The Millionaire Within by Walter Wisniewski & Allison Vanaski

Author:Walter Wisniewski & Allison Vanaski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: First Edition Design Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2018-01-13T05:00:00+00:00

“Golf is a game of luck. The more I practice, the luckier I get.”

Ben Hogan

Chapter Eight

Adjust Your Attitude, Build Your Cathedral

“It is our attitude toward events, not events themselves, which we can control. Nothing is by its own nature calamitous. Even death is terrible only if we fear it.”

Epictetus

So much of what happens to us in life is the result of our attitude and determination. Two people can be working at identical jobs and have completely different perspectives.

There is a story about three masons laying bricks. Each is asked, “What are you doing?”

The first spits on the ground and says, “What the hell does it look like I’m doing? I’m laying bricks.”

The second mason mops his brow and says, “I’m earning a living.”

The third looks up to the skies and says, “I’m building a cathedral!”

Which of the three masons’ attitudes sounds like yours? Do you see the cathedral or are you too busy laying bricks?

The third mason is doing a great job of enhancing his human capital. Aside from their perspective on their careers, the mason workers’ story can also be used as a metaphor for the way we approach investing.

The first mason reminds us of people who worry at the first sign of market volatility. They interpret every minor news event as a precursor of a foreboding tomorrow. They check the value of their account daily. Like the mason laying bricks whose only vision was to finish his workday, these people are so engrossed with daily market fluctuations they don’t embrace the importance of investing for their future.

The second mason has a somewhat better attitude. Although he may have thought he was achieving a goal by earning a living, he has trouble envisioning the future. The first two masons need to think about what life might be like after the cathedral is finished.

These investors typically lack the patience to weather serious market downturns like that of 2008. They may proclaim, “I’m in for the long term; I don’t look at day to day fluctuations,” but when volatility escalates and stock market declines, the “earning a living” investors have difficulty remaining patient and staying the course. They need to understand that saving and investing are as important as bricks are to the structure and support of the cathedral.

The third mason has an attitude that virtually ensures success, whether building a cathedral or a portfolio, despite the inevitable setbacks that occur in any endeavor. When it rains, he understands that eventually the downpour will end and the sun will shine again, continuing his work undeterred. His goal is to build a great cathedral, not to lay bricks or earn a living. When we experience a protracted period with poor market performance, such as the ten-year period from 2000 - 2010 where the U.S. stock market return was virtually zero, cathedral investors are able to avoid impulsive decisions or drastic changes to their portfolio.

Like the mason who lays bricks every day with the vision of the cathedral in mind, cathedral investors have a clear vision of what they are building for the future.

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