How To End Up Nowhere In Life...Fast.

 Have you ever met someone in their 40s that really enjoys life? Maybe they have some material possessions that give off the sense they're doing well financially. You would consider them to be someone that's "going places."

It's interesting we use that idiom. We don't say they're "going fast", we say they are "going places".

It taps into the secret of the young and successful.

Velocity Matters

Have you ever seen a speedboat? They live up to the name with how fast they skim the water. But speed only matters so much.

Remove the rudder, the device on boats that provides direction, and they'll be tossed by every wind, wave, current and fish that bumps into it.

Without that simple piece, the boat will never get where you want to go but you can still get nowhere fast!

I'm not saying there isn't a place for aimless wandering or trying new things to figure out what you want to do. Even that can be considered a direction in certain circumstances.

In fact, a lot of people have a sense of direction they aren't even consciously paying attention to.

Here's a few not-so-obvious examples of people with some sense of direction:

• A kid going to college whose parents want him to be a lawyer
• A guy eating fast food cheeseburgers, sodas and fries 8x a week
• A girl who spends 3 hours a day on social media

These are not incredibly defined goals. They may not even be headed in a healthy direction, but they have direction. This is how most people tend to live.

In the short-term, this doesn't seem like a big deal. The problem is what happens when our direction is left unchecked over the long term.

The Power Of Velocity Over The Long Term

These lines are the exact same angle. One represents decisions in the short term and the second shows what happens when that direction continues. The difference between them seems minimal at first. Then, as they get longer, the gap between them becomes apparrent. 

So let's pretend the lines represent the amount of times you brush your teeth in a week. The top line represents your hygiene when your brush 7x a week, the bottom represents when your hygeine when you brush 3x a week.

What ends up happening is nothing significant in the short term. In the long term, your hygiene will be in a vastly different place than depending on what you do. One results in 6 month checkups and maybe a cavity. The lower line is going to lead to multiple root canals and sensitive gums.

What if we did this eating fast food? Not exercising often? Not doing anything to improve existing skills? Not investing $250/month? The amount of time you get to spend on social media vs living your life?

This is the power of velocity over time. You will end up somewhere fast. The goal is to end up somewhere you actually want to be.

The Bridge To Nowhere And A Mid-Life Crisis

 The best way to get to "nowhere" is to do these 3 things:

1. Have no specific goal sets for your life and/or money
2. Don't define what you want, let the world dictate what you can have
3. Accept the "easy" path and just take what comes along

Following this advice is a fantastic way for scenic drive on the bridge to nowhere and will end up with a very nice mid-life crisis where you wonder what happened to your life.

Somewhere along the way, the world beats your younger self up enough that you stop dreaming and striving for what matters. 

Debt. Stress. Children. Bad boss. Marriage problems. Joyless job. Death of a dream. 

There's plenty of reasons to cause you to wonder "if things could have been different." But here's the good news.

No matter where you are in life, it is NEVER too late to turn around and start heading in the direction you want. It is NEVER too late to chase a dream and try something new.

Did you know Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC, started his resturaunt at young age of 65 with his social security checks?

Vera Wang is a famous designer who didn't even get started until she was 39.

Turning It Around In 2 Hours

It's never too late to start something new. I quit corporate consulting and sales at the peak of my game coming off one of my highest earning years on the job. I gave up a promotion into management and big money. Why?

Because life's too short and I knew that I wanted to do something that had a larger impact on people's lives instead of just increasing corporate profits (nothing wrong with it, just wasn't what I wanted to do anymore after 14 years). 

I knew I wanted to help others achieve modern freedom and show them how to build a financial foundation that allowed them the flexibility to live life on their terms. So that's what I did and after only 3 months, it's been completely worth it.

If you want to start, just take 2 hours out of your day. If you are a married, get your spouse and a drink. Then sit down and do this...

1. Talk about dreams and where you want to be in 3-5 years.
2. What does your ideal lifestyle look like?
3. How can you make little tweaks to move in that direction faster?
4. Is there one big move that could be made to accelerate reaching that goal?
5. What would it take to move that?
6. Is there anything in your life you can't eliminate or substitute to free up money so you can repurpose that towards your dream?

Write down whatever you come up with. Put it somewhere you will see it often. Change your velocity from going nowhere to someone who is going places.

Until our paths cross again...