Wealth Building Lessons from the World Cup

Posted on July 13th, 2010

It is unfortunate that much of the information emanating from the World Cup focused on bad officiating.  No doubt the officiating was not of the same caliber as the athletes.  In fact,  much of  what was written about the championship game centered around the claims by many of the Netherlands' players, supporters and even some members of the press that bias was exhibited repeatedly in distributing penalities.  Even if they are correct, the Netherlands did not score a single goal in the championship game.  Knowing that a bias exists, one must play harder and be more determined than his opponent.  Score enough goals to offset the bias.

What does this have to do with building wealth?  Many of the letters and e-mails that I receive are authored by people who blame others for their lack of economic success.  Allow me to paraphrase some of the recent comments:

I would really be wealthy if I hadn't paid 3% of the value of my portfolio all these years to a investment manager.  He made money every year; I didn't.

My 28-year-old brother, a high school drop out who still lives at home, just received 90% of my grandmother's estate.  It didn't help that I had an MBA!

If I had only majored in business, not fine arts (as Mom and Dad insisted). . . .

Most economically successful people know how to leverage.  They have learned how to capitalize upon disadvantages, reversals, biases, nepotism, "bad calls" and  lousy luck.  They do not dwell on an unfortunate situation; they direct their emotional energy into succeeding not into hating and resenting.  Many a millionaire has told me that their very success was a direct function of experiencing "bad calls" from relatives, teachers, employers, pricey financial advisors, the press and a myriad of other so-called unbiased referees.  Or, as one disinherited multi millionaire recently told me, "success...from proving that my parents bet on the wrong horses."

Category: Current Events
Tags: World Cup, economic success, the Netherlands,