Early success: What are practical examples that show it's better to do your best early, rather than try to catch up in the middle or end?

Well, this isn’t really a real life example, But the story of the Tortoise and the Hare seems to teach this lesson pretty well. But if your entertaining college students, You might want to go with the story of the Asian guy and frat guy who both had to study for the same statistics exam. and well you can see the parallels.

A good example is applying early for jobs. A young friend in law school began working on internship applications in January, only to find out that the deadline for applying for clerking positions was in October. The time he was starting to look, they had already culled the applicants and were beginning the interviewing process. He had the credentials to be a serious candidate, and as a result, he really had to scramble around for a summer position. On a similar note, if anyone is interested in doing Teach America for a year, they have a very early application process.

And on that topic, he might ask them how many expect to work this summer, and how many have a job lined up. In a recessionary market, they will be competing with adults for positions that were staffed by students, and will need to get creative.

investing money…it always pays to start earlier in the long run

Thanks to everyone! Very helpful :-)