This young guy is Miles, my youngest grandson. He’s five and starting Kindergarten this week. Last Friday we went fishing. The older brother was already in school, so it was just us. Miles caught a lot of small bream and sunfish and was having a great time. He started telling me about the “really big ones” they caught in Florida on vacation. I mean really big ones…he couldn’t spread his arms wide enough! I finally got him to use a minnow and he caught this nice largemouth bass. It was a nice one for him, but he let me know it was not as big as the ones he caught in Florida!
Why is it that some of us always have better story to tell about one that was bigger, but often it got away. I know that in my life, if I add all the smaller ones I have caught I’ll have more weight and more fun by catching the many small ones versus catching one big one.
Sometimes investing is the same way. We often want to talk about the fantastic return we got one year but ignore the many that weren’t good. Sure, catching one big one is great and fun to talk about, but sometimes catching a lot of small ones can bring more satisfaction and cumulatively produce a lot more weight over time. Modest consistent results can be very rewarding.