Are you better than I am at investing? Who are you measuring yourself against?
We all gawk at articles about how someone made eight million dollars in two years by day trading. But how realistic is that for others? The articles goes into detail how this person trades and what they watch for, but much of it come down to personal opinions. Not easy to duplicate. Lots of chart watching. All that plus stress.
Would you take a gamble on such a strategy? There are losses too, as the article describes. The person mentioned also shorts stocks. Would you?
Is Comparison The Thief of Joy?
Constantly looking over my shoulder at others to see what they are doing, and how they are doing, is not a behavior conducive to calmness and peace of mind. And it is calmness and peace of mind I aim for.
Measure What Against Whom
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, in business and investing, there are always struggles and opportunities. When I mention ‘calmness and peace of mind’, I do not advocate tuning out the world. What I do aim for is to engage in commerce and investing without any unneeded stress. Perhaps it is my opinionated perspective, but I suspect day trading has a high degree of stress. If you day trade without stress, more power to you. There is a reason I avoid it.
If I consider you a ‘better investor’ than me, then I am using some sort of measurement to come to that conclusion. What measure is appropriate? We all have heard the story that Warren Buffett bought his first stock at age 11. I was older than him when I started. Does that mean he is ‘better’ than I?
I Do It My Way
When I realized that I had enough to cover my needs, that if things don’t get too out of control, then I will have enough for my life in my lifetime, then I came to the conclusion I do not need to fret. Now we all know ‘fret’ is a subjective measure, and we could all fret for some sort of perverse fun. What I do mean is that although I continue to invest and plan for and expect gains, I do not let whatever happens to be be referendum on who and what I am.
There are so many people in the world, and even in the U.S., who are unsure if they will have enough to eat on a daily basis. If basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter are not met, then there can be no peace of mind. Or, to put it another way, with insufficient food, clothing and shelter, it is difficult to access peace of mind. So I try to do my part with donations to worthy causes. But in my heart I know I am very fortunate.
Do you see yourself as fortunate? Let me know here.
Displayed is an illustration from “Indian sign talk. Being a book of proofs of the matter printed on equivalent cards, designed for teaching sign talkign [!] Indians as much English as can be explained through the medium of their almost universal gesture language” by Lewis Hadley, 1893. Courtesy Library of Congress.
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