Deep Dive: The Most Expensive Suit I Ever Bought

Early in my career in the mortgage industry, I set a financial goal for myself. When I finally hit it, I decided to celebrate.

I bought an Armani suit.

Not just any suit—a beautifully tailored, Italian-made, pinstriped suit that cost more than I had ever spent on clothing. Honestly it was more than my first car (RIP 1979 Honda Accord). At the time, it felt like a milestone. A reward for proving to myself that I had made it.

I brought it home, hung it in my closet, zipped it into a garment bag, and told myself I'd save it for a special occasion.

That occasion never came.

The suit sat there for years.

Eventually, my body changed. Fashion changed. Pleats disappeared. Cuffs disappeared. Jackets got shorter. By the time I finally pulled it out, it didn't fit me—or the moment. The most expensive suit I'd ever owned had become obsolete before I ever wore it.

I've thought about that suit a lot over the years.

Not because I regret buying it.

Because I regret waiting so long to use it.

We do this in business all the time.

We wait for the perfect time to launch the new product.

The perfect time to make the hire.

The perfect time to have that one difficult conversation.

The perfect time to reach out to the prospect we've been thinking about for months.

The perfect time to start the company.

The problem is that markets don't wait.

Technology doesn't wait.

Competitors certainly don't wait.

Ideas and momentum have a shelf life.

Sometimes the thing we're protecting slowly loses its value simply because we never put it into the world.

That's one of the biggest lessons I've learned building Maverix.

Execution almost always beats perfect timing.

The same lesson applies outside of work.

Wear the nice watch.

Use the good china.

Take the trip.

Tell someone you appreciate them.

Don't save your best ideas (or your best words) for a day that may never come.

Because eventually the opportunity changes.

Or you do.

My Armani suit taught me a lesson I didn't expect.

The most expensive things in life aren't the ones we use.

Sometimes, they’re the ones we never do.