"Building wealth is a marathon, not a sprint"
You've likely heard or read this more than once. Wealth doesn't happen overnight. It takes years of effort and consistency. It's important to remember that because if you get impatient, you start making mistakes and shooting yourself in the foot. As great as it would be to envision your money moves as some sort of dramatic "Dragon Ball Z" style power up, that's just not how it works, at least not in the early to mid-stages.
While this is important to keep in mind while on your journey, one thing that I'm surprised doesn't get brought up more is the fact that it's a downhill battle. That is to say that the further along you go, the easier it gets. Compound interest starts to kick in, the dividend reinvestment snowball starts to get rolling, company increases have a bigger and bigger impact as your portfolio builds. Soon, you do start to see more drastic progress. It gets even better when you realize that it is just going to happen automatically going forward.
This applies to liabilities as well as assets. The longer you stay focused on eliminating debt, the easier it gets. The balances start to shrink, which means that the amount of interest that you get charged starts to dwindle as well. You start to see more and more progress as time goes on. Soon, you're eliminating entire payments from your monthly budget and improving your cash flow dramatically. Going back to the earlier comparison, it's almost like chucking off a set of weighted clothing during a fight.
Yes, building wealth is a marathon, but it's a weird kind of bizarro marathon where you start off exhausted and gradually get your energy back as you run towards the finish line. Maybe it's just me, but that's a nice little extra motivator. Knowing that the waters get smoother ahead does make it easier to hunker down for the short term and endure the rougher waves to ensure that you get to that point.
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