Stay Focused on Your Goal

By admin
29 Mar

When managing money there are times you feel extremely in tune with the market and there are times you wonder if you know anything about the market. Sounds like so many other things in life – relationships, sports, an algebra exam or your kids. What changes from day to day or week to week? Simply put, our focus. Mentally we become a micro or macro manager based on our emotional focus.

I played competitive baseball until I was 21 years old. On the days I went 4 for 4 hitting, it was as if I knew what pitch would be thrown and the baseball looked like a grapefruit. Why? In sports they call it being in the zone. I was in tune with what I wanted to accomplish and what I expected from the event. I was in tune mentally and physically with the game. There were other days where my coach would tell me, “you couldn’t hit a bull in the butt with a scoop shovel! Get your head in the game!” The first part of the statement was to get my attention, the second was to explain what I was doing wrong. My head was not in the game it was focused on other things or over analyzing the process of hitting. Otherwise known as thinking too much versus relaxing and putting myself back in the zone. Investing is no different!

Getting in the zone relative to investing your money is no different than playing a sport or your relationship with your spouse. It takes time and effort to learn, and you have to make a conscious decision of what outcome you expect. I have never talked to an investor who put money into the market expecting to lose. I have spoken with plenty who, from experience, have come to expect the result of losing money. Mental attitude towards anything is more than half the battle. Having a passion for something will impact the outcome tremendously.

Think about these comments, “I am just not good at math!”, “I am just not good at relationships!”, “I don’t understand why my children don’t listen to me?”, “If you want to see a stock drop in price, just let me buy it!” etc, etc, etc.  I have learned to call these statements, losers limp. They are excuses as to why we don’t do well at certain things. The mind is the most power tool ever created. “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” Napoleon Hill. “if you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford.

Learning to invest your money isn’t easy and I believe the hardest part is the four inches between your ears. We can study and learn the facts and figures about investing, but learning how to deal with the mental aspects is a completely different process. The most successful investors aren’t the ones who get rich from a particular investment, it is those who learn to deal with the mental aspects of managing money. Over the long term they are winners because they learn to manage their money based on their mindset, which is turn accomplishes their financial goals. The reason we invest money is to accomplish a goal, not see who can accumulate the most money. And that is an entirely different topic for another time.

Why am I talking about this? The market has been in a 12 month period that tests investor resolve. No matter what strategy you deploy, when the market trades sideways, you will be tested mentally. As I stated earlier, some days you go to the ballpark and go 4 for 4 and there are days you are 0 for 4. The difference is the mindset you have when you walk on the field. Monday the S&P 500 index broke above resistance and it spent the next three days moving back below that point. This is where the mind games start. Is he going to throw a fast ball of change up? Only the pitcher and catcher know for sure. If you guess right you are hero, if you guess wrong you are walking back to the dugout sputtering. If you put money to work based on a specific strategy, let it play out. Don’t second guess yourself, have confidence in yourself. If it doesn’t work out review the process. If you did everything right, move on. Dwelling on it will only make you a raging neurotic. Next! There are plenty of opportunities. In professional baseball if you hit .300 you are paid millions. That means 2 out of 3 three times you were not successful. You will have losers no matter how good your strategy or regardless of what you do! Put them behind you and move forward. Put yourself back in the zone of winning and keeping moving forward.

Set your goals, define your strategy and remain disciplined. Investing is a process, take it one day at a time, one investment at at time, and remain focused on your goals, not the market.

Categories : Money Management

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A Note From Jim

Money management is  about passion. As with anything in life, we are successful at the things we  have the most passion. Why? We are willing to invest time, energy, and effort  to achieve the end result. If you have heard me speak publically, or talked  with me individually, you know I am passionate about money management. One of my  primary goals in life has been to make money by removing the obstacles that  keep investors from achieving financial goals. The lack of passion is an  obstacle. Without passion we may know money is important and know we should  learn more about managing it, but we lack the desire to do so. Thus,  we procrastinate, or in our spare time we attempt to learn more  about the process. In the end, we either delegate the responsibility to  someone else or we do nothing at all. I cannot give you the passion to manage  your money, but I can give you the alternatives needed to accomplish the goal  of managing your money.

When asked the  question, "Do you manage money?" the simple answer is “Yes”. Money  Strategies was founded over 25 years ago on the premise of developing  strategies for money management that achieves a predefined goal. Sounds great,  doesn't it? The reality is Money Strategies is a money management firm focused  on making money for its clients. We have built disciplined strategies focused  on that primary objective. Those strategies are outlined on our websites and  you are welcome to review them at your leisure. Our goal is to manage money,  not markets, and by doing so we focus on risk management, which is as a flowery  way of saying we don't like to lose money.

I spent more than  twenty years of my career attempting to teach individuals, business owners, and  corporations how to plan for the long term. We designed elaborate financial  plans and business plans only to watch them accumulate dust. What I came to  realize over time was making money is the only goal that really matters. If you  make enough money over a period of time you can accomplish all of your  goals. When it comes right down to it, that's  all that really matters.

The key to any successful business  relationship is finding a person or company that is passionate about delivering  a service or product that meets your specific needs or desires. At Money  Strategies we are passionate about managing money to make money by avoiding  unnecessary risk. If you are passionate about making money with your money, but  lack the expertise, time, or passion, we may be the firm you want to talk with.

I understand we are  not right for everyone, but I also know that in a sea of minutia we are a  breath of fresh air. Our goals as a company are simple.  Our strategies for delivering money management  is simple, and we have fun doing what we do every day because we are passionate  about money management. If we are a fit for you, we look forward to speaking  and working with you. If we are not a fit for your needs, we hope you have  learned and benefitted from the experience of our workshops or websites.

Dare to Dream

Jim Farrish  Founder -Money  Strategies, Inc.

"The difference between a successful person and others is  not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of  will."   Vince Lombardi.