It’s one of our core principles for a reason: “avoid the stampede.” We live in uncertain times, and it is understandable to get spooked by the day’s headlines. But we do not believe that safety is found following the herd.
Omaha is famous for its stockyards and slaughterhouses; we know that when the cattle are all getting steered together, it rarely ends well for the cattle.
Consider some lessons from history in this classic message.
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“Getting in on the ground floor” may sound enticing. We like to be first, best, and on top of things. But just remember that the view is always better from higher up.
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There may be no “I” in team, but we do think there’s still room for individuality. Teamwork doesn’t get us very far if we lose sight of our values in the process, so it matters whether each player is able to trust her gut. What does megastar Taylor Swift have to teach us about this topic? More, in this week’s video.
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Back in the snowbird chapter of Mark’s life, he learned that looking for shells was always more fruitful when the weather had been rough. The markets get stormy sometimes. What might come out of the churn? Some perspective for any weather, in this message from Mark.
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“Getting in on the ground floor” may sound enticing. We like to be first, best, and on top of things. But just remember that the view is always better from higher up.
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It’s said that comparison is the thief of joy. The grass is always greener, the Joneses are doing better, and no one else seems to have blemishes in their highlight reel.
This might feel like a modern problem, with how easy it is to fall into a cycle of “compare and despair” in this age of social media. But comparing ourselves to others is a very human tendency. Any strong group may feature some healthy competitiveness, for example.
But comparison becomes a problem when we forget to add some context back in. On LinkedIn, for example, we aren’t just seeing what our peers are up to on an average Tuesday: we’re also being fed content from the champions of every industry, as they chalk up lifetime achievements in real time!
What’s the antidote to the cycle of compare and despair? I sometimes daydream about deleting all my accounts, finding a nice quiet cave to hide in for a few months. (It’s not gonna happen, and it wouldn’t help anyway.)
Instead, we can just keep at it. That is, our version of “it.” Our work, our mission, bringing our attention back to whatever is happening in our lane. And research backs this approach.
“Keep your eyes on your own work,” psychologist Susan David reminds us in her book Emotional Agility. Maybe we heard this line a time or two in our school days, when teachers were on the lookout for cheating. While life is not a test, and there are no grades, this mantra might still do us some good.
Keeping our eyes on our own work might mean keeping ourselves at the center of our choices. When people give advice, it’s often in the form of, “Well, if I were you…” But they’re not you! You don’t need to know what others would do. They’re not in your shoes. You’re trying to find a way to figure out what you might do.
Comparison can spread doubt and add unhelpful pressure. We’re not trying to become that shiny person we saw on LinkedIn or even to become the friend with advice who is just trying to be helpful. That approach would be miserable. Susan David says this would lead us to become a “striving, lesser version of someone else.”
Instead, we can lean in to becoming even more of ourselves. This journey is not a race you can lose—because it’s not a race. Just keep your eyes on your own work. We’ll try to do the same.
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Sometimes it takes a big splashy effort to swim upstream! Our friends may be making different choices than us, but it doesn’t mean we’re wrong. What the crowd seems to want is not always right for us. So how do we decide?
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There may be no “I” in team, but we do think there’s still room for individuality. Teamwork doesn’t get us very far if we lose sight of our values in the process, so it matters whether each player is able to trust her gut. What does megastar Taylor Swift have to teach us about this topic? More, in this week’s video.
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Taylor Swift has made a name for herself as a songwriter, pop star, and fashion icon, but now she’s making headlines for another role: as an effective investor.
Recently, Taylor was featured in the news for making a wise financial decision. She had a chance to be a paid sponsor for a—let’s say—questionable product. Instead of diving into a high-risk, high-reward situation, she asked questions, did her research, and declined the offer.
Whether or not Taylor’s music is for you, we admire her curiosity and commitment to herself. Her influence reaches all over the world, and she showed that she was not going to stand behind something she didn’t believe in. And every investor has the power to do that work. We do the research so that we know exactly what we own, why we own it, and how it fits into the big picture.
We at 228Main.com might not have the cumulative reach of Taylor—yet 😊—but we know how important it is to act by our values, no matter who is watching. It’s our responsibility.
Taylor seems to know hers, too, but it took determination to build the reputation she has. You don’t achieve that pop sensation status overnight! She has worked her entire adult life to build her empire, and she was not going to risk throwing it away based on someone else’s opinion or make a quick buck (or a hundred million).
One rash decision can cause a huge ripple effect, and most of the time, the impulse to do the trendy thing is not worth it. There are always going to be temptations in life, but it doesn’t mean any opportunity that comes along will work for us. Only we are in charge of keeping an eye on our future.
We don’t mind going against the crowd. At 228 Main, we consider all the angles of an opportunity, with our own critical eye. We don’t rely on others’ opinions. (When the cattle are all getting steered together, it rarely ends well for the cattle.) Certain products might be getting a lot of attention, but that does not mean they are necessarily great investments.
Please do ask your questions when you have them, and we’ll think about the potential outcomes together. We try to make informed decisions, in the direction of our goals.
So be your inquisitive, confident self. Like Taylor says in her song “The Lucky One,” “In the real world, if you have something that makes you different, you’re lucky.”
Dare to be different? Call or email us, anytime.
Investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
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