There are two types of people that drive me absolutely crazy when it comes to money—the person who always spends the least amount possible, and the person who always buys the best. I’m somewhere in between—for what should be obvious reasons to anyone who stops to think about value and cost to benefit ratios.
I’m not just a diver or dive instructor—by definition, I’m an entrepreneur. That is, I’m involved in all manner of business activities that help me create the lifestyle that I want for myself and my family. One of my businesses revolves around marketing and branding, which includes creating ecommerce platforms, branding books for businesses, graphics, applications for iphones and androids, commercial videos, animations, and a lot more. Well, some years ago I had a business partner who served as our director of technology; he’s a ridiculously intelligent guy, an incredibly competent coder, and was always up on the newest trends that could help us help clients penetrate their markets better, and ultimately, generate more revenue.
We’re not early adopters per se, but it’s important to keep up with those trends to better understand what can be used for what reason, when, and how it will impact our business. So, whenever we needed something to support our business operations (servers, network stuff, et cetra) he’d research it meticulously—then he’d buy the most expensive version of whatever it was we needed. For instance, instead of getting a simple, straight forward HD flat screen for customers to watch the digital products we created for them on during client productivity meetings, he bought the largest top-of-the-line 3D plasma television in the category. It’s an incredibly pretty television, that truly, truly is remarkable in its imagery. But, probably a bit of an overkill. Even when we film in 4K, nobody really is using it—yet.
Contrast that to another former business partner who is also very intelligent, competent, and researches everything. In his quest to always save money and be frugal, he often held the money with an iron fist, or would spend it on the cheapest thing (or wrong thing) he could find. For instance, we had a major construction project to rebuild a section of our building, and instead of buying the equipment and doing the work ourselves—he paid someone else because it was cheaper. The end product was no different than what we could have produced, except the funds were then gone and we didn’t have the kit we’d later need for other projects. To look at it a different way, if you wanted a set of Levi jeans, he would buy Wranglers. They’re both jeans, after all. But the problem is, they’re not the same product. Sometimes, you have to ensure you get the right pair of jeans—so to speak.
Both of these men have amazing skills sets and personal qualities that they brought to the business that contributed to our over all success, but they approached business from two perspectives that can ultimately cause harm if left unchecked. Don’t misunderstand me on this: I respect both of these men for who they are and what they can do, but I am not convinced their approaches to spending money work properly. On the one hand, the guy who’s always buying the best often spent way more money than should be spent, whereas, the person who’s perpetually looking for a deal often cost us more in the long run because he wouldn’t properly invest in the first place. This is the mindset of abundance and scarcity at work, albeit, perhaps on slightly more extreme sides of the pendulum. This applies to diving, just as much as it does to any other industry.
Abundance vs Scarcity
I first learned about these concepts in Stephen R. Covey‘s seminal work The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Later, I read about it again in Peter H. Diamandis‘ book on Abundance, which prompted this little bit of writing today. In the simplest terms, those who approach life from the abundance mindset always feel there’s plenty of pie to go around; those who approach life from the scarcity mindset try to hold onto as much of the pie as they can for themselves.
In the first example I gave you, my partner always believed you got what you paid for. If you skimped, you’d pay for it later down the line. However, that isn’t a universal truth and often he’d end up getting more than we needed. In that example, we never even used the 3D capability—so what was the point of paying extra for it? Likewise, the second example my partner was so tight with money that he almost couldn’t bare spending it at all—and so we really did often get exactly what he paid for. Crap.
Having read a couple books on this now, I actually don’t agree entirely with the concepts of abundance or scarcity. At first, I wanted to lean towards abundance because it is presented by self-help coaches as the better of the two. However, anything that’s idealistic is fraught with inherent risks and limitations. Allow me to elaborate.
Abundance thinkers are supposed to be people who always look for opportunities, invest in growth, and place high value on their time. Sounds good to me so far. This is relevant to becoming a professional diver in that you are investing in your education and experience so you can find employment. Scarcity thinkers are supposed to be the kind of people who worry about the cost if they take action and pinch pennies—so they seldom do anything anyway or the decisions they make end up costing them more in the long run because they didn’t act or spent the money on the cheaper item or service. Also makes sense. In diving, this is the typical person who wants to do a work-exchange to become a Divemaster. They don’t want to go through the process of saving up for their education, which requires discipline and often having to forgo elements of their lifestyle they think they can’t live without. But life just isn’t that black and white—ever. Well, almost never anyway.
