Overcome Excuses in Your Web3 Portfolio

Warren Wednesday 5/10

In the 1985 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, Warren Buffett wrote:

“In any business . . . ‘except for’ should be excised from the lexicon. If you are going to play the game, you must count the runs scored against you in all nine innings.”

We often make excuses for poor performance due to outside circumstances instead of properly evaluating our own mistakes.

“I would have had a terrific trading year except for the pump and dump.”

“I would have secured a 10x return except for the rise in interest rates.”

Sound familiar?

When it comes to evaluating a potential investment, be on the lookout for excuses issued by founders. Are they missing milestones and blaming external forces?

The same rings true for your own investment practices. Be sure to keep a record of your gains as well as your losses to measure performance. After all, we cannot improve what we do not measure.

We are all responsible for our own portfolio returns. Making excuses in investing is never going to be a productive activity. The web3 space is subject to wild swings and uncertainty. Learning to avoid making excuses will make you more accountable and vigilant about the next opportunity.

Here are 4 key ways to take action instead of making excuses:

1. Don’t harp on past failures.

Part of the investing learning experience is accepting losses. Dwelling on past failures is unproductive and only going to make you feel worse. Look forward and dial-in on the things you have control over like asset allocation and timing.

2. Focus On Your Strengths

Excuses make us feel defeated and disheartened. Instead, we should focus on our strengths and circle of competence when it comes to making smart investments. Remember that you are still early to web3 and ahead of the curve.

3. Identify Your Weaknesses

Be honest with yourself about what you aren’t the best at. It’s actually quite liberating! Once you identify weaknesses you can begin turning them into strengths. Accept your flaws, embrace imperfection and internalize that nobody is perfect.

4. Don’t Compare Yourself To Others

Always remember that your journey in web3 is unique. It’s unhealthy to compare yourself to others and forgo opportunities because you might not be “good enough.” The only comparison you should make is to the person you were yesterday. Focus on consistency and growth; not those around you.