What Did Chip Kelly and Investors Say Yes To?

It's All About The Yes

by: Brendan Magee


Yesterday was about as painful as it gets for Philadelphia Eagles fans. Visions of making the playoffs and maybe even a Super Bowl run came pretty much crashing down to the ground in a ball of flames as the Dallas Cowboys beat the Eagle in a putrid display of football.

One of the prime target of Eagle's fans anger is their newly acquired, $60 million cornerback, Byron Maxwell. He couldn't stop anybody the past couple of weeks and he is making ordinary wide receivers look like superstars.However, yesterday's terrible loss, the poor performances turned in by the players, or the fan's upsets could not have happened without someone first say yes to something that is completely at odds with playing good football.

Someone had to say yes to paying $60 million dollars to a cornerback who at this point isn't worth $200. Someone had to say yes to an offensive line that can't block. Someone had to yes to letting Chip Kelly take full control of player personnel decisions. In essence someone had to saying yes to a lot of things that were in complete conflict with what the Eagles and their fans were out to produce. It's going to be a wast of time if the Eagles don't start working on the right side of the problem.

Same thing holds true for investors. I hear complaints from investors all the time about the stock market, their advisers, their company's 401k plan, the low returns they are experiencing, etc. Now, how do they typically go about fixing these problems? They change their adviser, get out of the market, stop contributing to their 401k plan, or change their investments. The one thing they don't do is, stop to do is find out what it is they are saying yes to that is in complete conflict with their peace of mind and investment success.

Think about it for a second. Bernie Madoff could not have ripped off dime one unless people said yes and given him their money. Your adviser could not have misled you without you saying yes to whatever they were suggesting. The market couldn't deliver terrible returns unless you said yes to a poorly diversified mix of assets. Investments that took a dive and then missed the rebound couldn't have done that unless you said yes to taking your money out of the market at the worst possible time. You couldn't stay confused to what your 401k plan was doing unless you said yes to not making a phone call and had your vendor sit down and help you better understand the plan and how to best take advantage of it.

So here is the crux of the matter for the Eagles and investors, It is so much easier to point the finger in someone else's direction and blame them for your troubles. It is easier and completely disempowering. Nothing but nothing happens without a football team or investor first giving their permission. Byron Maxwell doesn't collect a cent or step on to the Eagles football field without someone in the Eagle's front office saying yes. Investors don't feel disappointed, angry, and frustrated with their money and investments before having said yes to something that is in complete conflict with achieving peace of mind.

Now here is why you cannot fix this problem on your own, what ever the Eagles or an investor said yes to had to look reasonable and sound at the time. No one hands a football player millions of dollars without doing tons of research on that player. No one hands their hard earned money over to a mutual fund or investment manager without doing a fair amount of research on the fund or adviser. If you did, shame on you, no one else. So it is fairly predictable that,  given the same set of circumstances, you will make the same choices all over again. You will be making choices and engaged in behaviors that by all appearances are the right ones to be followed. but you will be in conflict with yourself. We are the product of our habits.

Both the Eagles and investor, before trying to fix their problems, would do well to first find out what it is that they are saying yes to. They also need to realize that they are hard wired to make those same kinds of decisions going forward. They need to have someone they can turn to who will step in and let them know when they start to go down those same paths again. That's a coach and they are invaluable.

Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching. With questions or comments e-mail brendan@coachgee.com or call 610-446-4322.