We are told all the time that if we are not moving up and to the right then we are going backwards.
In any graph charting pretty much anything, the goal is for whatever we are measuring (the y-axis) to improve, grow, be higher, over time (the x-axis). The line of our graph should move up and to the right.
It’s one of the reasons that we are so generally opposed to anything which pauses or even reduces that thing that we are measuring (which is normally some measure of success – income, wealth, power etc.).
This is bullshit. Proper “not only wrong, but sometimes hugely detrimental,” bullshit.
Take investing as an example. The expectation is that our investments should consistently grow, showing a steady upward trajectory. Whatever we invest in – property, stocks, bonds, unit trusts or whatever – we think that they should (and will) always grow. The graph of our investments will move upwards and to the right! However, that is not always the case. We know that there can be crashes, adjustments or periods of stagnation. For the unsophisticated they see that as a problem, however savvy investors know that market corrections and downturns can provide opportunities to buy high quality assets at low prices and can set the stage for significant gains when the market recovers. As Warren Buffett famously said, “I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.”
Consider also our physical fitness. The pursuit of better health and fitness is typically characterised by progress in strength, endurance, or weight loss. We measure these things and always want to see progress towards our goal. But rest and recovery are crucial components of any fitness regimen. Overtraining without adequate rest can lead to burnout and injury, while taking planned breaks can result in improved performance and results.
In education we view our learning as linear. We are expected to acquire more knowledge and skills and see an improvement in our exam results over time. However, the concept of “productive failure”, where learners are left to struggle with difficult or challenging problems without immediate guidance can enhance learning. The failures that come from this approach are not a step backwards. Instead embracing moments of confusion and failure can lead to deeper understanding and more robust skill development.
In the same way we view taking a job on less pay to be a step in the wrong direction. We think of taking a career break as a step back. This is regardless of what new things we can learn or what extra skills we may acquire that could propel us forward in the future at higher speed.
At 18 I turned down a place at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and a commission as an officer in the British Army.
This seemed like a backwards step. I was giving up on a prestigious and secure career. I was giving up the opportunity to learn to lead, to be paid well and to be able to retire after 30 or so years (around age 50) with a healthy pension based on my highest rank during service. My parents thought I was mad.
Instead I went to work in a hospital. I earned £4,000 a year. That was a pittance compared to what I would have earned as an Army officer.
The hospital job was crap. I left after 9 months and took a job in sales, selling fax machines when they cost upwards of £5,000 each, and mobile telephones that were larger than today’s cabin baggage! I wasn’t great at that, and I had to travel a lot of miles in my company cars. After six car accidents in a year, it was time for me to leave that job too!
By this stage I’d bought a house (a story for another time) so I needed money to pay the bills.
After a brief spell starting and ultimately failing in what I thought would be a ‘can’t fail’ business (another story for another time) I finished up working night shifts in a warehouse driving a forklift truck and loading delivery vehicles. I stuck at that for a while before deciding that whilst I was surviving, this was not where I’d seen myself and it was certainly not where I thought I’d be after three years.
So at 21 I took what was a huge backwards step – I sold my house and went to university!
That backwards step ultimately led to me obtaining a degree in law, qualifying as a solicitor, setting up my own solicitors practice and after a couple of decades of hard work, exiting that with ‘enough’.
Viewed in any way, by 45 I was way up and to the right of where I started. But the journey was far from a linear one!
Life takes many paths and goes in many directions. What matters is that over a lifetime you do the right things at the right time (for you). Be true to yourself and your beliefs. Take a long term view of your goals and ignore short term wins or losses. Ignore the short term graph, and when you look back although the path may not be straight, chances are it will be in the right direction.