I just finished my 10Km run self-inflicted challenge to myself last night. I couldn’t’ wait to brag it because for the first time, I made such an achievement in the physical aspect of my life. But before I finally ran for that distance, I started with just a 20 minute run-walk-run challenge with an interval of 2 minutes walking and 1 minute running. For a professional athlete, that might sound so simple that they can even do it while sleeping. But for starters, believe me, it was a big thing for me to have finally completed it. But wait, before I keep babbling about my physical activity let’s look into our stock market investing journey.
The reason why I’m telling you about my recent achievement in my exercise routine is that the lessons I’ve learned from it that I’m going to share with you today is also applicable to your life as a stock market investor.
Lesson 1: Start
In shedding fats for overweight like me, you will never shed even a tiny fraction of your stubborn fats unless you start burning them.
In building your wealth through the stock market, you will never grow your money unless you start buying shares. Seeds won’t grow into a robust tree if you won’t plant them. Start planting now and get ready to fly freely to escape poverty.
Lesson 2: Start small
As I started running, I started small from 20 minutes-25-30-40-60 minutes. I started covering short distances from 2km-3km-3.5km-4km-5.7km, then finally 10km. By doing this, I happily achieved my goal distance with no injuries.
As you also start investing, it’s a wise decision to start small amount. Some online brokers lower their minimum initial fund to provide opportunities to more Filipinos to invest. As you widen your knowledge about the investment you are getting into, start small and I assure you, you will sleep soundly at night.
When testing how hot the water is, do you dip your whole hand knowing that you might get yourself burned?
Lesson 3: Do it consistently
I was once watched a TED Talk episode and the speaker mentioned that it takes 21 days for an action to be repeatedly done everyday before it becomes a part of your system.
To change my outfit and wear my running shoes everyday after work seemed to be challenged at first. But as I consistently did it for 20 days, this has boosted my energy and endurance to finish my 10km run on the 21st day.
If you want to be successful in your stock market investing, you have to be consistent. I never heard of anybody who become wealthy by quitting. To be successful and be financially free, invest consistently. If you can, do it every month or every after 2 months or quarterly. Create a schedule that suits your finances. I’ve heard of a former maid who finally earned her million from the stock market by consistently buying shares every month. You can read her story here.
Lesson 4: Be aware of the dangers
I do my runs in the school campus where I feel safe from cars, bicycle, dogs and other pedestrians. But even though I ran in a safe place that I know of, there are still dangers like rocks, branches or plastic bottles scattered on the ground that may cause me to trip. Obviously as a human nature, I have to avoid them.
Likewise in investing in the stock market, there are several factors that might endanger your investment which you have to be aware of. Such threat are the political situation of a country, natural disaster, under performing companies, some penny stocks, and limited knowledge on stock market investing strategies to name a few.
Thus, to protect your money you have to be aware of what’s going on in the market and don’t stop learning. Read more and seek a mentor.
Lesson 5: Mingle with people of the same desires and goals as you
I couldn’t be more successful in my running exercise without the support of our Oplan Kalusugan Pinoy Challenge group. Having people to talk about your success, failures and difficulties help boosted my motivation. Watching them everyday updating their Facebook status sharing their daily exercise and diet kept me going.
In order to be successful in your stock market, it is advisable to surround yourself with friends who are also interested with it. You will get support from them whenever your portfolio turns red and more importantly, you will learn from them, too. If the friends around you are not into investing, don’t leave them though. They still are your friends but try to reach out for more friends. Join a club or Facebook groups.
Lesson 6: Know when to let go
Did I like to run for more? There are days that I wanted to run more but I stop once I reached my goal of the day. Otherwise I will injure my body and might no longer be able to run the next day.
In investing, we have what we call exit strategy. To maximize your earnings, you should plan when to sell your shares. One of the reasons why many investors lose money in stocks is that they don’t know how to control their greed. You must learn to let go of shares once it reaches your target price. Loyalty is an admirable quality in a relationship, but in the stock market, you should not be a stick to one gal.
You will never succeed in your stock market investing unless you start. But when you start, start small. Then, eventually invest consistently. But hey, keep learning and avoid the pitfalls of investing. Surround yourself with people of the same mindset as you and set an exit plan.
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