“We live in a culture full of hares;
but the tortoise always wins.”
Dave Ramsey
Unlike the steady
pace of the proverbial tortoise, most people seem to cherish hurry pace of the
hare. Most of us live our lives in a mode of haste, preferring to rush through our
days at a frenetic flow.
We assume we
can get everything done quicker by merely being busy at an amped up rate of speed.
We favor the way of the proverbial hare and we are generally oblivious to the power
of age long wisdom of ‘slow and steady.’
Yes, the
hare may be faster in the short run but the biggest rewards in life do not happen
in the short run. The biggest rewards do take a while to amass. You need time
and experience to gain true wisdom and durable success in anything of worth.
We need
patience in important matters like rearing children, acquiring wisdom, building
trust, getting good education, becoming wealthy, cultivating health, gaining spirituality
and nurturing relationships.
You see, persistence
is the key to success in all things of great value, and that is why the
tortoise always wins. In life, it is not how far but how well; it is not about the
speed but about the strength; it is less about the volume of our output but more
about the quality of our outcome.
Life is more
like a marathon and less of a sprint!
Warren
Buffett, one of the richest men in the world builds his humongous fortune on
the foundation of this tortoise principle. He is a classic example of the power
of patience on purpose. Warren is a huge believer in the dependability of
steadiness in progression.
He once
said: “Successful investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how
great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a
baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”
Adopt the Way of the
Tortoise
The way of
the tortoise is perhaps the most effective available strategy to ensure quality
and consistency in any and all fields of endeavors.
This is
because it aligns perfectly with the way our natural world has been operating
for thousands of years with unbeatable regularity.
In this
direction, a poet and historian, Henry David Thoreau observes: “Nature is slow,
but sure; she works no faster than need be; she is the tortoise that wins the
race by her perseverance.”
By the same
token, we can achieve any goal or overcome any obstacle with power steadiness
on purpose and the way of the tortoise.
The way of
the tortoise is about patient execution of the right things each day. It is neither
about getting everything done nor is it about getting the most things done; but
it is essentially about getting only the right things done.
With this
approach, we focus only on true priorities, one step at a time. And, as a result of this simple strategy, we
can—in due course—accomplish really big things, without losing our balance and sanity.
While the
way of the hare focuses on momentary surge, the way of the tortoise emphasizes
progress; while the way of the hare highlights sudden burst of activity, the
way of the tortoise prioritizes traction; while the way of the hare celebrates
starting, the way of the tortoise accentuates finishing.
At this juncture,
B. C. Forbes, a journalist and founder of Forbes magazine makes a relevant
contribution to our study in the following words. He said:
“How you start is
important, very important, but in the end it is how you finish that counts. It
is easier to be a self-starter than a self-finisher.
The victor in the race is
not the one who dashes off swiftest but the one who leads at the finish.
In the race for success,
speed is less important than stamina.”
As you can
finally see, the way of the tortoise is about stamina; it is about making
progress, and most importantly, it is about staying in the game for as long as
it well darn takes.
Therefore,
if we sincerely adopt the way of the wise tortoise in the pursuit of our ultimate
vision, there is nothing which may not be accomplished in the end.
