Friday, September 04, 1998
Focus
by Richard Dressner ([email protected])
About a million miles had passed behind me before I hung up the keys for good. Seems like a lot, but hardly an extraordinary amount for a truck driver. Throughout that career, some words of wisdom stayed with me: "You're looking in the wrong place."
They were imparted to me by a license examiner. Before my first commercial test, I'd made darn sure to know all the rules, had the pre-trip safety inspection memorized, and actually managed to disconnect and reconnect the trailer without dropping it on it's belly. A few turns around the block convinced the examiner that I was adept at avoiding curbs and telephone poles, and we headed out to the country.
Those of you that have ever ridden in a heavily sprung vehicle know what potholes do to your back, so I carefully steered around them (out of deference to the examiner, you understand). Not easy to miss all of them at 55, but I thought I was doing a pretty good job, even though I was constantly yawing and weaving on this broken country road. Staring straight ahead and hanging on to the door, he said: "You're looking in the wrong place."
My reply was a little testy, as I told him I was looking where the holes are. "That's the problem. See that tree down the road? That's where you should be looking."
The scales fell from my eyes, angelic trumpets blared, and our course suddenly became straight and direct. Looking far enough ahead, minute corrections were enough to keep us pointed in the right direction, while avoiding the bumps and holes in front of us.
If your investing course is full of corrections and constantly changing directions, maybe you aren't looking far enough ahead.
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