2,500 year old wealth wisdom
Some of the best lessons in life are from timeless fables
If you read these in your email inbox, you’ve probably noticed a Bible verse in the footer:
“Wealth gained quickly will dwindle away,
but the one who gathers it little by little will become rich.”(Proverbs 13:11 NET Bible)
I use it as a sort of theme verse for my trading business. A reminder to myself of the power of growing wealth slowly.
Plus it has the added benefit of countering all the short-sighted “get-rich-quick” schemes & charlatans out there. Since I can’t really help people who are only looking for the quick buck, I might as well shoo them away.
(I don’t mind shooing away anyone who can’t stand the Bible either. Those aren’t my people and they’d be better off stalking someone else’s list anyway.)
One of our early childhood lessons is the wisdom in “slow and steady wins the race.”
Of course, that one comes from an Aesop’s Fable:
The Hare & The Tortoise
Rather than only talking about it, I want to reprint it here:
A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.
“Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh.
“Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it.”
The Hare was much amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing he agreed. So the Fox, who had consented to act as judge, marked the distance and started the runners off.
The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up.
The Tortoise meanwhile kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully; and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.
The race is not always to the swift.
That last line is gold.
I know that the swift win the race a lot of the time. And I know it’s easy to feel like those who are farther along in their own wealth journey are going so much faster then you can ever go.
I get that, I’ve felt that way too.
But in this race, we’re only competing against ourselves.
Does it really matter that someone gets across their finish line before I do?
No.
Not really.
Which is good. I’ve always been more of a “I get there when I get there” kind of guy. I tend to get stressed out and make bigger mistakes when I’m in a rush to get things done before the clock runs out.
Of course there’s a balance between moving at my own pace and being a lazy hare.
The lazy hare works in starts & stops. Taking unnecessary breaks before the project is finished. And, generally, avoiding the hard work that leads to good results.
The tortoise just moves slow and steady.
He gets to the end when he gets there.
No rush. No worries.
Now, that’s only one lesson to learn from this story.
Lots could be said about steady focus in a singular direction ... avoiding shiny-object syndrome ... finishing what you start.
All good stuff.
And well worth considering.
Maybe spend some time today thinking about the lesson you want to apply ... and then apply it.
Simple.
— Ricky Ketchum