There is no law compelling anyone to invest – it is entirely discretionary.
Previously, I have written several blogs about attitude and mindset having a much bigger influence on financial decisions than one’s income or occupation.
Dating back centuries, there are many wonderful pieces of literature containing brilliant references to attitude and mindset. I’ve hand-picked three (3) of my favourite examples.
Dealing with challenges [The Fox]
During the 6th century BC, Greek storyteller Aesop narrated the famous fable ‘The Fox and the Grapes’.
This fable relates to one’s attitude towards missing out on something.
The Fox and The Grapes (by Aesop)
A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree.
The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox’s mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.
The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it.
The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way.
So, he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more.
Again and again, he tried, but in vain.
Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.
“What a fool I am,” he said.
“Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for.”
And off he walked very, very scornfully.
A reality of life is that one won’t always get what one wants.
That does not mean giving up.
The fox in this fable throws the toys out of the cot and resorts to blame and criticism. From the disappointment of ‘missing out’ it adopted a bad attitude by suggesting that the grapes were undesirable.
Hence the expression “sour grapes.”
Someone with a good attitude confronts challenges with increased effort, lateral thinking and/or by seeking help from proven professionals in the relevant field.
Tall Poppy Syndrome is a modern-day Australian version of the fox in Aesop’s fable.
“Cutting down the tall poppy” refers to petty jealousies and people with bad attitudes attacking others merely for having success.
Growth through great diversity of experiences [The Elephant]
‘The Rope of Resistance’ is a priceless piece of literature from the Ages.
This popular metaphor refers to infant elephants in rural villages being tied to a short rope.
The Rope of Resistance
A small amount of slack in the rope confines the infant elephant to a space that’s about the size of a tiny room.
The elephant realises that it cannot break free and accepts its fate of being restrained.
As the elephant gets older, the rope is removed.
There are no chains, cages or barbwire fences anywhere.
So, the opportunity is well and truly there for the elephant to explore the jungle, to learn and develop.
But the rope has brainwashed the elephant.
It lacks curiosity and rejects the opportunity to venture beyond that small room.
By insulating itself away from the many wonders of the jungle, the elephant lives its life in a ‘bubble’.
The consequence of this resistance is the elephant only knows One Way – the elephant’s way.
The main message from this metaphor is that one’s beliefs and capabilities become limited by nonsensical barriers built through stubborn resistance, ignorance, arrogance and naivety.
Narrowmindedness is a learned behaviour which limits belief, suppresses personal growth and stifles intelligence.
The foundation of personal growth, enhanced intelligence and making better decisions comes from a preparedness to explore new frontiers, to be forever curious, to gain exposure to a diverse range of experiences and to use evidence as validation.
Elephants who refuse to leave their room will always have a very shallow depth of knowledge and curtailed intellectual development.
In Australian property market parlance, a comparative good example of ‘an elephant’ is someone who has spent their entire life living in (say) Sydney and has zero curiosity about anything else beyond their concrete jungle.
Whether to live, work, invest or retire, Dumbo the elephant regards each of the 400-townships outside of Sydney as ‘second-rate’.
Brainwashed and annoyingly narrowminded, the elephant repeatedly claims that their room is ‘the best’ room.
But mumbo-jumbo is just that, regardless of Dumbo’s big profile.
Even when spoon-fed quality information, real estate elephants still try to rebut indisputable facts, such as:
- Official ABS statistics for internal migration confirm that Sydney is nowhere near as popular as Dumbo suggests. For each of the last 20-years, the difference between people ‘moving to Sydney’ and ‘moving away from Sydney’ was a net population decline. For perspective, 250,000 (net) people permanently relocated away from Sydney over the last 10-years to various other parts of the jungle, mostly to regional wonders.
- Over the last 20-years, Sydney ranked in the middle-of-the-pack for average annual capital growth rates out of Australia’s 400+ townships.
- The unwanted reality of having the highest mortgages in Australia is that the annual drain on property investor household budgets is twice as damaging from Sydney real estate as elsewhere.
Property investors with a genuine desire to become elite decision makers would do well to acquire the behavioural traits of the most intelligent animal in the jungle – chimpanzees.
An innate curiosity and the courage to walk-the-walk is the cornerstone of thought leadership.
Leadership [The Lorax]
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American author of more than 60 children’s books. He was a cartoonist, a truly brilliant storyteller and wonderful educator.
The way in which Dr Seuss articulated so many important messages demonstrated brilliance and great leadership, regardless of the age of readers of his literature.
Dr Seuss has many famous quotes. This is my favourite:
That quote came from Dr Seuss’ 1971 masterpiece, The Lorax.
Clearly, Dr Seuss was ahead of his time when he created The Lorax character to put a spotlight on harm that humans are causing to the environment.
Dr Seuss’s quote makes me think about some current-day needs for greater societal awareness and leadership.
Top of my list are financial independence, encouraging aspirational attitudes, improving the deplorable knowledge of numerous housing related matters and society’s seriously poor nutritional standards.
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