Lessons Learned
As I wrote about in Let’s Play Ball, I’ve spent the last several months coaching my 5 year-old son Oliver’s tee ball team. It’s been quite the experience… we’ve had all the highs and lows of any normal season packed into a Covid-shortened season, with our last game being played this weekend.
Over the course of this year, I believe the kids have progressed a lot. When we first started, many of them couldn’t hit and didn’t know where to run even if they did hit it. Now, we’ve got a stacked lineup full of kids who know how to hit and where to run (most of the time). They’ve learned so much throughout the course of the year but, more than that, they’ve taught me more than I ever thought they could.
Here are some valuable lessons that have given me some perspective, both on and off the field, courtesy of eleven wonderful 5 year-old kids…
Patience is a virtue
As a coach, that means waiting until everyone is listening.
As an investor, that means allowing time to be your greatest asset.
Pay attention to the little stuff and the big stuff will take care of itself
As a coach, that means making sure that everyone has had a chance to play every position.
As an investor, that means making sure that your asset allocation is right sized for your risk tolerance and allowing the markets to take care of the rest of it for you.
Give everyone a chance to shine
As a coach, that means don’t play favorites and rotate accordingly.
As an investor, that means diversify and reallocate away from your winners every now and then.
Show up
As a coach, that means never miss a practice or a game. You never know when it’s any individual child’s day to be great.
As an investor, that means get invested and stay invested… you never know when it’s the market’s time to run.
The more you practice, the luckier you get
As a coach, you have to put in the extra hours with the kids that want to improve.
As an investor, you have to put in the research and do the work to get the right outcomes.
Know when to move on
As a coach, you have to know when it’s time to call it quits on a drill that just isn’t working.
As an investor, you have to know when your thesis just didn’t play out the way you thought it would.
Know when to keep going
As a coach, you have to know when to keep pushing a kid forward to help them achieve their best.
As an investor, you have to know when you’re right but the rest of the world just hasn’t realized it yet.
Everyone has their own special gift
As a coach, that means finding that special something that lives inside of every child.
As an investor, that means realizing that every asset in your portfolio should have something that makes it unique.
Stay positive
As a coach, that means keep encouraging every kid to realize their full potential.
As an investor, that means that tomorrow is always another day.
Have fun
As a coach, that means enjoy every minute because these kids are only young once (and you aren’t getting any younger either).
As an investor, that means keeping things interesting so you’ll never lose focus on your goals.
Trophies aren't all you play for
But they're pretty sweet once you get them...
So thanks for a great season, Sherman Oaks Astros. You guys will forever be remembered as the team that taught me everything I need to know.
