TOUCHING ALL THE BASES IN LIFE
Hi, Doug Andrew here.
Recently, in The Mission (with medium.com), an article that I wrote was published, titled, “Touching All the Bases in Life.” It happens to be one of the key stories that I tell in my most recent book, “Entitlement Abolition.”
I was honored that they published this concept, and I wanted to talk about the premise or the story behind it.
LESSONS FROM THE BALLPARK
In 1908, the Chicago Cubs were playing the New York Giants. Yeah, New York had a baseball team called the Giants at the time. It was the bottom of the ninth inning; the score was tied one-all. This was September 23 of 1908.
Well, there was a rookie playing for the New York Giants. He was 19-year-old Fred Merkle. Moose McCormick was third base and Fred Merkle was on first base. It was the bottom of the ninth, with two outs.
We have Al Bridwell that comes up and hits a line drive, and everybody goes nuts because Moose McCormick goes in and scores the winning run and touches home plate. The rookie Fred Merkle, he got all caught up in the excitement. Everybody is running out on the field, and he goes back to his teammates to celebrate—and Johnny Evers, the second baseman, notices Merkle never touched second base.
He got the umpire’s attention, and they nullified the play, and it was tied. Later in that season, the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants would play again because they were tied to go to the World Series.
This time, the Cubs beat New York, and they went on to win the World Series. In fact, it was the last time they won for over 108 years until they finally won it again in 2016.
DON’T MISS A BASE
The point of this story is you must touch all of the bases in life. So, in my book, I talk about first base might be the intellectual assets, where we spend our lifetime gathering wisdom and knowledge. We get an education, reputation, and so forth—but if we don’t leave that behind to our children and grandchildren, what good did that do?
Second base is our financial assets. Sometimes we accumulate a lot of financial assets and what have you, but many times if we just dump it in our kids’ lap, it ruins them.
Third base might be what we contribute back to society. It could be charitable contributions or even the taxes we pay. We actually have control over a lot of those assets, those social dollars, and I explain how you can redirect a lot of those otherwise payable taxes to causes you support, in my book.
Home plate is the most important. We all want to come back home, don’t we? Those are the foundational assets: your family, your values, your virtues, your heritage, your unique abilities.
You’ve got to touch them all, folks. But when you come back home, really, the work we do within our own home is probably the most important work. It’s … what was all that for?
So, I invite you to touch all of the bases in life and have an incredible, abundant life.
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ABUNDANT LIVING HIGHLIGHTS
Touch Every Base – In baseball, if a batter doesn’t step on the bag or plate when rounding the bases for home, it can inadvertently lead to a loss. The same holds true in life. You need to focus on all critical areas for truly abundant living.
The “Bases” of Life – For balanced, Authentic Wealth, you need to touch all the bases of life on a consistent basis. These include:
- Intellectual Assets – This includes our education, schooling, professional skills development, knowledge, etc.
- Financial Assets – This includes our money, assets, net worth, financial vehicles and strategies, etc.
- Contributions – Giving back is not only a good thing to do—it’s transformative for individuals and families. With strategic financial planning, you can redirect money in otherwise payable taxes to maximize your giving power.
- Foundational Assets – Just like heading to the home plate, the assets that relate to “home” are where the real winning takes place. These include your family, values, mission, heritage, relationships, and unique abilities.
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