Nov 15, 2017
How to Select the Right Investment
Doubt. We’ve all experienced it. We’ve all seen others experience it. Let’s agree right away that nobody likes doubt. It’s unstable. It feels like walking on brittle, thin ice with your gut hanging in your throat wondering if your next step will be the one that gives way to falling through the ice into a deep sea of mystery and things unknown. “What if?”- this is the primary question that doubt leaves on our tongues.
Doubt comes from the Latin term dubitare which translated means “to hesitate” or “a sense of fear”. Therefore, doubt makes us feel the way I’ve just described. It is a sense of fear that causes us to hesitate because we must choose between two unknown things: “What if” I do this and it turns out bad/good? “What if” I don’t do this and it turns out bad/good? Hesitation comes from a lack of confidence in our wavering choice between the two results. We essentially do not have enough trust with option A or option B. With option A we could take another step forward and the ice could break. With option B, we could turn around and go back…but honestly the ice could break through over there too. What if.
So how do we handle doubt? Yes, there is a specific recipe for handling doubt. One that if executed will get you in a normal state of mind long enough to handle the situation and become confident! Great news, right? We will use doubt regarding our finances since that is my specialty; more specifically, doubt regarding which investments to choose. Let’s look.
So, there are we are, analyzing two different investments: Investment A and Investment B. As with all investments, either of these could potentially cause us to make a lot of money or lose a lot of money. With investing, there is no neutral “not make too much and not lose too much” middle ground option (Click hereto contact an expert to find out why). Because there is potential to gain or lose with both investments, we are being indecisive. We are a little fearful and we are hesitant. By definition we are experiencing doubt. First, we need to figure out how both investments work. We need to ask and find answers to questions like: “Does this investment produce the cash flow (income/yield) that I need? How much control will I have over it? Do I understand it? Why not? What are the risks? What are the fees?” Then we must go find real factual data to learn the answers to all our decision-making questions. To make a real educated choice, we must let go of all preconceived notions, rumors, prejudice, and anything that cannot be factually proven.
Once we’ve done this we must now examine the individual statistics, track record, rates of returns, business/investment plan, and general operations for each individual investment. Essentially, we need to know how effective each investment is. With all of this data we must ask ourselves about each investment: “is that investment attacking me? Is it harming me? Is it suppressing me? Or is it helping me?” Notice that there are 3 negative results and only one positive. This is because an investment of any kind has more potential to harm us to more degrees than it can help us until we’ve identified all the information need to gain certainty. Each of the questions listed is either a yes or a no. It is important to remember that at this point we are not making a choice, we are simply giving a grade. We will make our choice later when we have more data still.
This is the part where we evaluate ourselves. What is the state of our current finances? Where would we like to be ideally? Why aren’t we there yet? What things in our lives are stopping us and impeding the attainment of our goals? If these things are impeding us, then why are they still being allowed to exist? How are we justifying the continuation of these things that are impeding us? How can we become unreasonable with the impeding factors such that we weed them out and do whatever is required to disallow them back into our finances? What new things must get rid of, alter, and add to be on track for our goals? We cannot make a sane choice without knowing these things about ourselves. Why? Because the root of all doubt is self-doubt. By knowing ourselves we may now know those things external to us. Without truly knowing oneself, we cannot possibly know anything outside of us.
Now that we know ourselves, our goals, and where we must improve, we can make a judgement. The way to make this judgement is simple: choose the investment that does the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of our goals and life dynamics. It really does come down to that. The investment that will do the greatest amount of good for the great amount of our goals and life dynamics is the right investment for us. Period. And by default, any investment that does not meet this criterion is the wrong investment for us. Period. I apprise you, do not let anyone, no matter how many licenses they have, how many letters are behind their name, how well they dress, how great of a company they work for…. ANYONE….convince otherwise of what I’ve just said. If an attempt like this is made, we have reason to label them any enemy of our goals right off the bat.
Once we’ve made a choice, we must do everything possible to learn more about our chosen investment. Our sole focus should now be on learning how to improve the performance and statistics of our investment. This is why control is so important. We have no control over the performance and statistics of some investments. Investments without control are bad investments. Don’t take my word for it, go ask the wealthiest person in your city if they would invest without having maximal control over the outcome. The answer will be a firm “hell no!“.
Now just because we’ve taken these steps does not mean it will be all gravy from here. Investing is a process of commitment and learning. We will still have down years, we will still have volatility, and everything will not be perfect. Guaranteed! But what we do have is an investment that we like, understand, and have committed to. An investment that we have no doubt can make a massive positive impact on our life and our legacy if we are willing to put the work in.
And this, my friends, is the ONLY way to invest.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this and I hope that this article empowers you to analyze your investments and make wise decisions. If you need help with this process, my team of Wealth Coaches and I are trained to help you through this exact formula. Click here to schedule a consultation with an expert!
Jerry Fetta
Jerry Fetta is a husband, son of Yahweh, Entrepreneur and owner of 5 privately held businesses. Jerry lives in Alaska with his wife and 2 dogs. His no-nonsense approach to business, finances, and life speaks truth and provides clarity to his clients and followers. His personal mission in life is to empower millions of leaders to own their God-given, ultimate potential
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