There are a lot of lessons to be learned in life that can help us both personally and professionally. One that I learned this past year was the high costs of splurging!
About a year ago, my wife and I decided that we needed another car. Although we already owned two other vehicles, we came up with dozens of excuses about how they weren't meeting our needs, they weren't fuel efficient, and so on. Both vehicles were paid for, and both were very reliable - and yet, a few weeks later we found ourselves at the dealership signing our lives away.
Our new vehicle was everything we'd ever dreamed of - bigger, faster, more powerful, and we loved driving it. We babied it, cleaning it often, parking it in no man's land in the Wal-Mart parking lot (to avoid door dings), and rarely taking it anyplace where it might get a little dirt on it. We loved our new vehicle.
Over time however, the new car smell began to wear off and the excitement slowly melted away. We began to realize that our new car didn't meet our needs any better than either of our old ones. It actually got worse gas mileage, it came with a huge monthly payment and insurance premium, and we limited its use for fear or getting a scratch on it! Meanwhile, one of our older cars sat patiently in the driveway at home, unused and unappreciated.
Eventually we came to our senses and decided that we just didn't need the new vehicle. We finally sold it last week. Now, after one year (and a few thousand dollars) we're back where we started. This time however, we are much more appreciative of what we already have. It was a good lesson to learn, but an expensive one!
In our professional lives, how often do we make the same mistake? Do we strive for things that make us merely appear more successful, or do we focus on things that will actually make ourselves and our companies better? Hopefully in the future we can look a little deeper when making decisions. Focusing on things at the root level, rather than jumping on the first idea that comes to us.
