“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” Fran Lebowitz
One of the most critical components of having a plan to make sure the fundamental assumptions are valid. Some examples include:
- No, the stock market does not do 15+% every year. So if your retirement depends upon this you need to change your plan.
- No, the housing market does not go only up. So don’t assume that you will buy a place and flip it in two months for a 50% profit.
- No, the government is not going to tell the truth all the time. So learn to look at the numbers and follow the money.
- Yes, tech companies use your data.
- No, nothing is really free. There is always a price to be paid (maybe not monetary but time, or information, or owing someone a future favor).
To understand the world better we need to look beyond our limited experience. One way to do so is listen to people with different experiences, and there are these things called “books” that have captured their perspectives and histories for thousands of years. You can get these from a place called a “library” for limited periods of time for free, or you can go to a “bookstore” (virtual or physical) to purchase them for long term study.
Be careful though, because reading leads to thinking and people in power don’t like it when we do so, that’s why there is so much “news” and “entertainment” to keep us from reading and thinking.