Resolutions and the New Year
On this start of a new year I want to challenge you dear reader with the following question. Are you using your creative power to envision the life you want or the life you want to avoid? Are you repeating or saying things out loud that are unhelpful to your financial future? Sports mental fitness coach Trevor Moawad used to tell his athletes that when you had a negative thought, it had a 4x - 7x effect on you. If you verbalized that negativity, it had a multiplication effect of 10x. So 40x to 70x more effect on your situation.
Now I don’t know how you scientifically prove that assertion, but if you’ve been a part of any organization, board, work team, athletic team or family, you have a general sense that it has some truth regardless of the numeric accuracy. What we verbalize has meaning, it has a kind of power in our lives. Words and thoughts can build, or they can tear down. I’m sure certain personalities can also struggle with this more than others. I assure you that I am a very judgmental person. Please don’t ever ask me what I think when I am frustrated. I might just tell you!
A story that comes to mind about this concept is that of Bill Buckner. In 1986 he was the first baseman for the Boston Red Sox and they were in game six of the world series. In an unfortunate play, a ground ball rolled through Buckner’s legs, allowing the winning run to score. The back story is that allegedly 12 days prior to that event, Buckner said the following:?
“The dreams are that you’re gonna have a great series and win. The nightmares are that you’re gonna let the winning run score on a ground ball through your legs. Those things happen, you know. I think a lot of it is just fate.”
As I thought about the coming year, this event came back to mind for some reason. This time of year, everyone has a sense of internal optimism that wells up. It comes easy and isn’t earned, however, as certain resolutions later reveal. We can start the year and begin with a sense of optimism and positivity and maybe even a sense of the possible. At some point it turns though, and we move back to “normal”.
Now, that I am aware of, no one reading this missive, will be playing in the World Series in 2025. If you are, please, I beg of you, don’t talk about your nightmares! But those of you that are normal, you have events that you dread as well. You have certain nightmares that stick with you or that plague you. They can be event driven, whether geopolitical, social or market driven. Betting on the end of the World may have always been popular, but for some reason these past four years it has seemed more people talk about it than I can remember in past years. I’ve often wondered…what is gained from being right about the end of the world? Being right about that prediction has to have the world’s most pitiful prize associated with it! News outlets, supposed intellectuals, “theologians,” journalists, and economists can all make handsome livings from advertising and selling fear, doubt and deception. This used to make me angry when I would see it. Now it just hurts. It hurts because I see good people needlessly injured, distracted or otherwise made ineffective for their God given mission by such hucksters and frauds. You used to have to go to the carnival to have your “palm read” and you could leave that childishness behind. Sadly, now, social media brings the carnival to your palm.
So, in the year ahead, please quit worrying about the “big down turn” the big wall, cliff, what have you. I vehemently don’t believe in “fate”. Because what I do believe in is preparation, perseverance and grit. Now that said, very few people that I know of can face their fears alone. Most people require accountability and a sounding board to remain focused. So, in the year to come I’ve listed below my ideas for resolutions that I think would make all of us better off as it relates to our financial plan and investments.
Rather than worrying endlessly about whether you will have enough three decades from now, start penciling in the institutions you want to build/rebuild, the lessons you want to teach those you care about and the experiences you want to invest in. I will wager that you’ll wake up a decade from now and be shocked at what has actually become a reality from that list.
If you are reading this, my wish for your new year is that your time is invested in your purpose in life. This combined with financial wealth is an incredible opportunity and blessing. May you live your new year focused on your vision for life. And may you remember that I’m wishing you nothing but Truth, Beauty and Goodness on the road ahead.
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