4 February 2008 2 Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

It’s late fourth quarter, third down. Eli Manning frantically escapes a sack and somehow finds a hole to launch a missile which later results in a circus-like catch by David Tyree. This play will surely be watched over and over in what has become one of the greatest Super Bowls in history. Surely the Patriots will review the tapes and see what went wrong in their otherwise perfect season. The dominant, bully-like team was somehow stopped by a blistering defense by a New York team that was given little to no chance of winning. Many lessons will be learned after this game, and metaphorically there are lessons that applies our finances as well. Here’s what I learned from this year’s big game.

Never get overconfident. I’m not saying that this was the case for the Patriots, but I’m sure many fans assumed that the Patriots were going to stomp on this New York team with ease. The days before the game every anchor on ESPN made their predictions and it basically came down to “the Pats will win by X points.” Just days before the big game, CNBC released a documentary called Touchdown! The Patriots and the Business of winning. The lesson here is to never get overconfident in finances, investing, your business or your career. While a good amount of confidence is good, overconfidence breeds sloppiness.

Don’t go for the miraculous play. Although the Hollywood-like finish with miracle plays and last minute touchdowns was exciting to watch, you know that most games don’t end that way. So when it comes to investing or your finances, stop chasing the miracle plays that you think will catapult you into wealth. When I was young I bought speculative stocks because I heard about how much money so and so was making in the stock market. I ended up losing money so now I stopped going for those miracles and I invest wisely. When I turned 18 I went to the casinos and aggressively played the $1 or even $5 slot machines because I see people around me winning tens of thousands of dollars. I lost thousands over about a year and now I never gamble. As a teenager I was into money making programs and other so-called business opportunities and they never work. I wasted time, effort and money on these scams. Miracle plays don’t come around often and literally, the odds are against you and you likely won’t be the person that makes that play. Put in the effort to make more money then invest intelligently. Don’t fall for promises of a big payoff.

Don’t gamble with big money! Well, this is an easy one right? Gambling a few bucks may add some excitement to the game, but I’m not talking about the $10-$50 bet on the game. What I’m getting at is the famous Super Bowl ads. With enormous costs of producing and showing these ads during the game, companies are down right gambling on the ad’s success. Car manufacturers are hoping for a rebound in the economy so they can actually see ROI from their ads.  Companies are risking tons of money on one extremely expensive commercial. Let those big companies take foolish risks. Don’t put you and others in danger because you think something is going to go a certain way. The bigger the reward, the bigger the risk. Often times bigger risks leads to financial and psychological pain. Take calculated risks with an amount of money you can afford to lose.

Don’t dwell on past failures. I’m sure the Patriots didn’t have fun getting up this morning, but they’ll come back strong next year. They’ll learn from yesterday and move on. Thats what we all have to do rather than dwelling on the past. You may have lost money on a bad investment, missed out on a promotion or had a business venture that went under. That’s all a part of life, and life goes on. Dwelling on the past is pointless because no one can go back there and change it. It’s time to review those tapes, lay out a plan for future success and go after your goals. Remember, theres always next year. So start practicing and draw up your game plan.