Talk to the best and brightest people and ask “what are the keys to their success?” Invariably they say something most of us already know…hard work…diligent study…thinking outside the box…buying low and selling high…
blah…Blah…BLAH!
We walk away assuming they are being coy with their treasured secrets to success. The thing is…they actually are telling the truth. But you say “if that’s all it takes to be successful, I would be very successful. I already know all those keys to success.” And now for our Yoda moment: It’s not what you know, instead it IS what you do that determines your success.
Consider investing. The first rule of investing is “buy low and sell high.” Yet, when scandal hits a company…the stock usually plummets. Why? Because an increasing number of investors are choosing to sell low. And when a company posts record profits…the stock price skyrockets. Why? Because an increasing number of investors are buying high. Now take Warren Buffett, America’s greatest investor. On Black Monday, October 19th, 1987, the stock market posted the deepest crash since the Stock Market crash of 1929. On this day, on paper, Warren Buffett lost over a billion dollars. And while the broad market was selling everything at increasingly lower prices, Warren Buffett bought the holdings that would drive his return on investment for the next decade and beyond. Everyone trading stock that day knew to buy low and sell high, but only a few actually did it. The key to Warren Buffett’s investment success is he lives the maxim, even when the rest of the market is running in the other direction.
The simple lesson here is to make sure the best we know is reflected in the most we do.
Now ask yourself…Do I do unto others as I would have them do to me? Do I live the values I hope to receive from others? Do I give first what I want to receive? Am I the change that I expect in others? Do I listen with the same desire as I want to be heard?
Now imagine what life would be like if we did.
