Chicken, and How Perfection is the Death of Progress.
Imagine you have a friend who feels insecure about their body. They want to gain weight and bulk up, and they ask you for tips. You know they tend to eat just one meal a day, and it’s a plain salad. You understand that consistency is the key to success, so you decide to give them one practical change to start with. You give direct, applicable advice which you know will make a big difference. You say “Friend, add quality protein in the form of chicken to your salad starting tomorrow”.
Your friend agrees - but insists they need to do more research first. Before they make any dietary changes, they want to:
Google the best cut of chicken (breast? thigh?)
Watch Youtube videos on different bodybuilders to see what time of day they eat their chicken
Read recipes for chicken to decide if they want to bake, broil, or fry the chicken
Search specialty grocery stores to find the healthiest, most organic chicken producers
Figure out exactly how many ounces of chicken they should start with, and create a system where they add more ounces of chicken over time.
Months go by. Your friend is the same weight, hasn’t stepped foot in a gym, and is utterly overwhelmed by all of the data they’ve accumulated. They tell you that gaining weight is too complicated, and that building muscle is only something that professional athletes can do. They tell you that they’ve been focusing on this for months and have no progress! It’s way too hard, so they’re going to give up.
What the heck?! Your friend made that way harder than it ever had to be! This is how I feel when it comes to personal finance.
What portfolio diversification is best, which of your loans has the highest interest rate, which high yield savings account is most competitive, how to optimize credit card points - NONE of that really matters if you’re spending more than you make. Live below your means, pay off debt, and invest the rest.
The best thing anyone can do is start with a small step that will make a big impact, make that small step consistent, and build from there. If the small step you chose isn’t working out for you (doesn’t suit your lifestyle, is making things more difficult, isn’t enjoyable), then it’s okay to try something else! But you need to START. Perfection is the death of progress.
