The power of myth

the power of myth 

When I was a kid, I greatly admired  Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and  Yogi Berra. They were my heroes, and I wanted to be just like them.   I treasured their baseball cards, I knew their stats, the RBIs, the ERAs, their batting averages, how much they got paid, and how they came up from the minor leagues. As a nine-year-old kid, when I stepped up to bat or played first base or catcher, I wasn’t me. I pretended I was a famous baseball player. It’s one of the most powerful ways we learn, and we often lose that as adults.  We lose our heroes. Today, I watch young kids playing basketball near my home.   On the court they’re not little Johnny. They’re pretending to be   their favorite basketball hero. Copying or emulating heroes is true   power learning. I have new heroes as I grow older. I have golf heroes and I copy their swings and do my best to read everything I can about them. I also have heroes such as Donald  Trump,  Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, George Soros, and Jim Rogers. I know their stats just like I knew the ERAs and RBIs of my childhood baseball heroes. I follow what  Warren Buffett invests in, and I read anything I can about his point of view on the market and how he chooses stocks. And I read about Donald Trump, trying to find out how he negotiates and puts deals together. Just as I was not me when I was up to bat, when I’m in the market or I’m negotiating a deal, I am subconsciously acting with the bravado of  Trump. Or when analyzing a trend, I look at it as though  Warren Buffet were doing it. By having heroes, we tap into a tremendous   source of raw genius. But heroes do more than simply inspire us. Heroes make things look easy. Making it look easy convinces us to want to be just like them. “If they can do it, so can I.” When it comes to investing, too many people make it sound hard.  Instead, find heroes who make it look easy.