In most things, I am not a very private person. I was not always this way. I have found that when people trust me, they open up to me and it follows that because I am a trusting person, I readily open up to people. Or maybe I should say that I share information, ideas, and opinions with people. I think one of my motivations is that I appreciate it when others do this to me, so I want to be like that with others. One example of this that comes to mind is my willingness to share investment ideas. When I hear good news, I just like to share it so we can all benefit. The opposite of that is when I hear of a good investment and do not share it, then only I benefit, and I have deprived any one of my friends the joy of success. It goes both ways, however, in that sometimes the investment can go sour, and indeed this had happened. This is when I tend to 'turtle' and promise myself that I will just keep my mouth shut next time. Not only is there great pain in helping your friends lose their money, but this sort of thing tends to ruin one's reputation as a wise investor. It seems that ten successes and one failure still makes one a poor investor. The expectation of total success in every venture is unrealistic. Tossing the ball toward the basket in a game, comes to mind. At what percentage of shots that make points, is a player deemed successful? One thing is certain. 100% of shots not taken, fail. So I continue to take shots. My dilemma, increasingly, is, do I tell my friends to take the shots with me.
2 comments:
Certainly this type of dilemma faces all of us, not only in investments but many other things as well. We are fortunate to live in a country of "free choice" and certainly each of us have a personal responsibility to consider our options and make our own choices, knowing that the responsibility is ours alone at the end of the day. Somewhat like our choice to put our faith in our God, or not...or the lifestyles we choose to live. At the least, that is my opinion for what it is worth!
You are right in that the ultimate choice is the resposibility of the chooser, however, that choice is too often made because of the influence and trust of others. When things go sideways, there is then a 'fall guy'. ("He made me do it" "He said it would be OK" "I trusted him" "If it were not for him, I would not have done this")
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