{"id":3074,"date":"2016-10-14T00:51:30","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T00:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raizinvest.com.au\/investors\/how-to-eat-an-elephant\/"},"modified":"2020-10-28T02:07:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T02:07:17","slug":"how-to-eat-an-elephant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raizinvest.com.au\/investors\/blog\/how-to-eat-an-elephant\/","title":{"rendered":"How to eat an elephant"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image\"<\/figure>\n

By Ash McAuliffe<\/a><\/p>\n

Q:
\nHow do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s
\na dad joke but a good one none the less, and it stems from a quote attributed
\nto Creighton Abrams: \u201cWhen eating an elephant, take one bit at a time\u201d.
\nNot only is this one of my favourite quotes, but it is one of the
\nunderlying philosophies of the financial advice that I give my clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn
\nmy time in helping people hit their financial goals, one trend that stands out
\nis what I call the \u2018Back-Burner effect\u2019.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

The
\nconversation that I had this week with a new client was typical of so many
\nconversations that I have had with my clients over the years. He had a
\nfinancial goal and we were discussing the best way to get there and how this
\ngoal should be prioritised against his other goals. \u00a0This was his biggest
\ngoal, and thankfully had the longest time frame attached but as my experience
\ntells me, this meant that this was the goal that he was least likely to
\nachieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cLetting
\na big important goal sneak up on you is a Financial FAIL.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

In
\nmy time in helping people hit their financial goals, one trend that stands out
\nis what I call the \u2018Back-Burner effect\u2019. \u00a0This is where the less immediate
\ngoals lose significance because they\u2019re off in the distance, and regardless of
\ntheir importance, they don\u2019t get the attention that the immediate
\n\u2018in-your-face\u2019 goals do so the result is that these big, important, long-term
\ngoals are neglected\u2026. Which allows them to sneak up on you.<\/p>\n

Letting
\na big important goal sneak up on you is a Financial FAIL.<\/p>\n

Back
\nto my conversation with my client\u2026 his exact words were \u201cthis is 15 years away
\nso I think I\u2019ll sort these other things, get them out of the way, then in about
\n5-10 years, I\u2019ll really smash this one\u201d. \u00a0It\u2019s safe to say that he wasn\u2019t
\nreally ready for my reaction (truth be told, neither was I) I stood up and at
\nthe same time I slammed my hand on the table and said \u201cNO WAY!\u2026 \u00a0This is
\nan elephant, you need to take your first bite now\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cwhat
\nis underestimated is the power of developing a habit of chipping away at your
\ngoals\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

He
\nhad absolutely no idea what I was talking about\u2026 but who could blame him?<\/p>\n

The
\n$100 per month that this guy can put towards his big, long-term goal (aka: the
\nelephant) today, is so much more powerful than the $500 per month that he will
\nmaybe put towards it in 10 years. \u00a0This is because of the magic of
\ncompound returns, but what is underestimated is the power of developing a habit
\nof chipping away at your goals. \u00a0Taking one bite at a time.<\/p>\n

What
\nI tell my clients\u2026 repeatedly\u2026 is that whatever their goal,\u00a0<\/i>they
\nneed to start now, even if it means starting small.<\/b><\/p>\n

There
\nare so many clich\u00e9 quotes\/examples that I can give\u2026 \u201ca journey of 1,000 mile
\nstarts with a single step\u201d.. \u2018be the tortoise, not the hare\u2019\u2026 give your goals a
\n\u2018death by a million cuts\u2019, but the lesson remains\u2026.start.<\/p>\n

Start
\nnow, start small if you have to, but take one small step towards your goal
\nevery single day. \u00a0You will get there sooner, I promise.<\/p>\n

Ash McAuliffe CFP<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

The Asset Lab<\/span><\/p>\n

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By Ash McAuliffe Q: How do you eat an elephant? A: One bite at a time It\u2019s a dad joke but a good one none the less, and it stems from a quote attributed to Creighton Abrams: \u201cWhen eating an elephant, take one bit at a time\u201d. Not only is this one of my favourite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[3359,3357,3367,3349,98,3354,1433,3363,3346,3342,1434,3334,97,82,125,239,3361,3338,1432,3365]}