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HE is a responsible employee, husband and father, and has a simple
life-style.
All these years, Chong, in his late 40s, has been disciplined in saving
his hard-earned money.
But saving money alone is difficult to help to meet the present and
future financial needs.
That is quite obvious to Chong. With no interest in business, his
attention is channelled to investment.
Chong dabbles in shares and unit trusts. There are some gains, some
losses.
Once he overhead one of his children remarking: "You know, Michael (a
classmate from a rich family) is going to Australia to pursue his
studies after his SPM. How lucky he is!"
Chong’s heart aches, as his children have never made any request or
demand on things beyond the family’s financial capability.
He is more determined to invest and grow his money. He reads news about
the bullish market. His colleagues are making money, so are his
neighbours.
From the newspapers and magazines, there are many promising stories of
investment opportunities.
He invests in the stock-market, with good gain. He invests more and
more. This is getting really exciting and he foresees his financial
dreams to be realised soon.
Then the market turns downwards, but the mass media still projects
bullish news. So Chong holds on to his investment.
Soon the prices of his investment dive sharply. First there is panic,
then hope resurfaces as the price rebounds upward.
After a few rounds of sharper drops and some rebounds, his paper assets
have shrunk to a small amount.
There is despair and depression. Chong feels paralysed. How is he going
to face his wife and children over the huge loss?
He curses the market. "The market has failed me. The market has failed
my whole family!" He curses and curses.
Chong dared not tell a soul. The boss notices his sadness and tries to
cheer him up.
"Chong, I like you as you are hardworking and take personal
responsibilities in doing things. You do not blame others.
"Now, is there something you are feeling unhappy about?"
Chong forced himself a polite smile to the boss and said nothing.
The boss’ remark "you take personal responsibility in dong things"
echoes in his head again and again. As if in his deep sleep, he begins
to hear voices. "Why should I curse the market? Is the market an
invisible force that has power over me? I chose the market, the market
did not choose me.
"When I carry out work in the office, there are imperfect system,
difficult colleagues. I do not blame and curse them. I take my own step
to put thing in order and be in better control.
"Maybe I can get more visible signals, responses and feedback from the
office system and difficult people, and I can think and decide what to
do next.
"Shouldn’t I take the same approach and strategies to manage the market?
Shouldn’t I take personal responsibility over my investment loss?"
With a shift in his mindset towards investment, Chong is surprised that
he picks up different signals from the reality around him.
He notices a lot of great and successful investors, like George Soros,
Warren Buffett. They have invested large sums and they still make big
money.
But Chong realises it is not a matter of investing big or small. It has
to do with an investment mindset to take personal responsibility in
dealing with the market, or for that matter, in dealing with life.
For the first time, Chong has a confident smile since his severe
investment loss.
He knows he is taking the first important step towards a more successful
investment
End.
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