The Art Of The Good Life #2: The Fine Art Of Correction

I vaguely remember drawing up some grand plans 10 years ago. I think it probably included a career as a high-flying civil servant, a lovely/capable wife along with two beautiful kids (preferably a boy and a girl) plus staying in a condominium with a continental drive readily accessible in the car park.

Except for the wife part, the rest have not been on point. And 22 year old me definitely did not make any plans to become a full-time tutor or adopt an online persona as Mr 15HWW.

Things just “happened along the way”.

In this chapter, author Rolf Dobelli talks about how we always over-emphasize on the set-up but neglect the fine art of correction. I couldn’t agree with him more on this.

But really, this is not surprising. The education system penalises us with “corrections” for mistakes. The army reinforces this thinking with the idea “Do it once, do it good”. It’s no wonder many of us yearn for a “perfect set-up” to avoid any form of correction.

Because correction feels like punishment, feels like failure.

But real life is so much more complex, that few plans ever work without hiccup.

Paradoxically, the desire for a perfect plan is also the perfect recipe for procrastination. Without a good enough plan, doing feels dangerous. On the flip side, working on the plan feels so much safer and more soothing. So things don’t get done, decisions are not made.

This is commonly seen in investing.

I am constantly bemused by the number of emails I receive about “how to start investing and whether now is a good time to start”. There is a strong likelihood that the next time I receive one, I would refer them to this post.

Most beginners believe they will get the confidence they need to start investing through reading or consulting. But the truth is the confidence can only develop after you start executing, start investing.

The make-up of our current portfolio is definitely not the result of a grand or perfect plan. Every buy or sell decision is a constant readjustment, a correction.

Through practice, I definitely hope to get better at the art of correction. That should give me a higher chance of keeping procrastination at bay and living a good life.

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Thanks for reading.