Feature Article
Best Investment Strategy
Wealth building is usually a slow, incremental process. Start early, invest regularly (and wisely), reinvest your returns, and you will
accumulate wealth. Lots of people don't want to wait, though. They're the ones buying get-rich-quick schemes and speculative stocks. Some will
actually make it--just enough to give the suckers hope--but the vast majority will lose it all. And then try it again.
Knowing this is
The StrongFast Planet, you probably recognize that the previous paragraph can apply to things other than wealth. Like fitness,
strength, or fat-loss (in reverse; the ones that lose it all are the "winners"). And there's no shortage of get-it-quick schemes out there:
90 days, 60 days, 30 days, 21 days, 2 weeks. Not to mention 20 minutes a day, 10 minutes a day, or even
6 minutes a week. And, apparently, no
shortage of people willing to buy them. And if it doesn't work? Buy a different one! Why? Besides the obvious falling for the sensational
sales pitch, maybe it's also the feeling of doing
something. Buying the latest get-fit-quick gizmo or plan or package or whatever is
taking
action. Or at least, it gives the illusion of action. And maybe, for some people, that's enough.
But there are other get-it-quick schemes that require something other than just 3 easy payments. They require some hard work in the gym (or at home), but
still in the pursuit of fast results. Go to the weights area of any gym and you'll find guys like this. They're using the latest "Get
Ripped!"
plan they found online. Because the last one didn't work in 4 weeks. So maybe this one will. And if not, try the next one. If you offer these guys
a plan to give the same results but in 40 weeks, they'll scoff at you. A year later, when they've made no progress, it will be the same story. They'll
be looking for the equivalent of the next hot stock or how-to-make-a-million-in-real-estate deal.
Want to enjoy fabulous health? Invest in yourself incrementally and regularly. Stick with the program and make small adjustments as needed
based on things you learn and changes in your life. And look for steady but incremental results. If they're not coming, you either need to invest
more, invest more often, or change something about how you invest. And for the last one, it's really helpful to have an advisor (or, in this context,
a "trainer" or "coach").
Take a look at your online calendar. (If you don't have one, borrow a friend's.) How is the view set: Weekly? Monthly? Try setting it to yearly.
Yeah. Look at all those days in there. Imagine if you
invested in yourself regularly during that entire year. How would that affect your life on the last day of that calendar view? You won't know unless
you do it, but you can take a pretty good guess. Extend that to two or three or five years and you gain some real perspective. Instead of chasing
every health-related distraction (
squirrel!) along the way, or putting off
your investments until you'd need some impossibly big returns to reach your goals (like anyone who has crash-dieted for an event), use the
time-tested, slow, boring, effective approach. You know, the one that works.
And the best part? You get to enjoy the benefits of your health and fitness investments all along the way!
You (probably) don't make investments in your retirement fund looking for remarkable short-term gains. (If you do, have I got a deal on some
magic cats for you!) And you probably don't check to see how your investments are doing every day. (That's so late-90s.) So keep the focus
on long-term benefits from regular training and healthy eating. And don't weigh yourself daily. Just like financial investments, there will be day-to-day
fluctuations and some setbacks, but as long as things keep moving in the right direction, you're on track to be wealthy in the way that counts
most.
Be seeing you.
-gary
