The Paradox of Success

I want you to imagine that you have $5-10 million dollars in the bank.  You have spent 10 years of a career helping make a number of businesses successful.  10 years ago, you were just a cog in the machine trying to understand how everything worked and struggling to get ahead.  You tried to sock away a few bucks into savings but often something seemed to come up. 

However, today you know more people that would like to give you a job that you love than you could possibly have time for in your remaining career even if you worked for 30 more years.  In fact, you don’t have to work at all if you chose not to.  This is part of why you get paid so much to work today to make it worth your while for your “expertise”.  Ironically, now when you need the money the least, it seems to come easier.  

Those Who Need Don’t Get, Those Who Get Don’t Need

I recently met up with a couple of friends of mine from the start up world and this is kind of a combination of their stories.  One was talking about the possibility of a sabbatical and I offered that she should have lunch with everyone that she may want to chat with prior to leaving the role because she is currently in such a high profile position at such a hot company that no one would turn her down.  However, she shared that the last thing she wanted was more meetings and would love an hour alone to synthesize instead. 

I marveled with her about how there are people who would do anything for these connections but can’t make them while she has them all and doesn’t have a use for them.  She added that she has been offered tickets to shows, friends’ unused nights at lodges in Vail or Aspen, etc.  However, she has not taken advantage of any of them.  There seems to be a surplus of all these perks at the executive level because there is always someone gifting something to try to make a connection or a sale.  There are also company perks that go unused and are emailed around to those in leadership roles.  

My friends are not money hungry greedy executives that set out to rule the world.  Both these amazing women simply worked really hard at something they were good at and liked to do.  However, now they both find themselves in this place of abundance that would have seemed crazy 10-15 years prior.  

Is The Game Rigged?

At the very far end of this spectrum, corporate executives have salaries that are public.  If you search the ticker symbol for any corporation, the executive compensation can be found.  A CFO of a larger corporation might make $2M per year.  However, his stock options might be worth far more than his salary and his bonuses may make this figure a huge understatement. 

At the same time, he eats at all the best restaurants, flies on the corporate jet, and stays in the best lodgings around the world.  He is often meeting with others where this wining and dining is table stakes for doing business.  His day to day life is entirely paid for by the company.  At the same time, he gets VIP treatment whether at work or not simply because he carries the leverage and reputation of that entire corporate entity behind him.  This means access and perks to almost anything.  Often these are arranged by his executive admin.  

I am not sharing this to anger employees over their leadership or demonstrate that executive pay has gotten out of hand (that is another discussion).  Rather, I am trying to show an extreme case of how momentum can build over a career until suddenly more success, more offers, and more money, seem to come easier and easier.

When I first moved to Colorado in the early 2000’s, I had no friends here.  It was almost impossible to meet people when you don’t know anyone.  I could really have used a friend during this time of transition.  It was kind of lonely at times.  However, once I started to make some friends, I met more and more people by association.  I quickly got to a point where I was no longer trying to meet people but kept meeting more potential friends through existing friends.  I didn’t have the bandwidth to have a meaningful relationship with everyone but here were more and more interesting people just entering my life.

My #1 Piece of Advice To My Younger Self

Whether it is finances, career success, building a skill, or friendships, a tipping point seems to apply in all cases. Early on, progress seems really difficult. It can be hard to believe and be secure in the idea that the results will grow and compound if you just stay the course. This would be perhaps my biggest piece of advice to my younger self on this journey. I would say, relax young man, develop good habits , cultivate a growth mindset, and be confident in your process. You don’t need to have sleepless nights and general restlessness about getting ahead. As long as you are working on your trajectory, and applying yourself, the time will come when a tipping point hits in many areas of your life.

Compound Interest and Tipping Points

If there is one thing that I have focused on more than any other in getting to a life outside the maze, it may be the miracle of compound interest in all aspects of life. When I first learned how to play the guitar it was slow going noise until I hit a tipping point and was rapidly able to play anything by just sliding a few power chords around. When I first started learning about real estate it was a slog in the dirt until a money tree sprouted.

Having confidence in this truth about life, has helped me understand tipping points better. Rather than feeling that some things may seem out of reach, I can have gratitude for past successes together with patience about future ones. Rather than following a path of least resistance later when a tipping point may be far behind me, I can seek a balance in my life between the currencies of money and time.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have a question or something to add and I wish you patience on your way to tipping points in your own life.