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Is Timing an art, or can timing be learned?
How does one learn the exact correct moment to release a basketball, tap a golf ball to make a putt, know the right moment to buy a home, or when to get married? Is timing a natural artistic phenomenon, or can timing be learned?
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Here are a few quotes on timing that span the wisdom spectrum from Bishop Fulton Sheen to Willie Nelson:
“Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is “timing” it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.” ― Fulton J. Sheen
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“Right time, right place, right people equals success. Wrong time, wrong place, wrong people equals most of the real human history.” ―Idries Shah
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“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” ― Willie Nelson
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For most people, timing is an integral part of the decision making process. Readers old enough to remember basketball superstar Michael Jordan will remember how he seemed to hang in the air suspended until the last possible second before dunking the basketball. Michael Jordan is a master of timing.
Everyone at some point or another has heard a speaker with impeccable timing. Every pause, nuance, and raised or lowered pitch or cadence is carefully planned and delivered with precise timing. When done properly, the effect is magnificent.
In the stock market, timing is everything. (Consider this: in every stock transaction there is a buyer and a seller who both think they are making the right decision.) Timing is key here, with each party potentially making or losing a large sum of money because of correct or incorrect timing. In this case, one party chooses the correct time to buy or sell while the other party chooses the wrong time. Timing is key!
Many things in life are dependent on proper timing. Circus trapeze performers are a split second away from missing a critical catch of the flying trapeze artist. Improper timing can be the reason for a missed flight. Missing out on a hot stock purchase, not getting a shot on that trophy buck, or missing out on the perfect job can all be the result of timing that is off by seconds to minutes.
Not all timing issues are split second. There is a certain time to buy a home, but the timing may be in terms of months or years and not seconds. In retirement planning, there is a certain time to accumulate retirement funds, and a certain time to distribute retirement funds. Other timing issues may involve when to quit working, or when to get married. These are still timing issues, but they occur over a long period.
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Can Timing be Learned?
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It is not certain that timing can be learned. No one had to tell Michael Jordan when to dunk the basketball. He instinctively knew when to dunk. (It’s my personal feeling that timing in sports, like speed and height, is genetic.) But, Michael Jordan’s accuracy and success were honed and refined by years of practice. Michael Jordan may be the basketball GOAT (greatest of all time), but he wasn’t always! The following interesting facts were written by Andrew Pistone for GMTM:
But the most famous story of an NBA player not being deemed good enough to play on his high school varsity team belongs to none other than “The Last Dance” hero himself, Michael Jordan. Jordan’s story at Laney High School is well chronicled, and perhaps debated among some as to how the events truly unfolded.
At the end of the day, likely the greatest basketball player who ever lived was told he was not good enough, and that should be motivation enough for anyone to keep working at their craft. Jordan was bypassed on the Laney varsity roster, and was instead relegated to the junior varsity team.
“Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it. That usually got me going again.” Jordan confirmed via Newsweek.
The future Chicago Bulls NBA champion lit up the competition at that level and was fueled by the slight.
Unlike Michael Jordan, most people are not be born with the same level of timing instinct. But, every person can improve, enhance, and refine natural decision and timing skills.
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How to Determine Timing
In most cases, timing decisions are hard decisions to make because there are normally many factors to consider. The simplest and easiest way to help refine the decision process is very “old school”. Simply take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle of the sheet. At the top print the topic that is being considered. On one side under the topic print pros, and on the other side print cons. Then it is a simple matter to list all of the positive benefits of making the decision on one side of the sheet while listing all of the negative attributes of that decision on the opposite side of the sheet. In addition to providing the visual aid of positive and negative statements listed on a sheet, putting down an individual’s thoughts on paper helps to clarify the decision-making process. Normally after writing down the pros and cons of a certain decision, and thinking about it for a period of time, the decision becomes more obvious.
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Let’s consider some of the TIMING issues related to the three concepts of ENOUGH: Money, Work, and Purpose.
