by Rick Baker
On Feb 4, 2011
Sales Tweet #145 When climbing to Success: Take your hands out of your pockets & Take one step at a time.
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Get busy and make progress one step at a time. Many years ago, one of my university professors gave me advice along these lines. When a big problem overwhelms you, take it on one little piece at a time. Success does not happen in leaps like the leaps in that Snakes & Ladders game…Success happens in a series of smaller steps.
by Rick Baker
On Jan 27, 2011
I know people who retired with a nest egg, had major investment losses, and are now back to the old grind of work.
Backing in to another career or job…that, of course, is something we would like to avoid.
***
The other day a friend and I shared stories and thoughts about investor habits.
We talked about many things: the charm of income trusts, the appetite for dividends, pension fund challenges, that reluctance to exit lost-cause stocks, a range of private investments, and the enticing advice provided by next-door-neighbours.
We talked about retired folks who lost a huge part of their net worth when the markets crashed in 2008…very sad stories, in some cases life-changing stories.
All of this raised a few thoughts:
- Emotions, not logic, play a major role when people make decisions.
- Let’s think about the irrationality factor, a component of human nature…how does that fit in and what, if anything, can be done about it?
- Let’s think about knowledge over-confidence, another component of human nature…again, how does that fit in and what, if anything, can be done about it?
Considering this in terms of Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things…
Perhaps people will do better at investments if they carve their current investment activity into 2 pieces:
- Investments that pass a Good Habits test
- Investments that do not pass a Good Habits test…and must be classed as investments that are Bad Habits
The first step would be writing out a list of criteria that when combined will become the Good Habits test for investments.
The next step would be sorting through existing investments to determine the investments that will be retained because they pass the Good Habits test.
The next step would be replacing all the other investments with new investments that pass the Good Habits test.
Of course, this requires some self-discipline and some work.
And, the work should be done when:
- emotions are under control,
- knowledge over-confidence is in check, and
- we are 100% comfortable receiving 3rd party advice.
by Rick Baker
On Jan 20, 2011
That question was asked this week.
Imagine you could provide the best 3 pieces of advice to young people.
Imagine your 3 pieces of advice would help these young people have better, more-successful lives…regardless of how they choose to define ‘better’ or ‘success’.
What an important thing.
What a responsibility!
What 3 pieces of advice would you give?
I would be thrilled to know the pieces of advice you would give.
That would help me test my own thoughts.
That would help me provide the best advice.
Here are my thoughts…
The 3 pieces of advice I would give to ‘young people’:
- Dedicate part of each day to understanding yourself: learn confidence and be happy1
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood2 …while embracing the differences in people
- Use your strengths in play and in work3