It's kind of crazy that I first wrote this post on July 11, 2009. I was miserable at my job and the financial crisis caused me to lose 35% of my net worth in six months. The one thing I'm supremely aware of now that I'm a father is that time accelerates. We need to live our lives to the fullest, and not waste time.
Time Accelerates Every Day We Live
Have you ever woken up one day and asked yourself, “Where did all the time go?” We look at old photos and sometimes surprise ourselves with how young, or how good we looked back then. Not to worry, I still say we look pretty good today.
Time is like an oil field which eventually gets depleted. And sadly to say, the depletion rate accelerates! If for simple math's sake, we were to live till 100, the first year of our life takes only 1/100 of time. Yet, the 51st year of our life is takes 1/50th, and our last year is takes up 1/1, or 100%.
Today's challenge is to simply accept the fact we only have one shot at life, so we might as well do the best we can. If we have an urge to put things off until tomorrow, just finish it today. If we want to learn a new sport and get better, hurry up and practice! Don't let your guitar gather dust and that rose go unappreciated.
Seek Financial Independence
I strongly believe that financial stability is achieved through a mindset and a way of life. Like trying to lose weight by just going on a temporary diet, it just won't work in the long run.
It takes many simple steps to change one's mindset. The first simple step is just reading as much as you can about the various situations on the many different blogs here: .
Readers, have you achieved financial stability through a change in mindset? What are the main differences between the new you and the old you?
Update 2021: It's crazy how quickly time has flown. I've been retired since 2012 and now have two kids I love so much!
Check out: The Secret To Your Success – 10 Years Of Commitment
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Keigu,
Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money's Mysteries”
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Congrats on "paying yourself first" as they write about. Humans seem to adapt to change quite quickly, and getting used to spending 90% of your income rather than 100% will pay off quick.
Love your post and I totally agree! I used to think that putting more than $50 into my 401k a paycheck was causing me to lose out on things, b/c I thought I could just put anything I had left into savings after I paid all my bills. But what actually happened is I'd see I had money to SPEND and would blow it on clothes or something else I didn't need. So I didn't end up saving much at all.
But a few months ago I stumbled across a story about a modest lower middle class couple who were always disciplined at putting away 10+% in their 401k each paycheck, didn't waste their money on material things, and as a result were retiring well before 65. I had a reality check. If they could do that, why couldn't I do that too, and why wasn't I setting myself up to do the same? Why was I wasting my money on stupid stuff I didn't really need? I don't want to have to work until 65 if I don't have to!
That same day I did some quick calcs and decided to raise my 401k contribution to 10%. It was scary… but I haven't even thought about it since I got my first adjusted paycheck (!) and I'm so glad I did it. Now I'm automatically saving and I don't even have to think about it! It's so much easier this way. And even though the market sucks right now, I'm focused on the long run.