
As spring fades and summer draws near, some of us are gearing up for road trips. (Although we know gas prices might affect our plans!) We’re thinking lately about life on the open road—and what lessons it might offer investors.
Imagine you’re going along a winding road, and the car gets a flat tire. There are some choices available here. Some might hop out and swap the flat for the spare. Some might get a hold of a car service or a trusted friend in the area and have them change the tire. These approaches at least get you back on the road. Reasonable enough, right?
But there are other choices available. We could, for instance, slash the other three tires. We could dump a can of gasoline on the whole darn thing and light it up! We could declare it a lost cause and walk away. We could take the flat as the confirmation we were looking for that this journey was a mistake after all.
We can abandon the endeavor.
It sounds outrageous, given the facts of the matter. The trip was your plan: you got in the car, loaded the supplies, and set out. Sure, this moment could be a fabulous excuse to turn back, but if that’s the case, it seems to be more about the driver’s relationship to the journey—and not their relationship to the setback.
It’s not black and white, of course. There are approaches that we might employ along the way that we choose before we make the bigger, more crucial decisions. We might kick the flat tire. We might shake our fists at the sky. We might call someone to say that we are frustrated or scared or sad. Yes, you bet! Sometimes we need to vent stress out of our bodies before we make decisions.
But how many endeavors do we deny a fighting chance when we refuse to just change the tire and get back on the road?
You can go the whole journey this way. It will get you where you’re going.
Clients, maybe you can already hear the lessons for managing a portfolio and working with downs as well as the ups. We let our resources carry us, for the long haul.
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