HEARTH & HOME
Take a Risk,
Build Some Wealth!
By Donald Broughton
W
e’ve all heard it said in many ways, “Nothing
ventured, nothing gained,” but it is one of
life’s most important lessons. Wealth in all
parts of our lives is created by taking a risk.
Physical wealth, spiritual wealth, personal
wealth, financial wealth are all created by taking a risk.
Get out of bed and risk stumbling on the way to the bathroom, get
in the shower and risk slipping and hitting your head on the tiles, but
if you don’t get out of bed and shower, you won’t be ready for the day,
probably won’t stay gainfully employed for very long, and you may see
your list of friends dwindle.
Decide to exercise on a regular basis. In order to grow the wealth of
good health and physical fitness, you must take a chance. I take a risk
every time I get on my bike. On the road bike, I risk getting hit by a
car. On the mountain bike, I risk falling over a rock or a tree root, and
injuring myself miles away from civilization or access to medical care.
If I don’t get on that bike, I get fatter and more out of shape, but more
importantly, I miss out on the great way I feel after the ride and the
friendships I have forged with fellow bikers.
Decide to spend more time studying spirituality and God as you
understand him. I believe Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and I spend
time daily praying and reading to grow my spiritually. Let me be very
clear: I’m not in any danger of ever being singled out as a saint - far
from it! I am a deeply flawed sinner, but it was St. Thomas Aquinas
who pointed out that he started each morning knowing he was
flesh, knowing he was a wretch, and praying for God’s guidance and
assistance in leading a more Christ-like life the rest of the day. Maybe
St. Thomas and I are wrong. Maybe it was Buddha, or Muhammad, or
Confucius, or L. Ron Hubbard who had it all figured out. But if I don’t
take a chance and believe that there is a path to spiritual enlightenment,
it will be impossible to build any significant amounts of spiritual wealth.
Decide to ask that girl out, or say yes to coffee with that guy in
accounting. Guys, that girl may be the future mother of your children,
the single greatest love of your life. She might also be “bunny-in-the-
pot” crazy, but unless you ask her out, you will never know. Ladies, the
guy in accounting might be the man of your dreams and your knight in
shining armor. He might also be a stalker or a serial killer (always make
sure someone knows where you are), but unless you say yes, you may
never know that under the accounting nerd façade, there is a hunk in
hiding. Sidebar: I’m not opposed to women asking men out, but what I
am saying is that in order to build wealth in your personal life, you have
to take a chance, take a risk, and believe in the possibilities, no matter
how many times you may have failed to find them.
A homeless person can tell you that in order to build financial
wealth, you must actually take that risk. Find prudent risks - things you
understand - and put a few dollars a day or a few dollars a week into
something other than bills, recreation and lottery tickets.
Final thoughts: I used to play rugby and ran to stay in shape, I’ve
studied most of the world’s major religions, been on hundreds of dates,
and invested in thousands of things. Along the way, I’ve made plenty
of mistakes and taken risks that produced zero initial return. That said,
even in the complete failures, I learned something that helped produce
future wealth creation. I don’t invest in passenger travel companies
or cryptocurrencies, listen to zealots preaching exclusion or hate,
participate in high impact sports, or spend time with people who abuse
drugs, dogs or credit card debt. Take a risk in all areas, determine what
you should not be doing, and discover what you should be doing with
your life. Take a risk and build some wealth!
As founder and managing partner of Broughton Capital, Broughton is a frequent guest on
CNBC, “Nightly Business Report”and Fox. He is regularly quoted in The Wall Street Journal,
where he is also recognized as a top stock picker, as he is by Fortune, Zacks and StarMine.
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