I was listening to a podcast about Poker and Risk by Cardiff Garcia host of the New Bazaar podcast (which I love).
He was interviewing Maria Konnikova author of "The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, And Win". The book talks about how Maria quit her job as a writer for the New Yorker and became a Professional Poker Player. The whole interview is very fascinated and everyone should go listen to it.
One of the key things that I took away from the conversation, were the various conversations Maria had with her Poker mentor after tournaments. Initially Maria would focus solely on the result whereas her mentor would focus on how Maria played in tournaments. So initially, Maria would come back super happy because she just won a tournament (remember she is now a Professional Poker player meaning all her livelihood comes from winning tournaments). However, her mentor would scold her for the way she played during the tournament.
Other times, Maria would complain about losing a tournament despite taking all the right steps and someone else getting lucky. Her mentor would scold her for complaining too much. But over time she began to understand what her mentor was trying to teach her. He was trying to share with her that the process matters A LOT more than the outcome. If she repeated used the right processes taking the right amount of risks during tournaments, she had a much better chance of winning than if she just tried to get lucky by taking on an unnecessary amount of risk.
On first listen it did not really click with me. I mean I was motivated by the episode and it was awesome to listen to. But I did not really understand what she was talking about. Until I was watching Man United.
Yup, that team. The team that has continually broken my heart with promises and hopes that disappear faster than the morning dew.
Anyway, the thought came in my head because as I was watching Man u get destroyed first by Leicester City (4-0) then by Liverpool (5-0) then by Watford (4-1).
I noticed a consistent trend.
Man U had absolutely NO PROCESS!
Man U relied heavily on the individual brilliance of players like Pogba, Bruno, Ronaldo, Greenwood, Rashford, or Sancho to make something happen out of nothing!
The coach (Ole Gunnar Solskjær since fired) had not done anything to make the team play in a way that brought out the strengths of the players and hide the weakness of the team.
Then I realized it was not just with Ole. This has been the calling sign of Man U for the last five years. We have had no consistency at coaching leading to no direction as to a specific style of play.
Which means the players that are signed are more signed for fan fare than to actually fit a system. It’s no wonder that when they play, it just looks like 11 guys doing their own thing on the field.
Now contrast that with Man City.
Just look at the number of trophies, they have won in the same time period.
You know why?!
Look at the number of coaches they have had in the same period.
Yup, ONE!
Everything changed for Man City the moment they brought in a coach that had a system and process in doing things. There was never any doubt about the playstyle of the team.
Because of this, the type of players they bought for the team fit a certain mold to fit the playstyle of the team. And you can see it when they play.
Every football fan can tell you exactly what Man City wants to do every game:
Keep possession
Pressure high up the field
Force turnovers
Quick short passes
Overload on the wings with Fullbacks
I remember watching an interview with Pep, after the team had just dominated a game. The interviewer asked him what he thought about the match expecting praise of the team. Pep went wild in the interview talking about how the team played poorly in the match and that they have a lot to work to do in training that week.
You would think that after a game where you just destroyed your opponent that the manager would be happy.
BUT NOPE!
Why?
Because Pep understood and understands process. He understood dunking on a bad team means nothing when you have much tougher opponents ahead. He was focused on the process, not the outcome.
He knows that if his process is in order and the team plays the way they know to play, 7.8 times out of 10. They will win!
So the question I have for you is
"What are you focused on in your finances and LIFE?"
Are you looking only at the results? Always hoping things just magically work out?
Or
Are you putting things in place to ensure you are successful more times than not?
In our day and age, it is so easy to see someone else get lucky at something we want. Then we get discouraged and wonder,
WHAT THE HELL AM I EVEN DOING?!
It is tempting to start chasing the same things and hope you hit it big. But like Man U, you may win some games but you will never win trophies.
When it comes to Finance, to win there is a process and it is verysimple:
Live on Less than you Make
Invest and Save the Rest.
How we all go about this might be a bit different. However, never look at the results of others and use that as your barometer for what you should be doing.
We all walk at a different pace.
Determine your pace.
But the only way you can determine your pace is to continually learn and build out processes.
So what will you be focused on in 2022?
The Process
or
The Results
Thank you for reading.🙏🏾
I hope you all have A WONDERFUL week and weekend. Go subscribe to Rambling Mind Podcast for more personal finance and investing thoughts. You can also catch me on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube every day.
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God bless Each and Everyone of y’all
MERRY CHRISTMAS
✌🏾
-Kelechi