Are you a bargain shopper?

When is a bargain not a bargain? Haven't you ever made a purchase because the price for the item was really attractive? Only to find out later that there was a reason why it was so inexpensive? or CHEAP!!! In this day and age when money is so tight for so many of us, it's both easy and tempting to look for bargains. It's also very easy and tempting to make purchases that seem like a great deal today, only to find out that it wasn't such a great deal after all. I mean think of all the ways that something, even though it doesn't cost as much up front ends up costing much more later. Look at the way people eat these days. Fast food is pretty much the norm for a vast majority of the people, why? Well it's cheap, first of all, it seems to save some money. How about time? Yeah, that's right up there isn't it since we're all so busy? It saves both time and money, what a deal, right? or does it? When you think of the health implications of eating fast food does it really make sense that you need to save money and time? What are the prices you end up paying in the long run for the short term payoffs of time and money. Was it worth the $3 savings for that heart attack? Is it really worth saving 15 minutes for that cancer? How about obesity and the onset of diabetes? At the beginning of the summer I bought a pair of shoes for $40. I noticed the other day that it was alread starting to fall apart. I started to get a bit upset, mumbling something about low-quality, they don't make things like they used to, blah-blah-blah, but then I thought to myself I got what I paid for. On the other hand I have three pairs of dress shoes that I purchased over nine years ago (in fact one of them I've had for 12 years). They each cost over $400, but besides the occasional shoe shine, they are all in great shape. Which was the better purchase? Which was truly the bargain?

Life is full of prices and payoffs isn't it? You may be able to get away with a payoff in the short term without paying a big price up front, but everything in life has a cost to it. And life has a way of balancing out the equation, eventually. Pay now or pay later? Most people would rather pay later, but that seems to me that's because most people don't have an understanding of how prices and payoffs work in conjunction with eachother. A mentor of mine used to always say you can pay your prices up front or you can pay later with penalties and interest.

Even geater than that, there are some things in life that require you to pay all of your prices up front and don't guarantee you anything? For example, I don't know of any Olympic athlete who shows up for the games, gets the gold medal for the promise of working out diligently for the next ten years. Not even Michael Phelps and he has a track record of sucess, deosn't he? It looks silly in print doesn't it, yet how many of us so often want the successes of life without paying the prices required for success up front? We negotiate with God, ourselves, and whoever else rather than just paying the price that success requires and demands from us. When and how did work become a dirty four letter word? Perhaps it has something to do with how little our society currently rewards it, but again probably a subject for some other time. In the mean time I'd like to leave you with a couple of thoughts:
1. Success demands three things and guarantess you nothing. Success demands that YOU pay a price, not someone else. Success demands that you pay your price in full. And success demands that you pay all of your prices up front!
2. The price paid for excellence will always be a bargain compared to the price paid for mediocrity.

Until next time...

Live FREE!


P.S. Do you have any questions that I can help you with? I'd be more than happy to entertain any questions you have and possibly even help you in creating solutions to some of your challenges. I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to send me an email to coachjang@gmail.com. Live FREE!!