I agree with you philosophically (despite that the post cites something that is old news) but still one must be a little skeptical. American media/propaganda loves to tout the opportunities and hard work but filled with examples of idiot sons inheriting huge sums and end up ruining the family business. Further - Corporate America is filled with corruption, dirty politics and back-stabbing and ass-kissing. It must be true as ET the living proof of wanna-be traders who loath working for a corporation. I have done it for 20 years or so myself. As a European I find healthy skepticism GOOD and critical thinking a must have. I am amazed of the myriad of self-help and positive thinking mumbo-jumbo still creates such a messed up society like the USA.
Perhaps it is for those who take privilege for granted and plan on coasting through life on the coattails of others. For the rest of us, there are some useful nuggets worth chewing on.
Skepticism certainly has its place, especially here at ET. But why would you propose to be skeptical about an effort to become more perceptive and persistent? Are you suggesting the opposite? From a practical standpoint what, exactly, is your point in the context of this thread?
Quite true, no disagreement there. (Not sure how the European part fits in though.) Skepticism and open-mindedness are equally valuable yet frequently opposed character traits -- the trick is in finding the right mix. That old hidden path again.
Actually, let me amend that agreement. I read the first sentence and missed the anti-USA gist of the second, which helps explain your 'European' qualifier. While true that self-help mumbo-jumbo appears to influence Americans more than Europeans, it may be due to a regrettable lack of optimism in Europe, rather than a surfeit of naivete in the states. As far as the natives go, Americans certainly don't have a lock on foolish notions. When I was studying in England, I came across a poll suggesting half of all UK pet owners believe their cat or dog to possess intelligence on par with humans. My landlady, wonderful as she was, would have probably fit in with that group. Not exactly a shining testament to critical thinking, ey wot? Nor could one accuse the French or the Germans of being overly logical and clear-headed when it comes to cultural and economic issues... Better to be a lofty dreamer than a dour bitter-ender? The point is certainly up for debate -- on a different thread.
http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html This was aimed at high school kids, but there are a lot of great points. Worth the read. And since so many ET'ers view trading as a hopeful answer to the question "what do I want to do with my life," the connection seems oddly appropriate.
When "family money" gets to be so large that it can pay for a Harvard MBA it usually correlates with decades of persistence when it comes to: cutting losses, riding and compounding gains, managing risk, and not fighting the trend. As far as kids inheriting huge sums of money after their parents death and blowing it all away essentially ending a decades long trend of compounding wealth: if your a wealthy parent I think this problem can be avoided if you not wait till death to give your money away and just hope for the best. A better approach is to give your kids a little of your money and show them how to protect and compound it like you do. The less they 'get it' the less you give and the more they get it the more you give. This way by the time you finally do pass you do so with the confidence that your children know how to protect and compound wealth as you do. Besides you have one life to live so why wait till after you die and after its all over to give everything away, its not like you can take anything with you so why hold on to it all till the very end.
(1) Not many people are willing to wait a dozen years to make their first 5k (or even their first 50k, 100k, or 1,000k). People who are willing to wait tend to be very patient and seem to have a different sense of time (an almost eternal sense of time - the time is always now). (2) I think if you think discipline is a problem then maybe its symptomatic of much bigger problems like: lack of patience (warped sense of time), lack of confidence/faith in your methods, lack of energy/love/desire/understanding/whatever. I doubt success can be achieved through self-coercion path of discipline.