What is most interesting is how little people, even seasoned vets, learn from the past. Those with the largest egos invariably seem to crash the hardest when boom-times end. We have seen countless mansions and Audi A8s repossessed over the years, and will no doubt see more.
Ego Is Your Enemy
Ryan Holiday just wrote a great book called “Ego Is Your Enemy” that addresses all of this; every time you cede control to your ego, your life suffers.
Ego doesn’t just entail cockiness in the Donald Trump sense, and it is not just about humility.
It is about defensiveness, presumptuousness, anger, and the inability to say no to business opportunities.
It is also about thinking that being good at real estate or mortgages makes you good at everything else (something I was more than guilty of when I lost a huge sum of money investing in an outside industry).
We have been yelled at and condescended to more than ever lately by both Realtors and competitors. Some of it may be stress, but more often than not it is ego.
Excessive ego burns bridges that often prove invaluable when boom times end. We strongly encourage everyone to keep their bridges intact.
Here is a link to James Altucher’s recent podcast with Ryan Holiday.
