As we approach the end of the year, it’s important to set aside some time strictly for self reflection. Examine your inner world and how it has impacted your outer world. Who have you been? What have you been doing? In the New Year, who do you want to be? What do you need to do become that person? Remember that your self discovery is worth abundantly more than imitating others or being someone else others want you to be.
We’ve all heard the saying that you have to risk a lot to make a lot, however, that’s not always true. It is possible to find investment opportunities with big upside and very little risk. These are called asymmetric risk/reward opportunities. These investments may be elusive and harder to find, but they do exist. For example, I’ve invested in online businesses with other more experienced investors, which allowed me to risk less capital and leverage the knowledge/experience of others to reap greater rewards. Begin with increasing your financial IQ, surrounding yourself with the right people, be able to identify the right opportunity when it presents itself, and take action!
I’ve been thinking of investing in Stitch Fix (SFIX), a specialized-fashion online retailer that provides personalized styling service, headquartered in San Francisco. The SFIX stock price hit a high of $51 back in September ’18, however, after slightly disappointing subscriber and sales numbers for its fiscal fourth quarter (2.74 million subscribers vs expected 2.8 million, and $318.3 million in sales versus expected $318.9 million), the stock is on sale at almost 50% from its previous high. This is understandable since subscriber growth is a direct revenue driver for consumer subscription businesses.
Stitch Fix’s secret sauce is its integration of fashion and data science. As it collects more data over time, it should be able to improve its ability to match outfits to customers.
Before buying any SFIX stock, I asked my wife to place an order through www.stitchfix.com to experience how the service really is. She filled out a style profile and once her package arrived, she had fun trying on the clothes and keeping what she wanted. The entire package was about $200, and she decided to keep 1 out of 5 pieces of clothing, which was $78 for a nice pair of pants. The one draw back I discovered is that you only get 3 days to make a decision once your package arrives.
At a current stock price of $26.36, SFIX is still on my radar as a long term play, but first, let’s see if the wifey decides to stay a subscriber of Stitch Fix.
On this journey of becoming financially free, it’s important to think beyond our own self-focused desires. Ultimately, it’s really all about serving and adding value to other people’s lives. I love Zig Ziglar’s quote: “If you will just help enough other people get what they want, you can have everything in life that you want.” Find a way to serve your community and help others with problems you’ve learned to overcome. As you expand your purpose to serve the greater good, you’ll begin to notice opportunities you never would have if you just focused solely on yourself.
No matter what you’re currently doing for a living, it is possible to find joy in your work. If you don’t fully love the work you’re doing or even if you absolutely hate it, just view it as a stepping stone to get to where you need to go. Use that unfulfilling feeling as a guide to know what you don’t like and then make plans to move forward to something else. Refuse to get caught in the trap of doing something you don’t fully love, settling for less, and staying stuck. You owe it to yourself (and the world) to continue searching for the work that makes your heart sing.
When it comes to your money, be aware that there are a lot of people looking to take a piece of your wealth! You’ve got to arm yourself with knowledge and increase your financial IQ to protect assets. As you acquire more money and resources, power and leverage will begin to shift in your favor. Learn the rules of the game to score offensively and build a defense that is difficult to penetrate.
It’s important to have fun, enjoy life, rejuvenate and relax, but don’t forget to always take some daily action towards your goals. Massive action is amazing, but even small steps in the right direction will get you closer to your dreams. Remember this: Small actions overtime will produce a compounding effect and are infinitely better than taking no action at all. Commit to not laying your head to rest in bed at night before doing one thing to ensure your dreams do come true.
Some people dream of success and then keep it at that, not knowing you’ve got to get up and work hard at it to make it a fact!!
Our imagination is truly a powerful thing. The imagination is the workshop of our mind where we can begin to organize our thoughts, and then through proper actions we can turn our thoughts into reality. When used incorrectly, however, we can be be frozen in place by troubles that never happened. Develop the courage to become bigger than your fears. It won’t be easy, but you can use your fear as a guide to know where you need to go and grow to live the life you truly desire.
No matter what your financial goal is (or any goal for that matter), if it’s above and beyond your current circumstances, then you’ll be required to exercise courage. There’s just no way around it. Start with small acts of courage, build it up like a muscle, and work your way up to taking life changing, courageous action!