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Timing and Money
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Most financial decisions involve financial education and timing:
- Home decisions– paying too much for a home, buying at the wrong time in the market cycle, purchasing a home too early in a career when unable to afford a home, and selling a home in a recessionary housing market can delay or derail retirement plans.
- Emergency fund– not establishing an emergency fund, or not establishing an emergency fund early in life.
- Retirement plan– not establishing a retirement plan, not participating in a company-sponsored plan, not starting a Retirement Plan early in life can delay adequate retirement funding.
- Stocks– Buying the right stock at the wrong time, or the wrong stock at the right time, exiting the market at the wrong time, or buying stocks with a short time horizon affect stock market success.
- Marriage– Garth Brooks said it all in: “Unanswered Prayers.”
- Education– many people don’t understand the power of knowledge. Having a good education does not automatically open the doors but, not having a good education automatically closes many doors.
- Compounding– moving in and out of the market frequently and not allowing compounding to work in your favor hurts future return potential. (Stock market wisdom speaks about time in the market, not timing the market.) See: INVESTMENTS AND COMPOUND INTEREST.
- Poor financial decisions– Things that depreciate in value have a larger opportunity cost. (See:SAVING FOR RETIREMENT- OPPORTUNITY COST & TIME VALUE OF MONEY) Money spent now is not available for investment and future growth. (Instead of owning an asset that becomes more valuable over time, dollars are spent on an asset that becomes less valuable over time.)
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Timing and Work
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Timing and work decisions include:
- Not getting a proper education.
- Entering the workforce later in life. This means that the late-entry worker must work longer, save more, work harder, or be promoted to a position with a higher salary potential.
- Working longer than necessary– the OMY (One more year) syndrome in which workers continue to work much longer than necessary due to lack of purpose in retirement, fear of retirement, or poor planning.
- Not participating in work-sponsored retirement plans– not participating, or starting too late in a company-sponsored retirement plan to be effective.
- Not fully funding a company-sponsored retirement plan.
- Changing jobs often– changing jobs often can create problems with vested retirement plans, the potential for promotions, job security, or finding new friends at the workplace.
- Taking too much time off– this can be a big problem because it signals to the employer that a person is not committed to their job.
- Not taking enough time off– this can cause stress-related and mental issues due to exhaustion (Either physical or mental exhaustion.)
- Finding the right job at the wrong time, or the wrong job at the right time.
- Not giving 110% at work– going to work and not providing a maximum effort.
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Timing and Purpose
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Timing and purpose decisions include:
- Waiting until retirement to start hobbies.
- Not creating a retirement plan early.
- Starting hobbies that do not reflect who you represent as a person.
- Work as a purpose– some people continue to work long into retirement because work gives them a purpose. (Some of these people may need to work as a necessity, but many work because it will provide a purpose in their life.)
- Travel– most retirees front-load travel and travel early as possible in retirement. Everyone, at some point in life, will lose the desire to travel or will become physically unable to travel. Waiting too long to travel may ruin retirement travel plans.
- Getting over-involved– retirement should not be about getting involved with every hobby or cause. Retirement is more about becoming more involved in projects or passions that have greater personal meaning. (It is much harder to make an impact when involved in 100 projects than being involved in fewer projects where the impact can be more profound.)
- Under involvement– under involvement can be just as bad as over-involvement. Part of the retirement equation is figuring out how to fill the twenty-four available hours each day.
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Final Thoughts
- In almost every life decision timing is relevant, though not always critical.
- In some cases, proper timing may involve a split-second decision, or the timing decision may be longer.
- It’s always important to evaluate whether the timing is correct or incorrect when making major decisions. The decision itself may be correct, but the timing for the decision may be incorrect. Even though the decision is correct, if the timing is incorrect then the result may be undesirable.
- Timing decisions are important in areas of money, work, and purpose.
- It’s normally better to delay a decision if unsure of the timing. (In most cases, it’s better to delay a decision instead of making a hasty decision and evaluating the results afterward.)
- Poor timing may have significant costs in regard to money, work, and purpose.
- Each person’s life only occurs once. Trying to get the timing of major decisions correct is a worthwhile goal.
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