Wait. Then Wait Again.
Have you ever wanted something, and then started seeing it everywhere?
Maybe it was a car we wanted, and now we see it at every stoplight.
Or maybe it’s Ranch Dressing.
Foreigners who came to watch the World Cup couldn’t get enough.
Psychologists call this the frequency illusion.
The thing was always there. We just started noticing it.
Everywhere I go, I see timeless investment principles.
This past weekend, I found one at church.
Our pastor preached on Psalm 27.
First, a little context on this chapter.
David (the same one who beat Goliath) was writing about the enemies advancing and surrounding him.
He opens with the following:
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
That’s some Davy Crockett and Alamo stuff right there.
I am a Texan by birth.
David shows his confidence because he tells us what he actually wants.
One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
He didn’t ask for safety or victory. He desired the one thing no one can take away: his faith.
This is similar to what Viktor Frankl experienced in Man’s Search for Meaning (my favorite book, and one I highly recommend).
The Nazis captured him. He saw the worst of humanity, but he never lost his own, nor did he stop believing in ours.
He famously wrote:
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.
Okay, back to David.
In the middle of the Psalm, his starts to lose confidence. He begs God not to hide, not to forsake him, not to hand him over to the people lying about him.
Then comes the ending. Verses 13 and 14:
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.
Wait. Then wait again.
Waiting exposes whether we want God’s gifts or God Himself.
That’s a decades-over-days type of investment idea.
Charlie Munger said:
The big money is not in the buying or the selling. It’s in the waiting.
Some investors believe they must take action when stock prices move.
However, most of the time it’s better to stay invested.
Jack Bogle (founder of Vanguard) said:
Don’t just do something. Stand there.
We wait because what we’re waiting for is worth more than the comfort of doing something.
The things that matter most in life take time.
That means being disciplined in work that is righteous.
The waiting will pay off.
As Abraham Lincoln said:
I will prepare, and someday my chance will come.
It will for us all.
Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep going.
Now here’s what I’ve been reading, listening, and watching:
Brent Beshore on Faith, Leadership, and the Power of Compounding | Compounding Wisdom | Ludacka Wealth Partners
Why Watching the Market Every Day Will Drive You Insane | Compounding Wisdom | Ludacka Wealth Partners
Are You Saving Too Much Money? | The Prof G Pod | Scott Galloway
The Counterintuitive Rule That Could Beat the Market | The Meb Faber Show
Decagon’s Playbook for Building Enterprise AI Applications | a16z
The Retirement Savings Time Bomb Ticks Louder by Ed Slott
The Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Rosen
The Valuation Treadmill by James Park
A few posts on Leadership:
