I spend a great deal of time writing in coffee shops. On occasion, I’ll chat up the contract window washers who keep everything sparkling. As much as some in society look down on those performing manual tasks, it helps to ask a few questions before passing judgment over entire swaths of the economy.
Take Steve, for instance. He has 65 commercial customers. Each pays him an average of $1800 a year to clean their windows once a week. Do the math. That’s $117,000 per year. He works with one helper, typically his wife. He drives a beat-up Toyota around the city and puts in nine-hour days. But . . . He hasn’t worked a weekend in years. He drives his Harley and Cadillac on the weekends and evenings. He lives in a nice house in a nice neighborhood and he pays taxes, lots of taxes.
What does all this have to do with decision-making? Plenty. There are millions of Steves out there who have learned to thrive in spite of the daily obstacles that life throws at everyone. They have failed a lot more than they’ve succeeded. Haven’t we all? But they’ve also become better decision-makers. They also pass that work ethic and those smarts along to their kids.
Regardless of where you are in the socio-economic food chain, learning to make smart decisions is the key to success. This is not about formal education. Going through college does not make you a better decision-maker. Making decisions and learning from the consequences makes you a better decision-maker. So where are you in this grand scheme? I’m just sayin’ . . .