I want to share some experiences I had when I first heard about investing and what I learnt going through a bit of the process. The main point I learnt from all this is that I just needed to push through failures, the fear of not knowing or understanding, and just continue to take small steps. Even if no-one explains to you how to physically invest that $1,000 sitting in your bank, where to transfer and so on, don’t let that fear of the unknown hold you back. The barrier to beginning isn’t actually that big, all it takes is a little action, you might not land on the best investments out there, but making a move to put your money to work is a massive achievement in itself.
Baby Steps
So I finally took a few steps, and eventually made errors, but this didn’t stop me because my focus was on learning and growing myself rather than instantly succeeding, even though my desire for success was very strong and real. We’ve all heard the typical comparison of a baby learning to walk. Their first steps are always followed with a fall, yet there is only celebration going on around them for the few steps they just achieved. After they fall, they get up and give it another go, and then fall, and then repeat again and again. They are curious, focused on where they want to be (which to them is running around everywhere like the bigger kids), and they are celebrated for their little victories rather than being brought down by the fall. This process continues and every time they try, their legs get stronger, the falling and getting back up always leads to a child that runs around like crazy.
Just as we are certain a child will one day walk, I am certain that with the right heart and drive anyone can make it. We never think, “whoa, I think this baby might actually walk one day!”, it’s a no-brainer even though it’s a big process for the child. Comparing this to our financial journey, something happens and we struggle to see ourselves reaching those ‘crazy dreams’. I believe this consistency of trying, falling, learning, and growing cannot lead to any other destination than what we aim for. It’s just the way it works, facts, just as certain as we are that that baby will walk one day.
Falls
Coming back into the real world, this is what that journey looked like for me. I had taken my first steps in Sharesies. I put in all my money in one go and thankfully the market dropped about 3% within a month. I say “thankfully” because it taught me a lesson that I would never forget, and that nugget of knowledge itself was worth more than my loss. I learnt about dollar cost averaging to spread out the timing of when I put my money into investments. Rather than putting the full $1000 in, I could put in $100 every week for the next 10 weeks and this would make me a lot less vulnerable to sudden changes in the market. Of course it could also limit me from making more money if I suddenly hit the perfect timing with everything I have, but I’m not out here to learn magic tricks, I want to learn solid facts that I could apply anywhere. This is just one example of me falling and using it to my advantage.
Sticking with my desire to learn more (mixed with a little impatience from waiting for share prices to change), I began to look for other investments that could teach me lessons. I heard about a Crypto currency called DeoCoin. I never really trusted or viewed cryptocurrency as a solid investment place, but it seemed like a decent enough cryptocurrency to dive into and learn from. I put $1000 in it, and technically it has gone up by 250%, but we’ll see where this ends. You must remember that I’m actually writing this as I journey, so some of these stories may just unfold further down the line! I did manage to learn a lot about cryptocurrency but the strongest lesson here was to not let go simply because I’m “falling again”.
Next I went into another investment which was in the area of trading gold. I heard of investments making 10% within a month, and 36% fixed rate investment plans. This sounded unrealistic, but rather than staying too sceptical and not learning, I dived in, did my research and talked to people. Eventually I decided to put in about $4000 because I had physically seen a family friend’s bank account transactions which only added to the trust I had in them. This investment was based in USD (United States Dollar), and so I attempted to change my money into USD through my own bank account. I opened a “Foreign Currency Account” and instantly transferred my money into it. Not long after I attempted to transfer money to the investment platform, but there was no payment option from this foreign currency account… I called the bank and asked what was wrong and they said it was an account for holding money in other currency’s, not making transactions. So I transferred my money back into my normal NZD account and I instantly lost $200 due to the difference in the currency rates which take into account things like transaction costs. I lost $200 within two minutes, a new record!
Being very honest, I was startled and got a fright, especially since my girlfriend was right next to me and she didn’t quite understand my journey of simply gaining experience and knowledge. I did laugh at myself for making such a stupid move, thinking about how I was skipping lunches to have enough money for my train fare yet I was happily losing $200. I learnt to not rush into things with my confidence and ego, but rather understand what I’m heading into, because this will save me from learning the hard way every time.
Conclusion
The main lesson here is to never ever get blinded or pulled down by doubt and little setbacks. The journey is all about growing yourself and learning from these mistakes. Till this day I am still diving into new areas to learn about and grow in, I have done a bit of peer to peer (P2P) investing and I have started learning about real estate. I will continue to take steps driven by my curiosity and eagerness to learn, and I will fall, but I will always get up and enjoy the journey while I’m at it. As I take more and more of these baby steps, just as certain as I am that babies will walk, I know that I can reach the financial goals I have set out to achieve if I keep on getting back up.
Key Points:
- Long term trajectory outweighs present failures.
- Learn how to successfully lose money.
