“Money loves speed,” she used to say.
She was my coach and I was contemplating which name to use for my website.
When I asked her a question, I could feel her voice go flat.
She would say:
“Just get on with it. Remember. Time is money.”
The question I would ask was. What should I chose? This name? Or that name?
Your Value Invstor? My Value Investor? The Value Investor? Richvestor? Divestor? Pinkvestor? Whatevervestor?
I spent weeks – okay, I admit it months – contemplating the name.
Millions of Decisions in Life
When you embark on a big project like launching a blog, starting a business or investing, there will be millions of decisions.
I was mulling over the very first decision I had to make. If you can’t make the first decision, how can you embark on a larger project?
My coach had given up on me before I even began my blog.
Luckily I did not give up. I picked a name.
And not only that, I got the message that time is money. I saw how other students of hers, ran across the start line of the race whereas I was still stuck trying to pick the color of my shoe lace.
I picked up the pace and did not look back.
Get Going
Are you also postponing something you want to do? Are you postponing investing? Are you even postponing minor decisions about investing? Like picking a course to help you get started?
When I speak with people, I hear all sorts of excuses, like:
- I have to read a lot of books first.
- I have to sell my house first
- I am very tired and have to wait until I am not tired
- I have to move first
- I have to speak with my husband first (for some reason I never hear men say they have to speak to their wives first)
- I am busy at work
- I have a baby
- I have a teenager
- I have a dog
I have heard it all.
What’s the problem with waiting and postponing the start date?
1. Time is Money
Well, first of all, like my coach said. Time is money.
This is really true with investing.
Compounding means that you make money on the money you already made, and that it begins to roll like a snowball over time.
The money you don’t make today is a lot more money in the future due to compounding.
It’s almost like an hour glass with diamonds in it.
2. You are Missing out on Experience
You are losing valuable time learning and compounding on your experience.
The more time you spend in the market, the more you learn.
You can learn some things by studying them. But a lot you learn by experience and practice.
You have to learn to navigate on a platform, maybe several different ones.
You have to learn to master disciplin of the mind when waiting for a stock to drop to your margin of safety price.
These are things you have to practice.
3. You are Not Building a Network When Waiting
They say that you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. Do you surround yourself with other investors?
Hopefully you take courses and attend groups, for example on social media. You can be part of them without investing, but my guess is that you only participate wholeheartedly in the discussions when you have some skin in the game yourself.
If you want to excel as an investor, you have to get into the game and surround yourself with other good investors.
The Runners
Then there are the ones who throw themselves into the game of investing. They let nothing stop them because they know they have to invest and take action if they want to massively improve the quality of their lives.
It’s the mother who is breastfeeding while learning to calculate owner earnings
It’s the wife who buys an investing course without asking her husband and surprises him by inviting him to join her.
It’s the book keeper who joins an investing course even though it’s high season for annual reports.
It’s the father of four who practices analyzing companies in the middle of lockdown.
These are the people who will do well eventually because they are determined to excel. They will do whatever it takes.
Are you one of them? A good place to begin is with my e-book Free Yourself which you get here.
