Recently my wife and I were watching the movie adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Hell of a good flick if you haven’t seen it.
(By the way, this email contains spoilers so avert your eyes if you don’t want to be spoiled)
In the story, Dantes is framed for a crime he didn’t commit (basically he was accused of being a Bonapartist–a traitor) and everyone… right up to the man putting him behind bars… KNOWS he’s innocent.
Dantes is sentenced to something like 8 or 10 years in prison (I think it’s like 21 years in the book).
That’s a long time to be in prison… staring at the walls. Counting the stones that make up the 4 walls that box you in… eating mush and sleeping on a cold, damp, floor.
Every year, Dantes was whipped by the dood in charge of the prison.
Did Dantes get mad?
Well… actually yeah he did. But he got over it eventually…
… when he met an Italian Priest, The Abbe, who teaches him all kinds of cool stuff like economics, how to fight and use a sword, how to think and most importantly…
… patience.
The value of patience.
Patience required to dig a tunnel out of the prison and escape.
The priest ends up dying in prison and is put in a body bag… but before the guards can drag the body outside and dump it, Dantes switches his body with the dead priest’s and is thrown over the cliff.
Before the priest died, however, he gave Dantes a map to a secret treasure… which Dantes uses to become…
… the Count of Monte Cristo.
But none of this happened immediately. It took time. A lot of time.
And… when he got back to shore, he’s tempted to exact revenge on all of the people who betrayed him…
And he could have done it quickly. But he doesn’t. He bides his time.
He is PATIENT.
He lays trap after trap and lets his enemies walk into them, which they do…
His execution is flawless.
… which never would have happened had he not been patient.
Had he taken the hasty approach, he would likely have been caught, tried for murder or some other crime, and been put away for good.
Anyway… why do I bring all this up?
Because it’s something a lot of people struggle with and something I try to help my clients with: patience.
Saving money requires Edmond Dantes-like patience.
Executing a plan that will go off without a hitch isn’t easy. It takes years of thought and dedication.
You have to be methodical.
You have to be willing to smile while others around you brag and boast about their latest hot stock tip.
You have to sip your wine and relax with confidence while the world around you crumbles and tumbles (like it did during the Great Depression and the 2008 Financial Crisis).
It takes years of consistency and discipline.
And there will be times when you feel like quitting, but you can’t.
You can’t.
Or it will all fall apart.
Most people just don’t have the fortitude because of their Twitter brains.
I mean… the problem I see all around me is people get all wrapped up in the mainstream media (or the Shnewz, as I like to call it).
They read about what “the market” is doing or what “the economy” is doing…
They start freaking out about job stability and what others are saying and doing…
And they get distracted from their savings goals… their savings MISSION.
OR
They’re too busy chasing investment returns or saving piddly amounts and hoping it will amount to something.
They employ backward “logic” (like “save less and try to earn more on great investments”– which raises the question… if the investment is so great, why put LESS into it?).
But those that DO have patience… those who are dedicated to their mission in life… those who can make priorities and think long-term…
… they often (not always but often) buy at least some permanent life insurance.
People who really “get it,” buy lots and lots of it.
So, if you want to develop your “long game” and have the patience of Edmond Dantes, maybe it’s time for you to check out my custom life insurance planning.
I’ll show you how to have a 30-year plan that actually works.
Join my email list for more info.