Starting Is the Hardest Part
I was recently sitting with a young client. Mid-20s, new-ish in his career, trying to figure out his place in life. Everything is new, exciting, and a bit nerve-wracking (though he probably won't admit that last part). To his credit, he's approaching his money head-on. He recognizes the responsibility....and the opportunity. His future self will absolutely thank his younger self, and I'm grateful to play a small role in that story.
However, we hit a roadblock. When it was time to dive into investing, he felt defeated. It's not that he didn't want to invest, but rather he didn't think he was ready. "I don't have enough left in my budget to invest, so that will have to wait."
"That's ok, we'll start with $25 per month."
He laughed. I wasn't joking.
"$25 isn't enough to make a difference," he quipped. While that's technically true, I wasn't encouraging $25/month because I thought it would move the needle. No, I did it because starting is the hardest part.
From a behavioral science perspective, there's massive power in starting something. After all, starting is hard. Investing requires us to set up an account, create a login, connect to a bank, physically move money from one institution to another, and invest said cash into an index or mutual fund. That's a lot of hurdles! However, once those hurdles have been cleared, it's simple!
Once he makes the first investment, and then takes one more step to automate future investments, it becomes one of the easiest things in his life. Even better, the act of creating and automating his investment account, even with only $25/month, he becomes the type of person who invests. That action integrates with his life, his rhythm, his habits. Like paying his rent, brushing his teeth, and taking out the trash. It's just what we do.
As I explained, starting a $25/month investing rhythm is the hardest part. After that, it's easy to increase it. Increasing it takes two minutes. Maybe he'll increase it to $100/month. Or maybe $500/month. Maybe it will get to $1,000/month. Whatever the right number is, it only happened because he did the hard part of setting up that initial $25/month. So, no, $25/month won't in and of itself move the financial needle. But that $25/month start is what opened the doors for everything that will soon come.
Starting is the hardest part. Whether it's investing, giving, or saving, just start. Even $25. Heck, even $5. Just start. Get the ball rolling. Become the type of person who does that action. Let it seep into you. Once that happens, anything is possible!
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