The Investor Mindset
Investing in Life (part 2)
This article follows up on last week's post, Investing in Life, which I suggest you read first.
Deciding to Invest in Life is not an idea but a mission. It requires planning, maintenance, arbitrage, and commitment. The only way to achieve success is to have the right mindset.
Attention
Humans have superpowers. We often forget about it as our attention is regularly pulled by notifications of all types. However, we can make decisions, and even better, stick to them.
Attention is the conscious decision we make to apply our efforts to a certain task. It is a powerful force. Use it.
Effort
An effort is often seen as a cost, the energy you expend. In finite quantity, this effort can end up depleted. I would rather consider effort as the energy you can maintain over time. Time is such a critical factor of success when investing.
Direct your attention to areas where you can maintain this effort over a long period.
Planning
This is where planning comes in. You know where you would want to focus your attention, concentrate your efforts, and can devise strategic and tactical plans to make sure you do not run out of gas.
Building a Portfolio
Conscious planning is important, is that you are not putting all your eggs in the same basket. You are building a portfolio of assets that you want to invest in. I think experts are great, but I am often shocked at how much of a stereotype people try to turn into. Where have all the great humanist principles gone?
Build a portfolio that resembles you, is in tune with your interests, and respects your values. It is the best way to build something truly unique.
One of my favorite quotes, which I wish was more popular is:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Robert Heinlein.
Specialization is for insects. I just love it. I find it powerful and thought-provoking at the same time
I truly believe that being capable of functioning in a wide variety of scenarios, the kind of scenarios only life can throw at you is criminally underrated.
Build skills, knowledge, experiences, and relationships as much as you can, you never know what will happen next.
Evaluation, Adaptation & Celebration
Setting out on grand new projects like these requires that you pause, once in a while, and assess whether you are meeting the goals that were important to you.
Struggling to hit uninteresting goals is like forcing yourself to read through boring books. Useless. Your goals have to truly matter, if not they are just a checklist item. Time is sometimes necessary, to come to this realization. If you cannot direct your attention, and sustain efforts in the pursuit of certain goals, it might be time to let it go and cut your losses. That time and energy is probably better spent elsewhere.
Some goals also fail to pan out, no matter how diligent you are in pursuing them. Again, reevaluate where you stand and deploy your ardor accordingly. Re-balancing a portfolio is part of the management process.
There are also times when you smash your goals! This is the perfect time to take a while to reflect on what you have accomplished and celebrate the fact that you completed something that truly mattered to you. Congratulations, on a job well done. Now...
Openness, Serendipity, and Luck
The last element of the investor mindset is probably one of my favorites. It is the most poetic. Have an open mind.
No one knows what life has in store for us. It truly can bring the most surprises - good and bad - and opportunities. By making sure you aren't too absorbed in your daily chores and have time for others, for serendipity, curiosity, and luck, you will give yourself a much wider foundation of success.
I believe in luck. But luck is something you set yourself up for, with the right attitude and effort.
I'm happy to only focus on the mindful aspect of investing today. This whole theme was originally to be a single post, but I've now decided that dealing with these parts separately made more sense. Next week, ep. 3 "Key Success Factors". I also have a "personal sidenote" draft that will either be part of that or come as a 4th and final post in my "Investing in Life" series.
Catch you later.