Don’t Be Afraid to Show Up Late

I’m a stickler for being on time. To me, to be on time is to be late. It has been drilled into my head since I was very young.

There is one aspect in life where you shouldn’t be afraid to show up late and that is when you get access new, good information. Let me explain.

On Jan. 9, 2007, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone to the world. This was his crowing achievement that revolutionized life as we know it. It was your phone, music player, camera, map, entertainment, and so much more rolled up into one device.

Apple’s stock price that day opened at $3.09 per share. Today the stock is worth more than $135 per share (a 4,280% increase). An $1000 investment at that time would be worth $43,809 today.

Let’s say you got to the party late. Really late. Like, 5 years late.

An $1000 investment into Apple on Jan. 9, 2012 would still be worth $8,906 today, a $795% increase.

Let’s say you were even later and you didn’t join the Apple party until 2017 - 10 years AFTER the introduction of the iPhone.

An $1000 investment in Apple on Jan. 9, 2017 would STILL be worth $4,590 today, a 359% increase.

If you were 5 years late, you would have 8x your money in 9 years. If you were 10 years late, you would have 4.5x your money in 4 years.

What I’m trying to show with this specific example is that even if you got hip to new information long after it was given, it’s still valuable to apply it the moment you learn about it.

Too often, we won’t make an investment because we missed the earliest possible wave. Valuable information is valuable information, no matter when you get it.

You can see how this applies to when it comes to capital investments most easily but it also applies to changing your mind and habits with new information.

It’s happened to me several times when it comes to reading a Lindy book, a book that has been recommended over a number of years by a large number of people.

You did not have to read Poor Charlie’s Almanack or The Richest Man in Babylon the day it dropped in order to get the benefits of the book today.

You can just need to apply its principles and way of thinking the moment you got that new information.

You can’t be afraid to show up late.

No matter when you get that new and better information, be open to changing your mind or updating your approach as soon as you get it. The benefits will compound over time.