book.chapter Approach #1 – mastering emotional intelligence.

How would you describe the ultimate objective of your personal investment activities? This is a question that many investors don't often contemplate. You might have naturally assumed that the aim is to continually grow your personal wealth until you've amassed everything you and your family could ever desire. However, this perspective on the end game presents several issues: Do you wish to dedicate every waking moment to managing your investments, or would you prefer more leisure time? For most individuals, the ability to create free time to spend with family is invaluable, leading them to delegate some tasks to others to gain more free time. If you don't have a clear finish line where you have sufficient funds, how can you determine when you've triumphed in the game? Maybe you envision investing as a lifelong endeavor to leave a substantial inheritance for your children. Do you perceive successful investing as more of a skill or an art form? A skilled investor comprehends the fundamentals of investing and can conduct thorough due diligence to distinguish between hype and reality. Once you've mastered the skill and learned how to safely amass wealth, your artistic side can emerge and shape your actions. Striking a balance between the art and skill of investing is essential to feeling satisfied with your efforts. Can you imagine a scenario where managing your investments becomes more of a hindrance to the lifestyle you aspire to, rather than a benefit? This might be difficult to envision when you're just starting out. However, there are indeed individuals who devote all their time to earning more money to purchase new luxuries (airplanes, yachts, magnificent homes) that they never have time to actually use and enjoy. Instead, these wealthy individuals employ staff to maintain and manage their assets while they focus on acquiring even better luxuries. Perhaps this is a problem you'd like to encounter. Or it may seem so distant that you're content to deal with it when it arises, but unless you take the time to define your own end game, you're setting yourself up for a difficult exit from a treadmill. So, what is the end game's objective? Logically, the goal is relatively straightforward: The end game's objective is to accumulate enough wealth that you can stop taking further risks. At that point, you can retire from the investing game and spend the rest of your life pursuing your personal passions without any limitations. Sometimes people assume they have to be billionaires to achieve this. It's possible to reach the end game point with much less wealth than that. For instance, a business owner recently sold his company for $12 million after paying his taxes. He invested that money in U.S. Treasury Bonds. He and his wife now have an annual budget of $300,000 on which they live in their already paid-for home. This is enough money for them to take vacations whenever they want and buy a new car each year. When they pass away, the $12 million will be divided between their two adult children. They have reached their own personal end game, which is fantastic. The benefits of having a clear end game in mind while you play the investing game are: Unless you have an end game in mind – a point at which the investing game is over for you and you have been declared the winner – you'll keep on putting your capital at risk in investments which may or may not work out. Sooner or later, the odds are very good you'll make a bad investment which takes you away from your end game rather than closer towards it. Having an end game gives you perspective. Instead of letting the game run you – and getting on the treadmill of making more and more – you view money for what it really is: a stepping stone to a happy life rather than an end in and of itself. Having an end game firmly set reminds you that you don’t have to win at all costs. This will relieve a lot of pressure many investors feel. Thinking about your personal end game point actually increases the chances you’ll be around to enjoy it. It’s amazing how many successful people never have time to savor their own successes because they’re too busy trying to chalk up yet another win. Knowing when you’ve achieved enough provides some great balance in your life. This really comes down to the matter of whether you genuinely want to invest for your future life or do you want to spend your entire life running your investments? Your primary goal is to have a happy and successful personal life and everything else, including the business of investing, should be viewed as subsidiaries of that overarching goal. If you have your financial life in order, you’re then free to enjoy all the things money cannot buy – true love, free time, a complete absence of stress and a personal sense of mission that makes your life worth living.