Mindfull of Dollars

Mindful of Dollars

The intent of Hedge Community is clearly defined in uniqueness. www.hedgecommunity.com Of course providing knowledge and information is always a directive for any organization in the investment arena. Yet there many newsletters and informative sources for the basic information of investing. Certainly you want more then the same recycled repetitive information. Our goal is to provide you with thought provoking information that can truly make a difference in your decisions about money. This starts with helping you understand the mental aspects of financial decision making. Let’s clarify that this is not making recommendations or providing you with investment advice. Those exercises are simply a way of passing personal accountability to a so-called professional. While this may be helpful it many times leads to disaster and an overbearing amount of personal guilt.
The present marketplace is full of fear and guilt. How else would any self respecting person deal with loss. Financial loss always leaves a prevailing mist of gloom, doom and ultimately personal guilt. Should of, could of, would have become the on-going self talk. And the cycle begins anew as one attempts to regain that which has been lost. Of course fear makes smart decisions about money less likely.
How can you win and avoid these gaping pitfalls in investment strategy? That is what we want to help you identify. Much deeper than simple recommendations and advice, more valuable then stock picking, tout sheets or any other form of recommendations. We are talking about self identification, personal accountability and consistently making smart decisions about money.
Over the coming weeks and months we would like to take you on a journey of mindful strategy creation processes. These will give you useful tools that can be consistently accessed in order to improve your decision making process.
Today let’s begin with a foundational issue. Any investment strategy begins with suitability. In almost every major loss the primary factor looked at is suitability. We want to start with one factor of suitability (the concept of suitability takes many factors into consideration) that of risk tolerance. Over the years it has been my contention that the one glaring misunderstanding with the vast majority of investors is the personal awareness and full understanding of risk tolerance. The importance of this has mostly been taken for granted. In fact many firms, banks and investment advisories have placed this all inclusive factor into silly quizzes and scorecards to come up with a magic risk tolerance level. Your ability to tolerate risk requires a true reflective personal inventory. It should start with one simple question; how would you feel about losing everything you have? Now you have a starting point to identify just how much risk you can tolerate. Are you an abundant thinker who sees the world in strict terms of plenty? Or are you scarcity driven and see the world in terms of limited amounts of wealth? Of course you can change your mindset, yet you must first identify how you think at present. An abundant mindset makes it easy to take on risk. The fear of loss is much less prevalent for an abundant thinker then it is with a scarcity driven thinker. The first law of any financial gain is that greater reward always requires greater risk. There is simply no such thing as HIGH reward with LOW risk. This is always a formula for loss. In reality the sure thing becomes the greatest risk possible as you will always lose in the sure thing. That is a 100% certainty, don’t believe me, just ask anyone who invested money with Bernie Madoff.
By taking a searching values driven inventory of your tolerance for risk you are preparing a strong foundation for financial decision making. You are also taking full control and accountability for these decisions. This will eliminate guilt and other emotional factors which lead to poor decisions and ultimate loss.
Your perspective on the market will always be in direct proportion to your perspective on risk tolerance. What may help though is a look into the mind of Warren Buffet. He often speaks of his mentor Benjamin Graham (thought of by many as the grandfather of value investing). Graham used the famous metaphor of Mr. Market to explain how to be a successful investor. He said to imagine that as an investor, you are in business with a manic-depressive partner who goes through huge mood swings on a daily basis. One moment he’s telling you business is great and he quotes you a price for which he is willing to buy you out. A few hours later his sunny outlook disappears and he’s all gloom and doom, trying to tell you your company is now worth next to nothing so you should sell now, while you still can. The best time to buy is when he is actually when he’s overly pessimistic and desperate to sell, not when he’s being overly optimistic, when everyone else is buying. The moral just may be that trouble is looming if you become fearful while everyone else is fearful.
Lastly, we feel that integrity is paramount to smart decisions about money. Edward R Murrow said:
“To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible we must be truthful.”
Integrity is about adhering to a code of conduct. It is the difference between right and wrong and sticking to that code no matter what. In the end what we attempt to produce for you our reader may well be unpopular around the industry water coolers, yet it will be based upon our personal commitment to the integral issues of due diligence, full disclosure and clear transparency. We hope that you will always find it unique and refreshing.

When am I really in the recruiting process?

