I’ve fallen off the wagon when it comes to blogging over the past couple of weeks. I started posting mini blogs to social media in the beginning of 2018 and created this website in May 2018. I think this is the first time I’ve struggled this much with writer’s block and coming up with ideas to write about along with being so busy that I haven’t found the time to sit down and be intentional about writing down ideas and topics to brainstorm. Hitting a bump in the road like this can affect many areas of your life from writing and creating ideas to fitness to spiritual to your personal finances to everything. I think the key is to not let it discourage you and become such a large hurdle that you let it get in the way of your progress. Progress may be slow, nonexistent, or even negative at times, but what really matters is what happens over the long-term. Having a short period of slow or no progress doesn’t mean that it will be a long-term trend or even that it will have a significant effect over the long run.
Of course, this situation makes me think about personal finances. Too often people get caught up in the day-to-day movements of the market and forget that we’re invested for the long run. You’re not investing for today or tomorrow or even for retirement; you’re investing for the rest of your life.
Bump In The Road
So many people have lost out on so much money by selling out of the market at the wrong time because they panicked when they thought things were beginning to go south or followed the advice of some clown they saw on TV. There’s tons of evidence that shows us that, historically, the market has gone up most of the time and that trying to time the market is a loser’s game. The small bumps in the road along the way (even the big bumps) don’t compare to the slow and steady progress that’s made in the long-term with patience and consistency.
When I think of this, I think of a long-term picture of the S&P 500 with a line generally trending up and to the right. Sure, there are some downturns along the way (some really big downturns at times), but the market has been resilient and has continued progressing forward each time. Those who gave up or listened to the noise and pulled out of the market when one of these dips happened lost out on a lot of subsequent progress. The dips hurt a ton while they’re happening, but hindsight shows us that the long-term progress was worth it.
I like to think of this chart as a model of how most progress happens in all areas of life. I might be in one of the small dips right now with my blogging, but with consistency and determination I’ll continue progressing forward and getting better. The same could be said for someone who has fallen off of their diet or gym routine. Just because you’re in a lull doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to get out of it and start making slow progress again.
When you look back you may see one of these dips on the timeline, but you’ll also see the longer-term trend line progressing upwards. Hopefully now I can continue thinking of valuable things to write about on a consistent basis that I hope can help someone else along the way and be able to look back at this as a small dip along a much larger progress line.
