In life, we have to take our Ls, learn the lessons and move on. Recently, I’ve been really focused on my finances. Specifically, investing. I’ve been reading works from the OGs (The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham) and the New Guards (Mud 2 Millions by Ayesha Selden), taking classes, reading articles and the whole nine. Even with this newly acquired knowledge, I messed up y’all. So, back on July 9, 2020 I purchased a specific stock, which shall remain nameless. Now, based on the knowledge I possessed, I knew it was a bad idea. To be honest, I got a little greedy. I figured, “It’s not that expensive. What could go wrong? The company has been around since 1929, after all.” Chile…… two days later, the company field for bankruptcy (womp, womp, womp). The stock literally lost half of its value the same day I purchased 280 shares. For almost two months, I hemmed and hawed about what to do, until, finally, I got so sick of looking at that -49% to -52% that I couldn’t take it anymore. I took the L, sold that mess and moved on. Here are a few lessons I learned along the way, which can apply to many life scenarios:
Knew Better, But Did It Anyway
As I stated in the intro, I knew better, but I didn’t do better. Financial and statistical analysis told me this wasn’t a good move. I ignored the sage advice, outlined by the experts, against gambling. I gambled and lost. Immediately. I knew it was a bad idea from jump, but I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, I’d beat the odds. I didn’t. Lesson Learned: When you know better, do better.
Stop Hoping For A Turnaround When The Writing’s On The Wall
Now listen, I wasn’t trying to lock in that loss. I was hoping that if I waited awhile, maybe things would turn around. Nope. For almost two months I sat and watched that stock do nothing but aggravate my soul. Despite all my hoping and wishing, the handwriting was on the wall – this stock was a lemon, but I couldn’t turn it into lemonade. Continuing to wait was doing nothing but tying up my money. Lesson Learned: Stop wasting time hoping for the impossible when you already know the inevitable.
Don’t Let Being In Your Feelings Keep You Stuck
To say I felt like a big ole dummy would be an understatement. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like feeling stupid and I don’t like losing my hard earned coins. In an effort to save face and not feel so silly about my bad choices, I held on to this stinker of a stock, because I didn’t want to lock in a 50% loss. Now, I’m not saying this stock won’t turn around or that I couldn’t recoup my losses eventually, but it wasn’t going to happen anytime in the near future. I had two options: (a) Stay stuck with this stinker to avoid feeling silly for making a bad choice or (b) Acknowledge by bad choice, take the L, learn the lesson and move on. I chose the latter. Lesson Learned: Don’t be so caught up in your feelings that you let them keep you stuck in bad choices.
Delayed Action Produces Continued Anger
For two months I hemmed and hawed about what to do. Deep down I knew I should sell, but I let the “what if…” delay me from making a move. The funny thing is, every time I logged into my account and saw that loss, I got mad. Every time. One day, I was so sick and tired of looking at that loss that I did what I should had done a while ago – I sold that stock. Yes, I locked in the loss, but I immediately felt better. Just knowing that I made a decision and the issue was resolved put me at ease. Lesson Learned: Delayed action will only make you angry Sis, so go ahead and free yourself.
Note: This article contains affiliate links.
Recently, I’ve been really focused on my finances. Specifically, investing. I’ve been reading works from the OGs (The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham) and the New Guards (Mud 2 Millions by Ayesha Selden), taking classes, reading articles and the whole nine. Even with this newly acquired knowledge, I messed up y’all. So, back on July 9, 2020 I purchased a specific stock, which shall remain nameless. Now, based on the knowledge I possessed, I knew it was a bad idea. To be honest, I got a little greedy. I figured, “It’s not that expensive. What could go wrong? The company has been around since 1929, after all.” Chile…… two days later, the company field for bankruptcy (womp, womp, womp). The stock literally lost half of its value the same day I purchased 280 shares. For almost two months, I hemmed and hawed about what to do, until, finally, I got so sick of looking at that -49% to -52% that I couldn’t take it anymore. I took the L, sold that mess and moved on. Here are a few lessons I learned along the way, which can apply to many life scenarios:
Knew Better, But Did It Anyway
As I stated in the intro, I knew better, but I didn’t do better. Financial and statistical analysis told me this wasn’t a good move. I ignored the sage advice, outlined by the experts, against gambling. I gambled and lost. Immediately. I knew it was a bad idea from jump, but I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, I’d beat the odds. I didn’t. Lesson Learned: When you know better, do better.
Stop Hoping For A Turnaround When The Writing’s On The Wall
Now listen, I wasn’t trying to lock in that loss. I was hoping that if I waited awhile, maybe things would turn around. Nope. For almost two months I sat and watched that stock do nothing but aggravate my soul. Despite all my hoping and wishing, the handwriting was on the wall – this stock was a lemon, but I couldn’t turn it into lemonade. Continuing to wait was doing nothing but tying up my money. Lesson Learned: Stop wasting time hoping for the impossible when you already know the inevitable.
Don’t Let Being In Your Feelings Keep You Stuck
To say I felt like a big ole dummy would be an understatement. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like feeling stupid and I don’t like losing my hard earned coins. In an effort to save face and not feel so silly about my bad choices, I held on to this stinker of a stock, because I didn’t want to lock in a 50% loss. Now, I’m not saying this stock won’t turn around or that I couldn’t recoup my losses eventually, but it wasn’t going to happen anytime in the near future. I had two options: (a) Stay stuck with this stinker to avoid feeling silly for making a bad choice or (b) Acknowledge by bad choice, take the L, learn the lesson and move on. I chose the latter. Lesson Learned: Don’t be so caught up in your feelings that you let them keep you stuck in bad choices.
Delayed Action Produces Continued Anger
For two months I hemmed and hawed about what to do. Deep down I knew I should sell, but I let the “what if…” delay me from making a move. The funny thing is, every time I logged into my account and saw that loss, I got mad. Every time. One day, I was so sick and tired of looking at that loss that I did what I should had done a while ago – I sold that stock. Yes, I locked in the loss, but I immediately felt better. Just knowing that I made a decision and the issue was resolved put me at ease. Lesson Learned: Delayed action will only make you angry sis, so go ahead and free yourself.
Note: This article contains affiliate links.
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