The truth is, everything is scarce; there’s not an over abundance of everything, so pretending otherwise is retarded. Yes, I get that abundance thinkers are supposed to be people who count the costs of something and ask what it will cost if they don’t spend the money or take action (suggesting that scarcity thinkers don’t consider those realities). I get that abundance thinkers are supposed to be the kind of people who don’t hide their gifts, but share them and invest in things like courses to learn more. I’ve heard it all before. But is that really how it goes? In the extreme, abundance thinkers believe we can do anything and that there really is plenty to go around.
In real life, as opposed to the often hyperbolic world of self-help, there are limits. There’s only so much gold, only so much oil, and only so much talent available at any given time. It’s no doubt that we’re living in extraordinary times. In the West, even those at the poverty line, still have clean water, electricity, shelter, et cetra. This is not the case all over the world. So, right now Moore’s Law doesn’t apply to natural resources like minerals or water or even food—yet. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up with a replicator some day ala Star Trek that will make things easily available. Tea, Earl Grey.
Listen, I’ve heard the argument that the earth is a planet of water, but the technology isn’t yet cheap enough to pretend it’s unlimited. For me, you have to find a middle ground between the two with, perhaps, a leaning towards the abundance thinking mentality. Some things must be conserved. There are times when you don’t want to spend your cash, as a businessman. Yet, being cheap is not the answer.
What I’ve found is learning to value abundance thinking while living in reality. I want to be frugal; I want to make sure my dollar or pound or euro goes as far as possible, but not at the expense of quality and dependability. This is especially important when it comes to earning a credential like Divemaster or Instructor, or in the kit you buy to dive with. Every diver who wants to become a professional needs to seriously take a look at what their goals are, and the ways they can achieve them. No matter what you think, you will have to spend money on your training. There is no way around it—despite what many schools try to advertise. You will be spending your hard earned funds and your time, even when you’re told otherwise. Not to mention, you have to have good equipment. No professional scuba diver should be borrowing or renting gear, except in rare occasions.
I don’t want my frugality to keep me from spending a few extra dollars if that spend will produce greater results. At the same time, I don’t want to be fast and loose with my cash either; I don’t always need the newest piece of kit, but I do need what is best for the job. Likewise, I don’t want to skimp on my education and training. My scuba gear keeps me alive; it would be utterly inappropriate to buy used gear from an unknown source, and then go out and dive it. You have to have it fully inspected and serviced, at a minimum. The problem is, new divers looking to save money often buy used scuba equipment without considering the high costs of being cheap. Namely, the risk to their lives they are taking. At the same time, you don’t need to buy the most expensive set of gear on the market either; one should consider getting what is best for their budget and needs. I also see this a lot with students who come to us for training to become professionals. You shouldn’t skimp on either of these, as the risks are the same.
To enter into a Divemaster program, you have to have Open Water, Advanced, and Rescue Diver completed. You also have to have 40 dives minimum, and at least 60 to graduate. We expect more, but these are the basics. What I have noticed is, quite often, I have Rescue Divers who can’t remember any of the skills they “learned” during a Rescue Course. Now, in fairness, skills are perishable; use them, or lose them. But I worry that divers are not getting what they paid for, and as a consequence, the skills they need to handle emergencies for example, aren’t properly assimilated.
In our Rescue course we hammer these skills out; our moto is repetition, repetition, repetition to help ensure students get their money’s worth and learn what they are suppose to learn, not just check off a box. For this reason, anyone coming to us for Divemaster training has to redo all of the skills required from Open Water through Rescue. This is without exception, then, they begin learning how to be a Divemaster.
Even worse though, is when someone does a cheap Divemaster course and shows up for an Instructor Training program with me. You don’t need to pay for the most expensive Divemaster program on the market, but you should do your homework and make sure you’re going to get what you need to succeed. This ensures you’re not only a good Divemaster, but also prepared for Instructor training should you wish to complete it.
One of the first things I do is run Divemasters through all of their skills to evaluate where they are. More often than not, they don’t actually know how to perform all of the skills properly. That means that they probably didn’t get the education they paid for at the Divemaster level. That is often the difference between checking boxes and actually learning. There is no benefit to cramming for a test and passing it, only to not actually know the material in question. It’s a very poor use of your money and time. Not to mention, when you show up to an Instructor Course, guys like me teaching have to spend unnecessary time helping you get up to the level you should have been when you first showed up. My advice then is simple: spend your money right. That is, do your research and find the right program. Spend what you should spend, what you need to spend, to get what you need. Not a penny more, and not a penny less. That way, you get the best possible return on that investment of time and finances.
You’ll be glad you did. Trust me on that.
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