Imagine if you will that you are NASCAR driver. (Now don't
overextend this metaphor-just go with the flow!) You start the
race and put the pedal to the metal. The crowd is flying by in a
whirl of colors. You're exhilarated by the speed. You're starting to
pass some of the other drivers. You are feeling pretty confident
about this race. "Eat my dust!" you yell to no one in particular. Just
when you're at the top of your game, you suddenly realize your
fuel is getting low. You pull over to the side, turn off the car, get
out, refuel it yourself, get back in and restart the car, and off you
go once again, having lost valuable time.

A few laps later and things are looking up. You're starting to cut
down some of the lead that the other cars have had on you. Next
thing you know you blow a tire, which you had forgotten to check
at your refueling pit stop. So once again you exit the race, turn off
the car, get out, change the tire, get back in and reenter the race.
Now you're only 30 laps behind, but you think, "This baby's got
power-no problem!" You hit the gas pedal and try to make up for
lost time. After only a few laps, though, you're low in fuel-again!
Once more you exit the race and refuel your car yourself. As you
watch your competitors flying by, you are beginning to realize that
this is a race you cannot win.

You compare yourself to the winner of the race and wonder what
the difference is. Is it your car? No, it's the same model as his. Is it
his accessories? Wrong again. You've got everything he does. Is it
your skills? Who knows? You seem to drive just as well as he does.
Then what seems to be lacking? He must have something you
don't. You rack your brain and finally conclude that the only thing
he has that you don't is a "small" thing called a TEAM. His team
takes care of his refueling and tire changing and all those
necessary details, allowing him to focus on the task at hand -
winning. You, on the other hand, have been trying to do it all
yourself.

A team makes all the difference between winning and losing. The
losers of this world are those people who take it upon themselves
to do everything single-handedly. These are the do-it-yourself-at-
all-costs folks. They believe that nobody can do things as well as
they can. Winners, however, understand the importance of
synergy (1+1 = more than 2). Winners assemble a team.

How do you win the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, World Series, NBA
Championship, World Cup, or any other athletic event for that
matter? With a team consisting of coaches, players, staff, and a
whole lot of other supporting people. Nobody wins on his own. A
great coach is nothing without great players. A great player gets
nowhere without a great coach (and probably a great agent, too!).
Great coaches and players can do nothing without facilities and the
people to take care of them; without doctors and nutritionists,
physical therapists and other sports medicine professionals;
without team owners and financial backing from advertisers. The
list could go on endlessly.

You see, everything you do is inherently connected to a team:
eating your food, reading your newspaper, buying a home, driving
to work. Think about all the teams involved in each of these
situations. In fact, the world is so dependent on connections that
we cannot function without teams. And yet when it comes to
money that is exactly what many of us try to do. We think we
know everything we need to know about handling our finances,
and no way are we going to pay someone to help us, even if it
nets us more in the long run.

Like the winners of the world, the wealthy of the world assemble
teams to help them build their financial futures and keep them. The
wealthy see their team as an investment, an investment to protect
their investments, so to speak. Their team consists of (but is not
limited to): a good honest attorney, a tax consultant, an
accountant, and many others whose job it is to keep them [the
wealthy] wealthy.

So, how would you go about building a team whose job it is to
lead you on to financial victory? The first place to start is a mentor,
who is probably the most important part of your team. A mentor is
someone or something that guides you along your path to wealth
(and presumably he or she has already walked that road). Mentors
don't have to be actual people (although this is extremely useful
for feedback and one-on-one support). Mentors can also be books
and other information. Experiences can also serve as mentors. You
may have many mentors at different points in your life; often they
show up just when you seem to need them. Mentors can also be
key to introducing you to other potential team members, such as
attorneys, planners, consultants, investors, accountants, etc.

Using a team to achieve your goals is really much simpler than
doing it yourself. Nobody can know everything about everything,
which is why there are different jobs for different people. There is
no way you could learn in your lifetime everything you need to
know to achieve financial success if you try to learn it all by
yourself, one piece of information at a time. Using the collective
resources of your team will greatly simplify your life and infinitely
expand your returns. Truly, a team is the only way to win. GO,
TEAM, GO!

Chemain Evans is a quality control specialist for Simple Joe, Inc. Income & Expenses PC software is a Simple Joe product that is a quick and simple way to keep track of your expenses and stay within your budget. Learn more at http://www.simplejoe.com