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Do You Have What it Takes to be a Great One?

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My son’s high school hockey team won their game the other night 7-1. In what can often be a tense ride home (dad’s you know what I mean) I was more relaxed talking about his play. One of his comments was “If we beat them 7-1 what are the other teams winning by that beat us 7-1?”

I’ve been thinking about that comment.

Becky responded that both teams looked evenly matched at the beginning and then at one point it shifted one way.

It’s hard to see that shift live and in person.

It’s easier to see it after the game.

Take baseball, for example. If you go to a Red Sox game and see American League MVP Mookie Betts play, you would have a hard time deciphering his MVP skills compared to the rest of the lineup. In one game that is. Because the difference between most professional players is only visible after dozens and dozens of at bats and even then there’s not much separation between the winner of the MVP and the runner-ups.

Growing up in the 80s, I had the opportunity to see Wayne Gretzky and his Oilers play the Boston Bruins at the old Boston Garden. The Great One scored 92 goals in the 1981-82 season, had 200 points in a season four times, which has never been repeated since (the reasons why are here). But when my dad and I watched him play, he wasn’t particularly big, or fast, or impressive. But for all the reasons we already know, he was the Great One for a reason, which was crystal clear at the end of each season.

Last weekend Bruins great Patrice Bergeron played in his 1000th game. If you watch him live you see he’s a great player but he’s not the biggest or the most skilled player necessarily. He just puts his head down and works. And after 1000 games, there’s something to see. But don’t think for a minute it was easier for him. Because it wasn’t. He remembers what it felt like to be cut from his midget team.

As an investor, it’s difficult to see success after one day, month, quarter, year or even a few years. I consider three-years to be perhaps equivalent to one season in sports. The key is to put several investing seasons together, and stick to your game plan. And if you do that you just might become a great investor. Because believe me, when you’re in the investing game, it’s nearly impossible to see who’s great and who isn’t. That takes time.

P.S. Thinking about great seasons, Young Research’s Retirement Compounders has had an average annual return of 12.4% over the last three-years and 12.5% over the last ten.

A sneak peak at NESN’s ‘Bergeron at 1000’.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy. 

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.
E.J. Smith is the 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. 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, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart 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@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.

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