I am starting to re-read the modern classic, Start With Why by Simon Sinek. The premise of the book is that organizations and individuals who know their why will always outperform those that only know what they do and how they do it.
One question that I did not catch my first time through the book is, how much are we willing to pay for the money we make?
It is the kind of question that makes you scratch your head until you begin to understand the ideology behind it.
In the book, Simon gives the example of the major U.S. car manufacturer G.M. and their struggle in the 90’s to compete with Toyota.
At the time, G.M. held a large portion of the automotive sales in the U.S. but began to see that dominance dwindle as Toyota brought a cheaper product to market.
G.M. decided to offer money back to anyone who bought their product at a dealership in order to increase sales. The idea worked beautifully as G.M. recaptured market share from Toyota.
However, after a time the profit margins at G.M. became squeezed from all the money they were offering to folks to purchase their vehicles - executives made the decision to nix the free money for purchasing a G.M. product.
As you can imagine, when the well ran dry people stopped buying G.M. vehicles and the long term trend continued.
What Do We Sacrifice for Money?
The story of G.M. reminded me of successful individuals around me that gave up family capital or health capital in order to earn asset capital.
Our wealth is not measured by the amount of currency, crypto, or gold in our accounts - our true wealth is our time and our freedom.
Giving up time with our families has just as much effect on our wealth as working those extra hours. We lose freedom and joy at the expense of a few extra numbers.
I am not opposed to working hard and earning a better future for our loved ones. What we must not kid ourselves about is that every action has a reaction.
G.M. executives thought they were solving the problem of lagging sales by enticing new customers. What they missed was how much those extra sales were costing them.
When we miss why we are doing something, it does not matter how we do it or what we do, we end up losing in the end.
