People often ask me for investment advice. I don’t respond, because I am completely unqualified to respond. I can give my opnions, but giving advice would be malpractice. I consulted for Wall Street execs in the past, but my competence was unrelated to investing.
The problem: people desperately want experts to tell them what to do. So we grasp at any hint of authority. Have you visited Hawaii? You can teach me about Polynesian cultural nuances. Have you built toy houses with Lego blocks? You’re my new construction contractor.
I’m not sure anyone is qualified to give specific investment advice. But we ask anyway. We want to shift the blame to someone else when we make mistakes. This derives from . . .
. . . fear of risk.
. . . fear of responsibility.
. . . fear of error embarrassment.
That is a lot of responsibility to dump on someone. The first time someone sought my advice I was flattered, because I was young. Now I am wary.
We take child-raising tips from people who don’t like children, relationship advice from bloggers without any life experience, and college advice from college recruiters.
You can teach yourself to be successful. You don’t need to shift the responsibility to others.
::: Be fierce. Be kind. Be knowledge-hungry. :::
School of Brock 