Breakfast With Tiger Woods

Breakfast with Tiger Woods: The Difference Between Good and Great

By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud, President, Investment U
Monday, March 3, 2003: Issue #218

Yesterday morning I had breakfast with the World Champ.

Okay, so it wasn’t actually Tiger Woods. (Yes, I’ll admit it my title was a cheap ploy to get you to read; I apologize). I had breakfast yesterday with Kevin Pritchard, the current windsurfing world champ. In my defense, breakfast with Kevin Pritchard to a windsurfer like me is like breakfast with Tiger for golf fanatics, as a good day of wave sailing beats the best day on the golf course to me.

What I find interesting is that Tiger Woods had a coach to thank for his success (Butch Harmon). And so does Kevin Pritchard. When you are undeniably the best golfer (or best windsurfer) on the planet, what use could a coach possibly be?

The Importance Of Having A Coach Or Mentor

I really don’t think Kevin could have become the windsurfing world champ without the help. And there are lessons here for us as well.

What I mean is this: If the best in the world still rely on coaching, shouldn’t we be willing to do the same? After all Tiger Woods has become the best golfer in the world today – and arguably the best of all-time – in just a few years. He’s won each of the four majors at least once and he’s shattered all previous prize-money records.

Yet Tiger Woods still needs a coach. What Tiger Woods – and anyone smart enough and driven enough to become the best in their field – realizes is that you can never stop improving your game. Whether it’s a slight adjustment to his swing a new stance for hitting out of bunkers or a slight adjustment to his putting grip there’s always some piece of Tiger’s game that can be improved.

If left alone, those weaknesses – and complacency in general – would eventually prove to be Tiger’s downfall. But the great ones recognize this and they continue to look for others to help them as they strive to get better.

What The Great Ones Have In Common

Watching both Tiger Woods and Kevin Pritchard – two men unquestionably at the top of their fields – a few things stand out:

- Talent isn’t enough to become great. You’ve got to work hard as well.
- Hard work will help you stay completely cool and controlled when pressured.
- Avoiding mistakes is a major key to winning.
- You must make changes to get to the next level.

When it comes to investing, judging from this list, most people aren’t willing to become GREAT They aren’t willing to work hard at it. They easily lose their cool and regularly make emotional not rational investment decisions. They make many major mistakes and don’t learn from them or don’t learn to cut their losses. And when they discover they’re doing something wrong, they still continue to do that wrong thing.

I don’t get it.

But that’s where the benefit of having a “coach” or “mentor” comes into play. When Tiger Woods – without realizing it – alters his backswing ever so slightly he has a coach there to point out the flaw and immediately correct it. Why shouldn’t we as investors have the same type of “coach” working for us?

One of the things I’m trying to accomplish with the Investment U E-Letter is to become your “coach.” To help you stay on the right path. To help you recognize your mistakes. Hey, you may not become the next Warren Buffett, or Tiger Woods, or even Kevin Pritchard. But you’ll be pretty darn good at investing.

And at the very least, in time, you’ll reach the point where you don’t worry about losing your wealth ever again. You’ll know that what you’re doing just plain works over time. And isn’t that where you want to be?

Good investing,

Steve

Today’s IU Crib Sheet

Coaches keep us focused and working hard on the right things; they help us avoid mistakes, and they help take us to the next level. In addition to using the Investment U E-Letter for that purpose, you should also make sure that you talk about investing regularly with trusted friends, a trusted financial advisor, or an independent service. One such service is the American Association of Individual Investors. You can check them out at www.aaii.com.
A trading coach I recommend is Van Tharp. He and I are speaking Wednesday night at our Investment U seminar. As an introduction, you may want to consider his book Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom or visit his website at www.IITM.com. Additionally he offers Investment U readers $100 off on his Peak Performance Course click here for details.

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