Taming Greed
One of the first things I published on this site was an explanation of how to calculate our Wealth In Time. If you follow the link then you can read a short story about how I made myself far more wealthy, with a change in strategy. The strategy only required a few years to implement.
The whole article (What’s The Cost In Time?) is good to review periodically.
There are three concepts
The Window of Time
Wealth in Time
Money Value of Time
We undervalue time.
I keep an eye open for when time has been mispriced.
In my 30s & 40s, allocating previously earned “time” bought me things that money can’t buy.
Experiences
A Wonderful Spouse
Great Kids
Health & Fitness
By shifting my focus to “time” I moderated the influence of “greed.”
…or so I thought.
Different Forms of Greed
Looking back, I can see I replaced one form of green (financial wealth) with another (athletic performance).
My desire for more, followed me from one environment to another.
Another trait, an enjoyment of taking myself to the limit, also followed me to sport.
Nothing right, or wrong, about these traits. They’ve served me well, mostly.
More
To The Limit
If that rings true then set up guard rails in your life to avoid ruin.
My guard rails are simple.
I will never knowingly hurt myself.
From that comes my marriage vow…
I will never knowingly hurt you.
Simple statements, challenging to live by.
Particularly, in domains where we are tempted to hurt ourselves “temporarily” in search of “high performance.”
In the corporate world, neglecting health in pursuit of financial gain.
In the athletic world, neglecting health for short-term competitive gain.
Unchecked drive will ruin our health, and our relationships.
There will be warning signs along the way. Divorce, Heart Disease, AFib, Joint Failure, Relationship Breakdown, Insolvencies… I’ve seen, and lived, a lot.
Getting our own health, and house, in order… is a powerful way to change everyone around us.
Arriving At Enough
If time is an effective way to moderate the influence of financial greed then what works for other forms of external validation?1
At my recent training camp, I heard myself telling my friends…
That would be too much for me.
The context was an invitation to a challenging week-long bike race. It’s a neat concept where amateur riders get to compete in a stage race (like the Tour de France, but shorter). My younger self would have loved it.
When I thought about it, I realized there would be a lot of unnecessary fatigue. By being able to see beyond the event… to the unnecessary fatigue, my desire fell away.
Previously, I wrote about desire in the context of addiction. It was a big deal to catch myself saying “enough” in the context of exercise.
Something that’s helped me, and many athletes I’ve coached, is to set a goal that is so challenging… we know we will have to change our approach to get there.
Choose a goal that’s going to require acting smarter and respecting the constraints in my life, and my body.
Time To Reflect
Once a year, I take a few days and consider…
Where is my lifestyle likely to take me?
I get offline and reflect. I’ll be doing this next week.
When is your next opportunity to reflect on the path ahead?
Brad’s book, Master of Change, has a nice section about diversity of identity.
One of the neat things about amateur sport is we can be very good (in our category) by committing a minority of our time. Same deal for writing, parenting and marriage.
Getting older, I don’t have the mojo to go “all in” with any single aspect of my life. Yet, I remain highly effective.