-Dave Ramsey- 1999
Pages 45-47
Dollars and Vision
Why do we need vision? To start with,
it affects income. Studies of people who earn 100,000 or more a year
and have maintained that income level for years reveal an interesting
character trait. These six figure earners all think in five year
blocks (or more) of time. They are very unconcerned about today
except for how today is a building block towards their vision, which
may not be fully realised for another twenty years. They think long
term in all decisions. Six figure earners think about the long term
implications of every move they make and don't make those moves
unless they move them one step closer to their vision. These are
happy people not because they have six figures to spend (although
that doesn't hurt) but because temporary pain is just that: It is
temporary. IF you think long term you become a saver and an investor.
As an investor with a long-term mentality you don't panic when the
market drops, because you are looking at what the market has done
over the last ten years and not what today brings. Saving and
investing with vision makes you rich. This is one of the reasons the
rich get richer. Bad times are correctly viewed as temporary setbacks
and a time to learn. You can walk through the sewage that life
sometimes puts in front of you and barely notice because you have
your eye on the horizon rather than constantly looking at your
current circumstances.
The other side of the coin continues to
prove our point. The folks at the bottom end of the income brackets
who stay there tend to share the character trait of short term
thinking, making decisions based on short term results. That sounds
harsh doesn’t it? Well, if you think short term you rent to own
your VCR and get ripped off. You pawn items of fall for these jerk
cash advance businesses that cash hot checks, cash advances at 650
percent annual percentage rate in most states. If you think short
term you work for the weekend and fall prey to pleasure based
products that will in the end steal your pleasure. If you think short
term you don't save and invest so you can't build wealth. When you
think short term, if you do invest you can't leave the money alone so
you end upo buying high, selling low then thinking :”I have the
worst luck”. Luck has nothing to do with it, you simply
shortchanged yourself by not carrying through on your vision. Short
term thinking is why the poor get poorer. Those who realise this are
those who don't remain poor. Mike Todd states this matter of the
heart well when he says, “I have never been poor, only broke. Being
poor is a state of mind.” Those who are given the gift of vision by
a parent, a mentor or God start to think long term and say things
like, “I am getting my degree no matter what and nothing will stop
me.” And they do it.
