How Love Plays a Part in Investing

May 11, 2016

How Love Plays a Part in Investing

I want to talk about a few other needs in addition to the ones I’ve addressed earlier. I’m speaking about connections and love. I’m not talking about romantic love per se, but rather being a part of a group. Who we are is really identified by our relationships. I can be any relationship whether it’s a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a father, a mother, a cousin, a friend, or a colleague. What would we be without our relationships? It’s one of those things where I’m not sure if anyone’s ever gonna perfect it because everybody has these very unique traits and unique thoughts. We’re all different, we’re all unique. In some ways we’re similar but all very different and making the connections is important. I would say connections in business have been my biggest assets. And this is how love plays a part in investing.

A number of years ago, after making a mistake with some people I was working with, I swore to myself that I would never burn a bridge. And I’ve had so many people burn me but I’ve also said that’s my experience. That’s what happens. I can’t let that affect me but one of my commitments is I will not burn a bridge, I will not burn a relationship. That has helped me so profoundly, it’s helped me more than I can explain.

I really do believe in the principle that people are the true assets. Everything that exists on earth which is physical whether it’s computers or it’s drinks or it’s a bag (and I’m just identifying things around my room right now) came from a person. I think if we really valued other people regardless of who they are, their circumstances, their stature, and their status, these connections that we make with people are very profound. In the end, you look at these human needs, these things that are driving us, that are pushing us, you can make incredible connections because in my opinion it comes down to who that person is and how to have the best relationship with them. At my point in life, it’s really about how can I create the most amount of value for them. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect but in the end, I think one of my core drivers is really figuring out ways to help them and to provide value.

This idea of connection and love is a need, it exists, and acknowledging it is profound. Sometimes people say that they don’t wanna get married or they don’t wanna have a relationship, they don’t wanna do this, they don’t wanna do that, and it’s because of past experiences. In the end, you have to realize that just because you had an experience with one person that had a bad outcome doesn’t mean that’s gonna happen with everybody. It doesn’t take away from the fact that we need relationships.

We need business relationships. I talked about the idea of certainty and uncertainty, those 2 principles, those 2 needs essentially involve people, right? Everything is essentially involving people but I think really understanding this idea of connection and love and really pursuing that and having something that’s healthy there is as powerful as one of these needs. Now, it may not be your focus right now, it may be in the back of your mind but as I said and as I’ve been saying, these different needs are manifesting at different points during our lives and they’re manifesting in different ways. By just stepping back and seeing where you’re at and what you’re trying to accomplish, connection and love might be a couple of those things that’s on the back burner right now. It could be one of those things where it is gonna come about and when it does, hopefully after listening to this and maybe going in reading some books and discovering more then you’ll recognize it and you’ll know what to do with it.

This blog was created based on our podcast with Patrick Donohoe. Click here to listen to it now!