Showing posts with label bad luck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad luck. Show all posts

Saturday 22 January 2011

Luck versus Investing. Luck plays a part in every investor's life.

Value investing certainly requires a bit of luck, but it is mostly based on perseverance and discipline.  Since you will be taking some risk as you pick beaten-down companies, you do need the luck that most of these risks will pay off.  You also need the discipline to stick with your choice, knowing it will eventually pay off even if things don't look good immediately.  And, yes, some of those risks won't pay off.

Luck plays a part in every investor's life, but few credit their success to being lucky.  So don't count on luck to get you where you want to go.

Discipline is the key to the door of success for value investors.  You have to know how to set your investing goals and stick to them.  You must have the ability to develop your own road map to success without having to worry about taking directions from others.   You also need to become an accumulator of wealth and have the discipline to not spend as much as you make, so you have money to invest when you find a good bargain.




Remember, disciplined people are not easily side-tracked.  They:

  • set their sights on a series of lofty goals,
  • figure out strategies for meeting those goals, and 
  • have the discipline to not lose sight of those goals, even if they stumble and fall along the way.  
They get up, fix the problems, and continue to stay focused on their ultimate goals.

Wednesday 14 April 2010

Handling Mistakes and Bad Luck

Everyone makes mistakes, and bad luck strikes everywhere.

There is not much you can do about bad luck except to diversify and shy away from huge risks.

When you do make mistakes, take the time to ponder them and find ways to avoid making the same ones again.