Saving a Little Now Can Get You a lot More Later
This topic is so exciting that I'm splitting it into two parts. In this part, we’re talking about what it takes to have “better.” In my experience, when I talk to people about achieving more, there’s this perception that in order to have a better life, you need to do a lot more. That is an excruciating journey or you have to completely change your life. Sometimes that’s true, especially when you’re learning something new. However, when I take the time to break down what it means to live a better life for my clients, suddenly it feels a lot more achievable. Here’s what I mean: Doing 1% more or saving 1% could have massive returns. Today, I’m going to focus on saving.
I was listening to a TED talk when I heard these statistics about how airlines were saving money. In the 1980s, a man named Robert Crandall was the head of American Airlines. He removed 1 olive from every salad served, which saved $40,000 that year. Also, in 2018, United Airlines reduced their in-flight magazine by 1 oz. per magazine by switching to lighter paper. It doesn’t seem like much, but over the course of a year, they saved themselves 170,000 gallons of fuel and $290,000!
Isn’t that kind of wild? It feels like such a small change, yet over the course of the year, it turned into something way bigger. So my question to you is: What could you save? My mind first goes to money. If I save an additional $100 per month, over the course of the year, that’s an additional $1200 that I wouldn’t have had. A pretty good chunk of money, wouldn’t you say?
What if I did that with food? What if I decided not to have dessert after dinner? How many calories did I just save? What if I ate one less meal per day? I’m not saying you should do this, it’s just an example. What if I only ate during a certain time of day and saved myself from eating at other times of the day?
What if I drank one less beer/glass of wine per week? What if I smoked one less cigarette per day? What if I went to one less party per month?
If you’re a business owner, is there a service you provide that maybe you should stop offering? If you stop offering it, would it allow you to focus on a service that brings in more revenue? In this case, you end up specializing in that service, rather than staying a generalist.
Why do you ask so many questions, Kevin? Questions are fun, that’s why. Questions get you thinking differently. I really like “what if,” questions for this reason. You start to play with it, and suddenly you’re seeing things from a different light. As a coach, I don’t have any answers for you. These questions are really a way to review and evaluate things for yourself.
I chose to intermittently fast, which means I only eat within an 8-hour window. Usually, I eat between 12 pm and 8 pm. Why? Because by restricting when I eat, I actually had better energy. To me, it was the right decision. For a while, I cut out dairy for the same reason. It was right for me.
As your coach, I’m also here to challenge you. What is something you could save on that would elevate your current quality of life? Maybe you’re not even completely getting rid of it, just reducing it by a little bit. What is it? Please reach out and let me know.
Kevin Koo is a professional coach who specializes in personal, business, and leadership development while learning how to slim down. Contact him at kevinkoocoaching@gmail.com
