I have had the luxury to travel across the world and live in countries such as the United States, Canada and the Philippines. Along the way I have come to many crossroads where I have had to make critical decisions about my life.
I have played poker for more than 10 years and most recently I have learned that many billionaires such as Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio), Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio), and legendary oil tycoon H.L Hunt all started out playing poker. Poker is a great way to develop your instincts in life, and that connects with investments.
One thing that I have learned is the importance of gratitude because legendary investor John Marks Templeton talks about how gratitude melts away fear and anger. After I lived in the Philippines I learned just how lucky I was to be born in Canada without even having that choice to have won the ovarian lottery, as Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) would say. When I make investment decisions or when I am playing poker I make sure I have the equation calculated, but I am always going with my instincts first and foremost.
I just read Donald Trump's book "The Art of the Deal," and he talks about how important instincts are in this quote: “It's not about being brilliant; its about instincts. You can take a kid at Wharton with a 170 IQ and if he doesn’t have the instincts, he’ll never be a successful entrepreneur. Most people who do have the instincts will never recognize that they do because they don’t have the courage or the good fortune to discover their potential.”
I believe that this quote is great because Trump is one of the greatest investors of all time. He has been through tremendous adversity; at one point he was more than $9 billion in debt, and he bounced back from that.
Steve Jobs is another great example of going with your instincts. He spoke about that in his 2005 Stanford commencement address here beginning at 2:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc.
I have learned throughout my life experience that in order to achieve success with people or with investments you must be willing to go with your instincts.
Cheers to your investment success.
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