Information and Questionnaires

So, now you have received information from a College and the coach has sent you a questionnaire. Most HS players and their families immediately believe they are now in the recruiting process. Unfortunately the truth is, nothing could be further from the truth! When a school sends information and a coach sends a questionnaire it simply means you (your son or daughter) have been identified. Congrats, you are now at least a spec on the radar of that school and coaching staff. All University recruiting offices have access to the information of HS students across the country and those offices (College recruiting and Financial Aid) also have quotas and numbers to make. It is important to realize the reality of being a commodity. The entire system is geared to fill student bodies (put students in seats). Athletes are just a part of this overall system.
This experience now denotes that you have made the big funnel and are now in the early elimination process. There is a long way to go before you reach the first real step in the recruiting process (EVALUATION). It is amazing how many HS players and their families have mis-identified information and questionnaires for deep interest from a school or coaching staff. By the way many coaching staffs have used questionnaires as a marketing tool for their sport specific camps. While camps do serve as a potential evaluation tool, they are really a marketing game that helps Head Coaches create the salary subsidy necessary for their assistants. Please remember that information and questionnaires are simply the beginning part of the IDENTIFICATION step. A player is not truly in the recruitment process until they have reached the EVALUATION phase of the process.
To learn what every HS player and their Family must know please click on the link and register for the webinar of your choice.

Mon 6/29 7pm – 7:45 pm https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/220000257
Wed 7/1 7pm – 7:45 pm https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/737610264
www.karlschilling.net

Identification and its importance!

The common mistake made by many HS players and their families is the belief that College Coaches FIND players. College Coaches have a process to weed out players. There is a BIG difference between finding players and eliminating players. This elimination process begins with Coaches identifying potential players for their program. This identification is simply filling up a funnel with all the players that might be identified in a variety of places. This includes national publications, some well known HS coaches, personal observation and scouting, former alumni, and newspaper articles. The emergence of the internet and highly respected scouting companies has stepped in to fill the void created by budgets slashing and coaching staffs being reduced. Make no mistake though, the identification process requires a hopeful athlete to get as much universal exposure as possible. In fact identification probably encompasses 70% of the overall effort in getting recruited. Identification is not really part of the recruiting process, it is simply the entry to the process. The real process begins with the evaluation stage. It is impossible to enter into the evaluation stage unless you (or your son or daughter) is FIRST IDENTIFIED! The key concept to remember here is that College Coaches IDENTIFY and ELIMINATE, they do not FIND players.

As long as you continue to hold on to the myth that College Coaches FIND players you (your son or daughter) will be doomed to failing in the College Recruiting and Eligibility Process. The proactive athlete will get into the Coaches identification funnell well before the athlete who is waiting for the College Coaches to find them!

IDENTIFY and ELIMINATE! Remember this key concept.

College Recruiting and Eligibility Process

College Recruiting and Eligibility Process

10 Most common Myths and Mistakes

As it is with any process, it is important to know what you don’t know! The majority of High School athletes and their families miss the mark on the COLLEGE RECRUITING AND ELIGIBILITY PROCESS. While there are many reasons for this, the simple truth is that players and families FAIL from a simple lack of knowledge.
Most people put trust in their family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. This is generally fine when it comes to baking a cake, buying a car, getting a book reading list and other simple daily decisions. Getting an athletic scholarship and finding the perfect program and University for you (your child) to attend is a LIFE-ALTERING decision. The foundation of your (your child’s) future lies in this decision.
So Uncle Mike, neighbor Bob, the former PTA president and all the other well intentioned amateurs who voice their opinion are not the best option for a LIFE-ALTERING decision.
For this type of decision you want to rely upon a professional advocate who knows the system and can hold your hand and walk you and your family successfully through this process.
My name is Karl Schilling and I have over 25 years experience as a former NCAA, NAIA and JuCo coach. My experience includes coaching, scouting and recruiting. I formerly served as a MLB scout, professional coach and instructor. As a former college World Series coach I understand what college coaching staffs are looking for and how they use the process to their advantage. If you want to win this process, you need an expert on your side!
Please understand the first rule is this is not about friendship or niceties. This is a process and there are certain steps that will allow you to succeed throughout the process.
Before we discuss those steps let’s take a look at the 10 Most Common Myths and Mistakes in this process. One thing before we start, the MOST pressing reason for failure is that players and families are UNAWARE of this PROCESS!