Make Decisions Like an Investor
Life is filled with decisions, so have a game plan when making yours. Think like an investor and take into account the long-term payoff. What’s the upside of doing X instead of Y? Is this busy work or does it have growth potential? I’m tired, should I rewatch an episode of The Office or read a book?
I’ve recently tried using this “investor mindset” for every decision I make. This doesn’t mean I’m always working and never playing. It doesn’t mean I never eat a candy bar when my goal is to get healthier, or watch a comedy instead of reading a book.
It means every decision I make has a reason, and more often than not, I’m doing something that will pay dividends down the road. This isn’t an excuse to over-analyze decisions and waste time, this is about thoughtful time-management.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” -Benjamin Franklin
For many people my age (late 20’s) there’s the constant pressure to prove yourself. To not only have your five-year plan, but already be working towards it. That’s not what the investor mindset is about. It’s not a step-by-step guide focused on reaching a future goal. It’s making decisions based on the future return. You don’t have to know exactly what the return is, just whether or not it will be positive or negative. There isn’t the pressure of having an end-goal, it’s as simple as making a decision with some thought about how it will impact your life.
One of the unintended benefits of this mindset, patience, has become a recent obsession of mine. One action rarely leads to significant change. But, a collection of actions leads to total change. We pretend to know this, I mean, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” So what better way to learn patience than making decisions with some thought on the long-term payoff?
This is not the practice of always working or always trying to improve. There are clear benefits to having a balance in life. But, is a full-day of watching movies really your way to recharge, or is it an excuse to avoid making a decision on a better use of your time?
There’s only so much we can control, but making decisions is one of them. We can make decisions with our own life, put ourselves in the best position to succeed, and react to the outcomes. Using this mindset forces more thought about the future, current passions, and how to act on a daily basis. For me, it started with reading one chapter before turning on a movie, now, it’s writing this article instead of watching that movie.
“I love quotes… but in the end, knowledge has to be converted to action or it’s worthless.” — Tony Robbins
