Your Survival Guy

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Here’s Why You Deserve a Vacation from Your To Do List

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Your Survival Guy’s favorite number is 72. Why? Because it’s fun to think about growth—the annual growth rate it will take to double whatever it is you’re looking to double. And the key ingredient to all that growth is TIME.

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

The beauty in compounding is the incredible changes it can produce with even a low rate of growth—if you have time that is. Not many out there have the patience to let Father Time do his magic. We live in a “what have you done for me lately?” world. Patience and immediate expectation seem to be a birthright.

But think about your life’s work and how long it took you to get to where you are today. That didn’t happen overnight, and imagine if it did. What would you do with your time? Yes, it’s nice to have a to-do list, but living day to day off a list can be exhausting.

I’ve told you how I don’t like the idea of always having goals, especially when the results you’re trying to achieve aren’t entirely up to you. Trying to reach a certain number just puts pressure on you to do something by a certain time.

What’s nice about steady growth is you don’t have to be “on it” 24-7. Like a well-tended garden, you can see the fruits of your labor without too much effort and consistency. That’s what draws me to compound growth—it doesn’t take a herculean effort for it to work.

Action Line: Take some of the pressure out of your life. Work towards slow and steady growth. Free up time for you to do unrelated things like reading a book, exercising, eating well, traveling, or doing nothing (imagine the luxury of being bored in today’s world). Because with free time, it’s no longer a luxury to have nothing to do. Let’s talk.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

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