—not better than someone else, just better. This is something I’m obsessive about and have been for fifteen years. As I mentioned before, I was running four to four-and-a-half-hour marathons. Of course, there were people running them in two and a half hours. Much, much faster than me. I could never compete with somebody running that much faster than me. Nor was it important that I do so. What I wanted to do was be a little bit faster next time (which, by the way, I’m not sure I ever did, even though I tried).
As a youngster, I was very slender. I always jokingly said, “Chris was built for speed, not power.” I was 165 or 170 pounds and looked like I could barely defend myself. So, I started lifting and eating. What type of training do I need to do? What kind of diet do I need to follow? What should my weight be? There was always somebody lifting more than me in the gym, and they had probably been doing it longer than me. I couldn’t compete with them, and it wasn’t important to compete with them. I was competing with only myself—to be fitter, bigger, faster, and to increase my VO2 max so I could run faster or longer.
Of course, there were a lot of resources out there to help me with my fitness objectives. And those same resources are available for every topic. I wanted to be better at everything. I wanted to be a better spouse, a better husband, a better boss, and a better parent. I wanted to learn to be more patient. If you can find a book you like and a mentor you like, those are the things that will shape you. Author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said, “You are who you are and what you are because of what has gone in your mind,” so put good stuff in your mind. Whether it’s a book, a podcast, a video, a movie, a documentary, or the people you spend time with. Remember, if you spend time with people who are nasty to each other, you may find yourself accidentally slip ping into that mindset. Don’t spend time with people who put negative thoughts in your head. Make sure you always stay positive.
I’ve always had lofty financial goals. I’m not competing with anyone—only with myself. Am I a little bit better this year than last year? Write down all of your bills, credit card payments, and car payments at the beginning of the year, and then write them all down again at the end of the year and see if they’re smaller. If your bills and debts are growing, maybe you’re doing something wrong. But guess what? There are a vast number of books and resources on financial goals. I’ve read and listened to just about every one of them. Just remember, whether you read a book or listen to a mentor, you have to decide whether it makes sense to you. Growth doesn’t happen by simply believing or agreeing with all the information you gather. When you put those thoughts in your mind and then think about what makes sense in your life or doesn’t, that’s when growth occurs.
If you take the time to do that, you’ll learn the difference between good debt and bad debt.
You’ll learn about the “Rule of 72” in investing—dividing 72 by the annual rate of return gives investors a rough estimate of how many years it will take for the initial investment to duplicate itself. The “Rule of 72” is a simple way to determine how long an investment will take to double, given a fixed annual rate of return.
If you’ve taken some of these chapters to heart and are choosing to move into a field where you’re going to both find joy and make as much money as you can, you need to learn what to do with that extra money. Of course, you’re going to give some of it away to the people and charities around you. But learning how to invest your money properly, whatever that means to you, will serve you well over time. I’ll leave it up to you to read about those things.
As a young person, you’re learning to compete, but you’re competing against other people. But as an adult, are you competing with yourself every quarter and every year, tracking your own progress and keeping tabs on how you’re doing? And what are you doing as a spouse, father, investor, and money manager? Have you learned something today or put something in your mind that will prepare you for tomorrow? Striving to be better every day is hard to do, but I hope you make the decision to do what it takes to better yourself.
Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter One
Question Everything and
Find a Better Way
To Do Anything
Chapter Two
What Do You Want Most?
Chapter Three
Be Nice No Matter What
Chapter Four
It’s The Tough
Things That Teach You
Chapter Five
If You Don’t Like
What You’re Doing, So What?
Chapter Six
Seek Improvement Everywhere
and In All Things
Chapter Seven
Stand Out From The Crowd
Chapter Eight
Take People With
You On Your Journey
Chapter Nine
Work-Life Balance
Chapter Ten
If You’re Going To Do Anything,
Do It All The Way
Chapter Eleven
Give Back To Everyone You Can
Chapter Twelve
Heal Yourself With Your Mind
Conclusion