Building wealth is a lot like building muscles: it takes time, effort, and discipline. It should also be a fun process (after all, who wants to be wealthy but grim??). One way to help yourself stay on track while you build your wealth is to work with a buddy. After all, many people have workout partners. Why shouldn’t you have a wealth building partner?
The buddy system works well for athletes, racehorses (a la Seabiscuit and Pumpkin), alcoholics, and policemen. Why does it work? Because having a buddy:
- Makes You Accoutable: It’s easy to pull the wool over your own eyes, but if you pick the right buddy, you’ll have to stick to your plan or risk having egg on your face.
- Makes Everything More Fun: Saving and scrimping by yourself can be terribly boring, but having a buddy to share the laughter and tears with can lighten the load.
- Gives You a Different Point of View: If you get stuck between a rock and a hard place, your buddy can help you get a different perspective on things. This can be useful when you need help getting out of a rut.
- Helps Your Appreciate Your Progress: Most of us have a hard time seeing our own progress because we spend everyday with ourselves and the progress is incremental. A buddy can point out how far you’ve come in the last 6 months, and help you appreciate all the progress you made. This kind of appreciation will help you stay motivated.
Sound good? Great. When you go to pick a buddy to work with, make sure that he or she shares the same goals as you. You might also want to lay down some ground rules (such as always being supportive but firm, and how to you want to communicate with each other). Enjoy the process of getting wealthy-it’s faster and more fun when two play the game!
