Page 10 - Book5E

When you cannot distin- gush between wants versus needs, or if you can't iden- tify a want as a want, you set yourself up to live in a constant state of craving and disappointment.
—Unknown
2
your journey to financial success. Problems often arise because people set financial goals, but they don’t have the patience to stick with their plan. For example, let’s say you’re trying to save a little money each month to buy a nice new sofa for the living room—one of those great sectional sofas that accommodate several guests. If you really work hard at it, you might even be able to buy one made of leather. One day, after a couple of months of saving, you happen to see a sofa you love in the furniture store window. The store offers a payment plan so instead of waiting until you’ve saved the money, you go ahead and buy the sofa. The excitement of having the new sofa will soon fade
when the first monthly bill arrives and you realize you are right back where you started—with a new monthly bill that puts a financial strain on your well- planned budget. It takes real discipline to prevent impatience from placing a detour in your road.
Having a definition for success that you believe in will help you have the patience to make the journey. Develop your own definition of success, a defi-
nition that states where you want to arrive at the end of your journey. Coach Jim Tressel of Ohio State University and his staff developed a definition of success to help their student athletes not only prepare to become good athletes, but also to prepare for a fulfilling life—“the inner satisfaction and peace of mind we gain in knowing that we did the best we could do for the group (our family, our team, our fellow workers, or the community). Simply winning games is not enough and neither is the accumulation of status symbols. How we win and what we do for the group is crucial to us.” (Coach Illustrated, 16 Aug. 2001.) Contemplate your definition of success. Knowing what your personal vision of success is will help you stay on the road.