The tortoise and hare approach to life

I’m surrounded by hares.

Guy that works for me has no license and no vehicle. Not an issue for me because I fly him out to projects. I’ve talked to him about ways to get his life together and stop working for me and start being his own boss because he is talented. Every time we have a few projects in a row and he gets a pile of money, he gets too comfortable (changes his spending habits) and pisses it away. He also doesn’t work much when he’s home between projects because he’s sitting on some cash. Despite severe, real-world consequences, he won’t pull himself out of his hole because he can’t keep his foot on the proverbial gas pedal and maintain a sense of urgency.

My own damned daughter lives this way. No matter how I try to teach her and let her face the consequences of this type of behavior, she continues to stay behind the 8-ball despite enormous potential.


I find the effort is actually less when you give 100% effort up front and stay ahead vs trying to play catch up because you got too comfortable with what you thought was some breathing room. Recreation is also far more enjoyable when you don’t have things looming that should have been taken care of or things that you know you should be doing instead of relaxing.

What causes people to get comfortable and take their foot off the gas in life? Before having kids, I’d have said not being raised right, but now I have to consider the possibility that it could also be an innate character flaw in some people. Whatever the cause, it drives me crazy watching intelligent, talented people flailing around and holding themselves back because they lack discipline or self-control.