Every Loss Yields A Lesson, Every Win A Celebration
By Dave McLachlan
Let’s get one thing straight – I hate losing. In fact, I’ll bet that many people get a little queasy when it comes to the crunch and they’re on the wrong end of the stick – or stock as the case might be. But losing can be one of the greatest things ever to happen to you, and it comes down to a simple way of how you interpret it.
Sure, when you lose in life (and in the stock market) you could sulk about it for a few days. Or you could use it as a way to get sympathy with your friends (“You’ll never guess how much I lost!”).  You might even try to forget about it. But that loss won’t go away, and by doing any of the above things we miss out on the most important and powerful tool of all – the lesson.
You see, with every loss in life, we get a lesson to go with it. Life is very generous like that. And all it asks in return is that we see that lesson, use that lesson, and grow from that lesson.Â
Have you had a loss in the stock market? Great! Now analyse it, find out why it didn’t work, and use it to your advantage! Have you had a loss in life? Maybe been passed up for promotion, maybe had a relationship broken down, maybe just not where you thought you’d end up? Well then, this is great news. Because your loss is a great way of finding out what not to do. And once we know these things, we can “not do” them in the future. Or even better, we can do the opposite and try for greater results still.
You can always tell the people around you who do not learn from their losses. They might constantly complain, they might always be pushed around by others, or they might be outright depressed. I can tell that you are not one of these people, or you wouldn’t be reading this page. I am going to go out on a limb and say you are more likely the type of person who wants more happiness and greater success instead. And using the lesson in our losses is one of the greatest and simplest ways to find it.
But you know what’s even better? Most people think that they will reach a stage in life when they have no more problems – like retirement for example. But trust me – even these so called “ideal situations” bring with them their own unique problems and their own opportunity for loss and learning. Life will never be “problem free” – they will always be there in different forms – so learn to learn from your losses now, and save yourself the heartache later.
One last thing - when you win, celebrate and give yourself a mental reward, a pat on the back or even a little present: you deserve it for being so good!  Before you know it you’ll be laughing every time something “bad” happens, knowing you’re about to get a whole lot happier and a whole lot stronger. And that makes me happy.
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April 7, 2010
Tags: asx market watch, lose lesson, stock market, stock market win Posted in: Articles On Building Wealth
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Dave's Trading Diary - April 2010 | ASX Market Watch - April 12, 2010
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