I’ve been meaning to write a quick thought about this for awhile. Back in early July someone posted to our FB real estate group saying,
The road to financial freedom seems so far away…
My quick, off-the-cuff reply was, “The road to nowhere is far longer”. It landed, because it’s true.
But there were plenty of other comments, one I found particularly disgusting. It said,
Wait for a good deal they’ll always pop up. And slow and steady wins the race. My motto is “calculated risk.”
“Slow and steady wins the race.” I’m not sure there’s another saying I despise more.
If you’re somehow unaware, the saying is derived from a fable in which a tortoise challenges a hare to a race when the hare mocks him for being so slow. The hare is so far ahead he decides to stop and nap, and the tortoise ends up passing him and winning.
The motto, “Slow and steady wins the race” is henceforth ingrained in children at a young age.
Let’s be clear, slow and steady does not win the race. It gets you to a pre-determined destination through sheer grit and determination much like grinding out 50 years in a 9-5 job will get you to retirement when you’re about too old to enjoy it.
Is this really what we want to be striving for? Is it what we proudly want to exclaim our strategy is in building wealth and aiming for financial freedom? Is it what we want to be teaching our children?!
Absolutely not.
The tortoise beat the hare, but he did not win. Let’s be clear on that.
The tortoise beat the hare, because of two things. First, the hare was distracted, lazy, and cocky. Second, the tortoise was a grinder.
What we should be aspiring to is a combination of the best attributes of each the tortoise and hare. Give me the speed and the recklessness of the hare combined with the determination and focus of the tortoise.
And yes, I said the recklessness. I want to formulate my goal and work relentlessly toward it as quickly as possible. That doesn’t mean just moving as quickly as I can, but figuring out ways to accelerate that with added risk taking.
THAT is how you get to financial freedom and still have time to enjoy it.
Yes, at times you will stumble. You may suffer a set back, like our hybrid tortoise/hare missing his turn. But you can quickly re-calibrate and continue moving at a breakneck speed. And who’s to say a wrong turn doesn’t turn into a shortcut? You don’t know if they’re there unless you’re looking for them.
So stop idolizing the tortoise. He’s a loser. His strategy is exactly what you’re trying to get away from. And just because you’re trying to get away from that grueling 9-5 by slowly working on your side hustle, real estate business, whatever, does not mean you aren’t being a tortoise.
If you’re moving too slow and playing it too safe you’re always going to be a tortoise.
Get going!