Book of the Month 11-19

November 2019 – This month’s book, picked by CIO Scott Morrison, is How Champions Think by Dr. Bob Rotella.

My mentor in the 90’s was a big golfer. I will always remember when he told me that it is always important to let your mistakes go, because they are already reflected in your Net Asset Value, so don’t worry about it.

Dr Rotella is a renowned sports psychologist. As a former competitive athlete, where I excelled in team sports such as hockey and soccer, as well as the individual sport of tennis, I find Dr. Rotella’s advice very transferable to the psychology of success investing.

Wise Words

“They have confirmed my belief that the ideas people choose to have about themselves largely determine the quality of the lives they lead. We can choose to believe in ourselves, and thus to strive, to risk, to persevere, and to achieve. Or we can choose to cling to security and medocrity. We can choose to set no limits on ourselves, to set high goals and dream big dreams. We can use those dreams to fuel our spirits with passion. Or we can become philosophers of the worst kind, inventing ways to rationalize our failures, inventing excuses for mediocrity. We can fall in love with our own abilities and our own potential, then choose to maximize those abilities. Or we can decide that we have no special talents or abilities and try to be happy being safe and comfortable.”

“Without a dream, it’s hard to be motivated…exceptional people go well beyond dreaming…ability to take a dream and use it to create a process is what separates exceptional people from mere dreamers.”

“Exceptional people, I have found, either start out being optimistic or learn to be optimistic because they realize that they can’t get what they want in life without being optimistic.”

“…exceptional people immerse themselves in process goals. They care most about how well they follow their chosen process every day.”

“I understand that safety and security are nice to have. But safety and security can become more important to an individual than being exceptional and doing fantastic things over the course of a life. When that happens often enough in a society, the society begins to die. It gives up its leadership role in the world. Accepting the importance and necessity of competition keeps”