The other day Zach, my youngest, was in the backyard and he wanted me to push him on the swing set. As I was pushing him, he kept looking behind at me to make sure I was going to continue to push him. However, each time he would turn to look back, the swing would twist a little and then he would get upset because he was no longer going straight and he wasn’t going as high.
This made me think of financial goals. When we have a goal we are trying to reach, we need to keep our eyes on that goal and go as straight as possible to achieve it quickly. If we spend too much looking behind us we can lose sight of the goal and get twisted or jaded. Looking back from time to time is good, to see how much we have achieved, but we do not want to get caught up in the mistakes and frustrations from the past.
Once Zach learned to just keep his eyes forward and enjoy the rush of the wind from the swing, he was very happy and kept laughing. As we aim for financial goals, whatever they may be, we need to remember to enjoy the ride a bit too. It is a race, not a sprint to the finish.