A Lesson from Legends: “Don’t Confuse Activity with Achievement”

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The Boston Celtics reached yesterday’s NBA trade deadline without making a trade. “Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge keeps a John Wooden book on his desk,” explains the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, “and he likes to think back to one of the legendary UCLA coach’s famous quotes when the NBA trade deadline arrives.” Himmelsbach writes:

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Don’t confuse activity with achievement,’’ Ainge said. “It might be that the best thing you ever did was stand pat. Red [Auerbach] told me in my first year doing the job, ‘The best trades I ever made were the ones I didn’t make. I held restraint.’ I’ve actually often thought of that, because sometimes you start feeling the heat because everybody around you is doing things. It’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ But it doesn’t always mean that it’s making everybody better. It just means that you’re making changes.’’

Take the wisdom from Wooden and Auerbach and apply it to your investment portfolio. If you choose not to make a trade, it doesn’t mean you’re not working or still achieving greatness. It simply means you didn’t make a trade.

Sometimes standing still is the hardest part about investing.

As the late great Jack Bogle said, “Don’t just do something, stand there!”

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.