When you say yes to something, you’re saying no to everything else. Say yes wisely.
“When buying a house or car, do you want to get the best possible interest rate on your note?
I thought so.
But with our children, in the most critical, developmental, impressionable stage of their life, we don’t seek the best coaches?
We stick to those who are ‘probably fine’?”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
Every choice we make is either an investment or an expense.
This is true despite most thinking that the invest/expense talk only relates to the stock market, retirement accounts, houses, cars, boats, & etc.
The reason this is true is because by leaps and bounds, time is our most valuable resource.
Unlike the renewable resource examples mentioned above, time is finite. You cannot create more of it.
This means that with every decision that we make from mico to macro, we are either investing or expensing our time.
When we say yes to something, it’s important to understand that we are effectively saying NO to everything else that we be could be in that block of time.
Is playing on your phone for 15 minutes a better investment of time than spending 15 minutes in deep conversation with a loved one or going for a walk in the sunshine?
I’m not asking you this, I’m asking myself, as I’ve been known to scroll like anybody else. This said, because of my awareness of my potential to misuse time, I am growing to become a better steward of it.
“So what the hell does this have to do with youth sports and coaching, Ray?”
A lot, actually.
Our kids playing sports from 5-18 are in the most critical, developmental, impressionable stages of their lives.
They are like dry sponges, ready and eager to soak up whatever is thrown at them.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
If we know this to be true, is it not critical to find them the absolute best resources during this highly influential stage of their lives?
I mean people will fight tooth and nail to lower interest rates on their cars (a deprecating expense, I might add) but they will let Jimmy ‘Whoever The Hell’ Smith coach their kids because “he’s probably fine?”
I mean I’m not a smart guy, but I can’t for the life of me understand how a rational human would subject their children to anything less than the best.
People will move the earth to save $600 a year on a car note, while expensing 100’s if not 1,000s of hours of their kids lives, being influenced by people who aren’t even qualified to do what they do.
Our kid’s deserve better.
