The Art of Winning: Decoding Life and Investment’s Unwritten Rules
How to Extract Valuable Lessons from Your Misjudgments
A warm welcome to all new readers! I’m glad you are on board.
New here? I’m Michael and on a mission to make beating the stock market as easy for you as choosing your favorite ice cream. I write an algorithm that does exactly that.
Read the full story here.
True mastery comes from learning and evolving through every challenge and misstep. This is a story of transforming setbacks into strategic wins, a testament to the power of understanding and adapting in the ever-changing game of life and investments.
Have you ever felt like you’re playing a game, but the rules were elusive, changing when you least expect it? Join me on my journey from the test tracks to the boardrooms, and how it mirrors the intricate game of investments.
The Corporate Game
I worked 13 years at a major car manufacturer. First as a development engineer – driving car prototypes in various countries. But my aspirations led me to a shift, right into the office of the VP of Corporate Development. Overnight, my world transformed from car parts and roaring engines to the silent maneuvering of corporate chess and strategy.
In a performance review, the VP, a man I still admire for his brilliance, posed a simple yet profound question: “What’s next, Michael?”
He saw potential in me for the next step – team leadership.
The catch? Surviving an assessment center with an 80% failure rate at the first attempt. My response? Over-prepare. A two-year self-financed training marathon ensued, a journey of intense self-discovery, skill acquisition, self-awareness, and learning a lot about the human mind. My efforts bore fruit – I passed the AC, a feat that filled me with pride.
A stark revelation from a colleague shadowed this proud moment: “Now have fun looking for a job.” This casual remark unveiled the reality of corporate dynamics - a world where the odds are stacked, and the house (the company) always wins.
This offhand comment peeled back the curtain on the unspoken rules of corporate advancement: a tangled web of diversity policies, elusive positions, and the unquantifiable influence of networks and connections. Despite my qualifications, the stark reality hit me – in this game, the odds were not in my favor.
Insights Insights Insights - it’s all about Insights
My experience as a development engineer, for example in the painstaking task of reducing the wind noise of a car, is a testament to the importance of understanding the small things. I recall spending hours in wind tunnels, to silence the car with my colleagues changing part after part, listening closely with a directional microphone, and recording frequencies. This relentless pursuit led us to create the quietest convertible in its class. Such attention to detail is vital in investing too; understanding the ‘small-small’ can make a significant difference. But here is the thing. You play another game than pro investors.
Retail vs. Accredited Investors
We can liken the contrast between retail and accredited investors to the difference between a used car buyer and a car developer. As a retail investor, you’re like the used car buyer, limited to interpreting visible signs and past usage to gauge value and potential issues. Retail investors lack access to the full story behind each dent or repaired part.
In contrast, accredited investors have a more in-depth view, akin to the car developers who know every bit of the vehicle’s history and mechanics. As a car manufacturer, you know your product inside out. This disparity in information and insight is critical in making informed decisions. There are things you can’t see as Retail Investors when you analyze 10 stocks because the big picture is hidden in 4,500 stocks. This insider’s view is akin to the vantage point of an accredited investor – someone who sees beyond the surface, understands the underlying mechanics, and has access to information beyond the public domain.
Contrast this with the retail investor’s plight, perpetually peering over the fence, reliant on public data, and often missing the insider narratives that shape the landscape. Accredited investors operate in a realm where relationships, nuanced understanding, and access to non-public information (hello, FrieNDA agreements!) play a crucial role.
The Balcony
Understanding the game, whether in a corporate hierarchy or investment, is about recognizing your position on the playing field. It’s about understanding the game you’re playing. It’s understanding that in a pool of high demand and limited supply, like the coveted team leader positions or lucrative investment opportunities, strategy, overlooking the playing field, and getting insight is key. It’s about seeing beyond the immediate task – whether it’s passing an assessment or analyzing a stock – to understanding the broader dynamics at play.
My Conclusion
What’s the point of all this?
It’s about a deeper understanding – of the games we play, of the systems we navigate, and, most importantly, of ourselves.
My journey, with its triumphs and setbacks, taught me the profound value of self-awareness. Understanding yourself, where you stand, what you feel, and why, transforms fear and feelings from a roadblock into an enabler.
As a retail investor, you might find yourself meticulously researching stock by stock, often feeling like you’re piecing together a puzzle without the full picture. It’s a stark contrast to professional investors, who, analyze and strategize on a much larger scale.
This doesn’t mean the game is lost for the retail investor. Rather, it’s an invitation to play smarter. It’s about accepting the current position of what you can see and do and then pushing those boundaries through learning and strategic thinking.
It’s an acknowledgment that says, “I may not know this now, but I can learn it.”
This realization was a turning point. It helped me see that learning is an ongoing process, a journey without a final destination. It’s about connecting the dots, seeing the interplay of the ‘small small’ details within the grand tapestry of life. In my investment research, this approach became my cornerstone. By learning the intricacies, I scaled my understanding, viewing the bigger picture with unprecedented clarity. It’s a strategy that transcends mere preparation; it’s about developing an acute awareness of your place in the larger scheme of things.
Being ‘over-prepared’ in this sense is not just about accumulating knowledge; it’s about cultivating the ability to step back, ascend to the metaphorical balcony, and observe the game at play. This elevated perspective fosters more informed, strategic decisions in every aspect of life.
So, I encourage you to embrace this mindset: make it your game to discover your blind spots, acknowledge them, and revel in the process of learning. In doing so, you’ll find that understanding the ‘small small’ in the big picture is not just a strategy – it’s a superpower that enriches your entire life journey. Once you get that, you figure out why you feel certain things. And when you can do that, you can change things the way you want.
“As humans, we deeply resonate with experiences and feelings. I appreciate you joining me on this journey so far. True understanding often comes from living through something firsthand.
While I’ve shared my insights here as a retail writer, the full depth of these concepts might become even clearer as you encounter and navigate similar experiences. It’s a profound moment when everything clicks, and you find yourself in the middle of a realization, thinking,
‘Wait a minute…’
The article was inspired by a conversation I had with Amrita from
and is a follow-up to this article.Progress
My raw data download is now automated in the cloud.
I did a lot of housekeeping this week and optimized my code for the cloud - making it 80% faster. That was a great milestone.
Plan
Next week I’ll start the day-to-day calculations and write the code for the final results report.
What’s on my head
The year is almost done and we’ve gone a long way together. I appreciate all your support because it helped me push through the sticky parts of the journey.
Thanks a lot, it means the world to me!
Tap that heart if you have learned from your mistakes!
Have a great day StockStar!
Michael
Recommend The Economy Rocket to your readers and friends
I share my stock investment story without sugarcoating – you get the good, the bad, and those tricky ego trips. I'm developing a service with a mix of smart code and proven investment strategies, making stock analysis a thing of the past if you wish. Because life offers so much more beyond the confines of stock analysis.
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Disclaimer:
The information in this article is my personal opinion. I’m not a certified investment professional. It is not consulting, nor does it constitute investment recommendations.
I do my research carefully and follow my personal investment strategy.
The stock market is a complex building with its own rules. There are no rules set in stone, like the rules of physics.
Therefore, use the contents of this newsletter at your own risk and do your own research as well. Investing in the stock market can lead to a total loss of the capital invested.
Absolutely brilliant and insanely thought provoking!!!