The Psychology of Money - An Investment Manager\'s Guide to Beating the Market

Strengthening One’s Abilities 35

35

CHAPTER

5

Strengthening One’s Abilities

Drop and Give Me 50

The nature of man is always the same; it is their habits that sepa-

rate them.

—Confucius

Remember the premise of this book: Master investors have earned

their title by developing skill at both ends of the spectrum. Their

ability to run on all eight cylinders gives them the competitive edge.

The question is, then, what can we ordinary investors do to im-

prove our game?

First off, we can learn our own preferences so that we know

ourselves as investors. We can only improve our personal perfor-

mance, and that of our team, from the vantage point of self-knowl-

edge. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator helps in this regard. It al-

lows individuals to see clearly how they are “hardwired.”

The next step is to interpret the results from the perspective of

improving investment performance. This step is similar to golfers

or tennis players analyzing their weaknesses and then working with

a coach to improve their putting or serving. The difference is that

a golfer usually knows his weakness (putting, sand traps, driving,

etc.), whereas a money manager may have no idea what the weak-

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