Quiet Compounding, 3 Lessons from Roger Federer’s Dartmouth Commencement Speech, Investing Lesson from DPM
Hi readers,
This week I’d like to share with you these ideas:
Quiet compounding - Collaborative Fund
3 Lessons from Roger Federer’s Dartmouth Commencement Speech
Investing lesson from Singapore DPM
Quiet Compounding - Collaborative Fund
Morgan Housel’s recent article on Quiet Compounding started with a quote from Lao Tzu, which reminds me of a LinkedIn post I shared 2 years ago.
In a world where social media makes it so easy to compare our lives with others, the ability to quietly compound is a powerful skill.
Save and invest for long periods of time, without comparing yourself to others.
Have an internal compass and your own yardstick for success
This is a more successful way to build wealth than trying to “win” the social comparison game.
Read more: Quiet Compounding - Collaborative Fund
3 Lessons from Roger Federer’s Dartmouth Commencement Speech
I highly recommend you to watch Roger Federer’s 25 minute commencement speech at Dartmouth.
Here are 3 lessons that resonated with me.
1. Effortless is a myth
There’s a Chinese saying, “台上一分钟，台下十年功” which roughly translates to a one minute performance on the stage requires ten years of hard work.
The more effortless something looks, the more practice happens behind the scenes.
“People would say my play was effortless. Most of the time they meant it as a compliment, but it used to frustrate me when they would say: he barely broke a sweat or he is even trying. The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy. I spent years whining, swearing, sorry, throwing my racket before I learned to keep my cool.
I didn't get where I got thanks to pure talent alone. I got there by trying to outwork my opponents. I believed in myself, but believe in yourself has to be earned.”
2. Accept and learn from losses
Champions are those who lose and learn how to pick themselves up and try again.
“In tennis, as in life, you will lose points, matches, and even entire seasons. The key is to not let these speedbumps bring you down. Accept and learn from your losses, and look forward. It’s natural when you’re down, to doubt yourself and to feel sorry for yourself…
But negative energy is wasted energy. You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments. That is, to me, the sign of a champion. The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. It’s because they know they lose again and again and have learned how to deal with it.”
3. Life is bigger than the court
It’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture when you’re focused on mastering your craft, but life is multi-dimensional.
“Even when I was just starting out, I knew that tennis could show me the world. But tennis could never be the world… even when I was in the top five, it was important to me to have a life. A rewarding life, full of travel, culture, friendships, and especially family. I never abandoned my roots. I never forgot where I came from. But I also never lost my appetite to see the very big world.”
Listen: Roger Federer’s Dartmouth Commencement Speech
Investing lessons from Singapore DPM
“What would you advise a teenager who has $1,000 to invest in?”
Recently attended a personal finance community event, and this question was posed to the panellists.
The speakers mentioned methods such as dollar cost averaging, indexing etc. Whereas DPM said,
“Invest in yourself! In Singapore, our key capital is our human resource”.
Thinking back, one of the best investments I’ve made is to start reading books.
Not compulsory school reading, but reading out of curiosity.
My parents thought that investing is something “risky” and I used to feel lost about how to manage money.
Until I started to invest my time into reading investing books, learning from others and I gained confidence on how to analyse a business. Books became my mentors.
At 19, I opened my brokerage account and started my investing journey by buying my first stock.
Never taught that investing can teach me so many things about myself, the importance of temperament, and the willingness to do nothing so as to not interrupt compounding.
And it has also led me to share my ideas online and connect with like-minded people.
What are some ways you are investing in yourself?
That's all I have for you today.
If you enjoy this post, the best compliment you can give me is to share this with one person who would benefit from it.
Stay curious and see you soon.
Cheers,
Tess
Let's connect! 💬 You can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube.