There are many ways to play the stock market and be successful. In baseball, some players hit for power while others are good at making contact and getting hits. In basketball, some players are good at shooting from far away and others are good at sneaking in for an easy basket.
Whenever we use a tool or participate in a game, knowledge of what is involved is never enough to succeed. We need to also understand what our strengths and weaknesses are in order to determine how best to use a tool or be a player in a game that gives us the best chance for success.
We might hear of a friend who has made money in the stock market by doing all of the trading himself — one stock at a time. Since I don’t have the time or the knowledge then if I wanted to invest in the stock market I would have to look to buy a mutual fund where others do the actual day trading.
I might have the skill to use a hammer to nail a loose board but do not have the skill to add dry wall to a new room. In all of these cases there are boundaries to where our involvement will lead to bad results.
Understanding the tool or the game together with recognizing our strengths, weaknesses and limitations always give us the best chance for success. When we are young, we don’t have as much knowledge as we think we do. So spending time learning and trying is very helpful in developing the knowledge to be more successful in an area over time. (It’s critical to do this at any stage in life where we need more knowledge to keep moving forward towards our goals.)
Everything is possible. You need to believe it. But understand that creating positive results in an area is never a straight line. Whether its knowing where to get help or learning to do something ourselves is a judgment call that we are asked to make many times in our life.
The tool or game you choose to play for success is never the answer. How we use the tool or participate in the game is what will determine whether we will have good or bad luck (that’s always the story we tell) when we try.