Sketch of the Week: Days or Decades

What I’m about to tell you is going to sound crazy, but bear with me. Because it’s definitely true.

Ready? Here it is…

We get to decide what we focus on.

Hold on… let me repeat that in case you missed it.

We. Get. To. Decide. What. We. Focus. On.

When it comes to investing, that means you have a choice. You can focus on days or decades.

If you choose to focus on days, you are signing up to make yourself miserable. And for no good reason. There’s actually no benefit to this perspective. I can handle pain that leads to gain, but this is just pain that leads to more pain.

On the other hand, when it comes to investing, we actually get rewarded for ignoring the daily noise. As Warren Buffet said, “Benign neglect, bordering on sloth, remains the hallmark of our investment process.”

Remember, you actually have a choice.

Days or decades.

What’s it going to be?

Greeting South Africa, from Carl

I’m a Certified Financial Planner™ and creator of the Sketch Guy column, appearing weekly in The New York Times for 10 years. Click here to learn about me and my work.

I am delighted to be partnering with EBnet to help develop a savings culture in a country I have always loved visiting and hope to visit again soon.

In addition to writing, sketching, and podcasting, I am a frequent keynote speaker at financial planning conferences and visual learning events around the world.