The Investment Checklist, An Epiphany, and My Revised Plans For Deliberate Practice

The Investment Checklist

I would highly recommend that any investor read this book, and I wish that I would have read it sooner.  Not only has it helped flesh out my own checklist, which I will share in the coming days, it will also help me think better, do better research, and hopefully find more companies to invest in.  I have no doubt that reading this book has helped my investment process become much better.

An Epiphany

Download A Free Copy of My Acclaimed Value Investing Education Book How To Value Invest By Clicking Here.

All of my life I have been a planner, even trying to plan things out years in advance in some cases.  My plan last week that I outlined was a partial testament to that.  While reading The Investment Checklist I had an epiphany and I have also figured out what I thought that I had been missing lately.

I would also like to thank Daniel from ValueFolio in a comment on my posting My Plan for Deliberate Practice  “Great post! I really like your thoughts. Keep up the good work and have fun with it!” Bold is my emphasis.

I had become so structured lately, trying to pump out as many investment write ups as possible, that I forgot to have fun, which is what I have been missing lately.  I also went back and looked at some of the previous articles, in particular, my Vivendi,  Dole, Chiquita, and Fresh Del Monte write ups.  Not only are Vivendi and Dole the only companies I have bought this year, I also think that those are my best write ups as they are the most thorough, and I spent the most time researching them.

I have always noticed that my plans do not usually work out, even the short term ones, but I have never really thought about why or any way that I could change my thought process until reading chapter 8 in the Investment Checklist.  That chapter is what led to my epiphany that I should become more flexible and not try to plan everything out. I will now be “Steering the boat daily, instead of trying to plot out the course well in advance.”  Now if I find something that I think could help, something I can learn from, or a potential investment idea, I will jump into that instead of trying to finish whatever I was doing, especially if I know that what I am currently doing is not helpful.  In the past, I would have finished up doing whatever I was doing just because I started it, and I always finished anything that I started. In my opinion, the whole book is fantastic but chapter 8 struck something in me personally, and it helped change my entire outlook on life and investing.

My New Revised Plans For Deliberate Practice

  • Have Fun.
  • Learn Something Every Day.
  • Improve In All Aspects of Life Incrementally Every Day.
  • Become More Flexible.
  • Push Myself Every Day.
  • Become More Confident In My Abilities In All Aspects of Life.

Let me know your thoughts.