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A wise and zen-like speaker offered up these sage words recently. It was said in the context of investing, but holds true for all aspects of life.

“Stay in the game long enough to give yourself a chance to win.” 

I thought I followed this approach to life, but realized during a demonstration that I let other influences push me off that course. Looking back at my life, I see that I have often not maintained my course, I let others sidetracked me. I have not lived the person I am or want to be.

Here is how that lesson was driven home.

We were given an imaginary $100,000 to invest, with a 60 to 40 chance of winning. I started out relatively aggressively, putting up $75,000. I won.

I then went for $30,000 and bet conservatively for the next few turns. But then I began to listen to outside influences. Other folks participating in the demonstration had trippled their $100,000. Some had even turned it into million. The odds were in our favor; losing did not seem possible.

I must be doing something wrong, I though. I needed to change may strategy.  So I began betting everything, leaving nothing on the table. Before I knew it, I was up to $16 million.

Wow, did I feel good!

I went all in again.

But at this point, Lady Luck took a turn for the worse. I lost everything. Within the span of 15 minutes, I went from having $100,000 to zero.

I was embarrassed to even acknowledge that I had lost all my money.

What I learned here is something I will not ever forget; and will stick to no matter what. Bet using only a percentage of what you have. If you stick to a 10 percent investment rate, you will never run out of money, even if the odds go against you. Remember that at some point, bad luck will strike and you will lose some of your investment. If you bet everything, you could end up with nothing.

So make sure you stay in the game long enough and you WILL end up winning.

This is true in investing as well as in life.

If you’re running a 10-mile race, don’t quit after 3 miles. Stay in the race, give yourself a chance to win. And your winning is not dependent on how others do. It depends on you reaching and bursting through that finish line.

If you are in a relationship, take steps to  develop it and keep it growing. Don’t just sit back and do nothing to create memories or to achieve a goal. Relationships need attention and investment of your time or they will fail.

So give yourself a chance to win! 

Sandra

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