My oldest son is a keen tennis player and was invited to play in a few local tournaments. Just before they played the kids were sat down on the court while the coach explained the format and rules for the day. This usually included such as items as how many games they were to play in total and how to decide on ambiguous calls. The part I always enjoyed is that the coach would always ask the children the one thing more important than winning. I’m sure you all know the answer, but the one thing is, your name. Every single tournament he would end the reading of the rules with this reminder.
This got me thinking about my career, income and work. Trying my best to build a legacy and future for my children, was there anything more important? More important than what exactly? More important than money. Of course I thought this is obvious that my family and my life are more important. Is there anything specifically then that I was viewing in monetary terms that costs a lot more than the money?
My first example is that of the individual who makes a living through whatever dishonest means. In the event that these misdeeds are brought to light the whole family suffers significant reputation damage. While the proceeds may be millions, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, the damage to the family can cost a lot more. Spouses may separate and divorce and children may be left with psychological scars for the rest of their lives. The costs may be more than the money received.
Using a second example of someone who prioritises work over all else. They may neglect their health and become unfit, neglect relationships and become isolated, neglect rest and become burnt out and neglect those in need and become selfish. While the cost of monetary benefit may be direct in terms of time, the true cost in terms of someone’s life and well-being is much more.
The last example is when we purchased a brand new leather couch for our house. I was a bit disgruntled because the reason we were replacing the couch is that our young children destroyed the previous one. As children do it seems they manage to get every kind of bodily fluid onto the couch at some point. Including spilling every kind of food possible to spill. Until the couches could no longer recover and had been wiped so many times they now resembled a very large old leather shoe.
Initially the new couch was welcomed as it gentrified the old lounge a bit. Then came the covers installed to prevent the new couch from suffering the same fate as the old one. Then came the rules…no jumping on the couch, no eating on the couch, no open liquids near the couch, no feet on the couch and basically no to everything that didn’t involve sitting still with nothing in your hands. That new couch cost us a lot of money but in reality cost us a lot more than money. It now had to be managed and went from a place of fun and relaxation to a place where the kids had to be on their best behaviour. That thing cost us a hang of a lot more than money!
So in closing this is just a reminder that we value almost everything in monetary terms. Coming from an economics background this makes sense to me and how I understand the world. However, the biggest cost of anything we do may actually be far more than any money could express. Ask any parent with a strained relationship with a child and given the choice between money and repairing that relationship, I think many would leave the money behind.
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