“People who are successful are those who are willing to do the things that other people are unwilling to do.”
Every now and then, someone says something to you that sticks. You just can’t let go of it and can’t get it out of your head. You find yourself thinking about it frequently and applying it to various aspects of your life. That’s how this phrase is for me. I remember clearly the day that my manager at my first place of employment said those words to me. Since then, it is something that I’ve returned to in a wide variety of situations in my life.
To me, the phrase is all about doing the little things, the hard things, and the things that other people think aren’t important, valuable, or worth the effort. While the term “success” is often applied to career or finances, I think it can be applied to quite literally any part of one’s life, from marriage, to parenthood, to volunteer work, and beyond.
A similar phrase is the one coined by Dave Ramsey, “Live like no one else now so later you can live like no one else.” Unlike the first phrase, this one is intended to be all about money and finances. In a nutshell, Mr. Ramsey encourages people who want to be financially independent to do the things that others are unwilling to do.
For me and for the process I follow with my clients, there are a number of very important items on that list, including committing to a well-considered spending plan, making values-based decisions about what to buy and how much to spend, saving and investing according to a financial plan, using insurance properly to protect specific risks, and investing in a portfolio that matches your personal risk tolerance and manages expenses. Think of the amazing clarity and confidence that belongs to people who have taken the steps to understand what these things mean for them! They are the ones who will have success, because they’re willing to do the things that other people are unwilling to do.
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