Grab your bull by the horns
- B.J. Yoder: Young Money
- October 15, 2021
- 893
We are absolutely swimming in information these days. One of my top quotes is from E.O. White when he said, “We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom.”
Think about it: The entire internet is at the tip of our fingers, and we can look up anything that comes to our minds in under one second. We have newspapers, podcasts, bloggers, seminars — you name the subject and we have information on it. That is a blessing and a curse, but we should take it as a blessing, no matter how overwhelmed we can get with everything we have access to.
Even though we can become inundated with information, we need to take the bull by the horns if we’re serious about something we want to learn about. Finance can be made up of so many subjects that can be learned about: Balancing a checkbook, learning about stocks, real estate, crypto and debt are just some things that can be overwhelming to learn about.
Eventually, we (at least me) come to a point where we say, “This is too much. There’s no point in even starting.” But that’s when we should press on. After we learn, we are not even close to done. That’s when the “do” part comes into play.
In the past I would consistently read about buying properties and making your money work for you. It sounded great, and it sounded like the life. I would read and read and read and never do anything about it. It was terrifying to think about moving the things I would read about into an action, but reading and learning can only get a person so far. We can learn all the information in the world, but if we don’t apply force to them, then the information will sit idle and catch dust.
There are plenty of people in this world that “catch dust” after deciding they need to take the step to learn, and it is a shame and a waste of time. The same thing happened to me when I thought about maybe getting into marketing. I took an online class and diligently learned about all the ways to online market different products. I spent evenings and Saturdays to take notes and sharpen my understanding, but looking back now, it’s been years and I have not used one shred of the teaching I took in — again, a waste.
Why does this dust begin to settle on the learning when people have a great opportunity come their way and everything lines up? My guess would be fear — fear the hard-earned money will evaporate from the owner’s possession if they decide to take a risk, fear something will go wrong.
Here’s a hint: Something almost always goes wrong when you take a risk. Ask one person who owns a rental property, who owns a business or who has taken a risk in the stock market. They will tell you at least one thing has gone wrong. Not every stock is going to be a winner. No rental house will have everything working perfectly; there will be a leaky pipe or the AC will stop working. Nothing will go perfectly when a risk is taken.
What’s holding you back? Have you been holding back on taking the initiative, or are you still thinking there is too much information out there so it is pointless to even start somewhere?
Figure out a starting point for your journey and start there. Not everything needs to be mapped out, but the first step does need to be taken. Restart the voyage if you stopped part way through or get off the dock if you haven’t started yet.
Holmes County native BJ Yoder is an insurance agent by day and a finance enthusiast by night. This column is for informational purposes only. He can be emailed at benjamin.john.yoder@gmail.com.