I remember sitting in the seats of Arrowhead Stadium on an unseasonably warm day on January 11, 2004. The 13-3 Kansas City Chiefs were the number two seed on a path of destiny to take on the number one seed New England Patriots for the AFC Championship. This was our year! We would avenge the previous 10 years without a playoff win. All we had to do was get past the Indianapolis Colts and their highly overrated QB, Peyton Manning (I thought Ryan Leaf would be better).
Delayed Gratification
Only, as we all know, the path of destiny turned out to be a little longer than I expected. It was another 10 years before we’d win in the playoffs, and half that again before we made it to the Super Bowl. 15 years of defeats, of failing to qualify, of disappointing—even devastating—season endings. That’s a long time. Sports fans know all about that, with championship droughts that can last actual lifetimes.
Things didn’t end that way this year, of course. Now I get to enjoy my team experiencing one of those rare winning dynasties of phenomenal playing and skilled coaching that every fan dreams about.
“It must be nice,” some people will say; people whose team doesn’t have star players and recent championship wins and mega celebrities dating their players. And they’re right that it’s nice, but we all know what they actually mean is they wish it was their team doing the winning. I really do intend to enjoy every second of it—and I should! I don’t feel guilty for enjoying this success now, because I put in the years of loyalty when times were dark and it wasn’t fun, which is how you earn the fun in the sun.
Enjoying the Fruits of Success
It’s hard to see the fruits of success without wanting them for yourself. What’s harder, but perhaps more important, to keep in mind is all the work you don’t see that went into that success. A new fan just being introduced to football now won’t see the seasons of losses and mediocre, if not worse, records; they’re just going to see the Super Bowl wins and the media coverage.
In the same way, just looking at a retirement planning success story won’t show you the years of hard work and sacrifice that went into them. These people didn’t get here by chance, they put months and years and decades of intentionality and forethought into getting where they are now. Our clients who are living life with people looking over saying “must be nice,” are just enjoying the result of their own work, like I’m enjoying the football dynasty I waited so long for.
You don’t know how much time you’ll get in retirement. That’s why it’s so important to know what you’re doing to get yourself as close to the dynasty as you can, so that you can enjoy every minute of whatever time in the sun you do get. You don’t ever get any of that time if you stop playing the first time you failed to get to the postseason.
Planning for Your Future
Don’t overlook that in planning your own future. The time to start is now, to put in the work and save the money and make the sacrifices, so that when the time comes it can be you taking the nice vacations and splurging on the boat to park at your lake house. You want to enjoy your retirement—your life, even, because you don’t need to retire to deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
All it takes is making goals and sticking to them, even when it’s hard. Stick to your game plan, make changes when needed, and it’ll get you to that endzone. Talk to us at Gertsema Wealth Advisors today and let us help you make the plan that gets you where you want to be.
