Or our doubts often paralyze us "What if the...
Or our doubts often paralyze us "What if the economy crashes right after I invest?" Or "What if I lose control and I can't pay the money back?" "What if things don't go as I planned?" Or we have friends or loved ones who will remind us of our shortcomings regardless of whether we askThey often say, "What makes you think you can do that?" Or "If it's such a good idea, how come someone else hasn't done it?" Or "That will never workYou don't know what you're talking about These words of doubt often get so loud that we fail to actA horrible feeling builds in our stomachSometimes we can't sleepWe fail to move forward So we stay with what is safe and opportunities pass us byWe watch life passing by as we sit immobilized with a gucci horsebit hobo cold knot in our bodyWe have all felt this at one time in our lives, some more than othersPeter Lynch of Fidelity Magellan mutual fund fame refers to warnings about the sky falling as "noise," and we all hear it"Noise" is either created inside our heads or comes from outsideOften from friends, family, co-workers and the media Lynch recalls the time during the 1950s when the threat of nuclear war was so prevalent in the news that people began building fallout shelters and storing food and waterIf they had invested that money wisely in the market, instead of building a fallout shelter, they'd probably be financially independent todayWhen the riots broke out in Los Angeles a few years ago, gun sales went up all over the white chanel watch countryA person dies from rare hamburger meat in Washington State and the Arizona Health Department orders restaurants to have all beef cooked well-doneA drug company runs a national TV commercial showing people catching the fluThe ad runs in FebruaryColds go up as well as sales of their cold medicineMost people are poor because when it comes to investing, the world is filled with Chicken Littles running around yelling, "The sky is falling And Chicken Littles are effective because everyone of us is a little chickenIt often takes great courage to not let rumors and talk of doom and gloom affect your doubts and fearsIn 1992, a friend named Richard came from Boston to visit my wife and me in PhoenixHe was impressed with what we white chloe bag had done through stocks and real estateThe prices of real estate in Phoenix were depressedWe spent two days with him showing him what we thought were excellent opportunities for cash flow and capital appreciationMy wife and I are not real estate agentsWe are strictly investorsAfter identifying a unit in a resort community, we called an agent who sold it to him that afternoonThe price was a mere $42,000 for a two-bedroom townhome Similar units were going for $65,000He had found a bargainExcited, he bought it and returned to BostonTwo weeks later, the agent called to say that our friend had backed outI called immediately to find out whyAll he said was that he talked to his neighbor, and his neighbor told him it was a bad omega seamaster for sale dealHe was paying too muchI asked Richard if his neighbor was an investor When I asked why he listened to him, Richard got defensive and simply said he wanted to keep lookingThe real estate market in Phoenix turned, and by 1994, that little unit was renting for $1,000 a month-$2,500 in the peak winter monthsThe unit was worth $95,000 in 1995All Richard had to put down was $5,000 and he would have had a start at getting out of the rat raceToday, he still has done nothingAnd the bargains in Phoenix are still here
