Is it possible to experience powerful healing when pain brands the soul?
Our family encountered much pain this past year.
Some of us benefitted from physical healing, and other family members have not.
But we have survived loss, uncertainty, and great pain.
How? Powerful hope from those who gathered at the first Easter service.
After 44 years of living through stock market volatility, I know why the smartest investors never panic.
They see chaos as a chance to make their future brighter. They cheat financial market chaos.
Rather than allowing the fear of a moment to dictate direction, they stick to a well-thought-out plan to proceed up the path to success.
Panic is not a plan.
Patience is.
I have owned stocks and lived through ten of the worst one-day stock market declines from 1981 to 2025.
I was there then and am here now, still owning stocks and not panicking or selling.
In fact, from 2000 to 2002, I lectured about wise investing at meetings around the country as the NASDAQ was on its way to losing 80% of its value from the March 2000 top to the October 2002 low. The Dow lost 50% of its value during the same time.
Indeed, since 1980, the S&P 500 has had an average intra-year drop of 14%. This includes all years, whether they end positively or negatively. I started my financial services business in 1981 and have witnessed this phenomenon for 44 years.
As we all know, the precipitants of this decline have been the Trump tariffs, the extent of which can’t be predicted.
We don’t know where, when, or how these phenomena will occur. We have no control over uncertainty, but we can have perfect control over how we respond.
Or, ideally, how we don’t respond.
The last thing in the world that long-term, goal-focused savers and builders of wealth do when the whole world is selling is – you know – sell.
Don’t confuse headline risk with portfolio risk.
Remember that your stock portfolio is not an index that goes up or down daily. It is a portfolio of actual companies with real earnings.
So, coach, what if it declines tomorrow? It doesn’t matter what markets do tomorrow; what matters is what they ultimately do. What matters is that you own a highly diversified portfolio of well-managed companies that make and sell products that the world needs, demands, and pays for.
If you doubt this, read Robert Bryce’s book Smaller, Faster, Lighter, Denser, Cheaper.
The best investment advice you can ever follow has three qualities.
Continue Reading “Stock market panic: How to channel chaos into a rich future” I still can’t believe that Trey Carlock, a child sex abuse victim filled with shame, drove his father’s boat at high speed in the middle of the night, crashing into my Lake Athens boat dock.
Shortly before, my oldest daughter, Lizzy, and I lounged right at the point of impact.
I have often reflected on that night, August 11, 2015.
My father always said, “Son, nothing good happens after midnight.”
In my sleep, I heard what I thought was an explosion.
But, the idea was so farfetched that I ignored the sound as a bad dream.
Nothing prepared me for what I saw the following day.
A young college grad, Trey Carlock, and his girlfriend drove his father’s boat into my dock.
The heavy rubber trex decking was blown right off the dock frame. Boat shards everywhere.
The lounging chairs Lizzy and I sat on minutes before were blown to the back of the dock.
Bodies? Didn’t see any.
Continue Reading “Child sex abuse: How shame crashed Trey Carlock into my dock” Better healing is enhanced by faith and creativity.
Not just any faith. Targeted faith.
Before I clarify the target, let me reminisce about my last nightmare.
2019 was really scary as I hurtled through a strange disease.
My body lit up like a July 4th sparkler.
Nerves from head to toe misfired like a dying Terminator.
Google said, “You’re cooked.”
That’s neuropathy.
Fried nerves. No cure (they tell you). No solution.
Just drugs when you consult most doctors.
But faith led me down a better path for long-term healing.
Continue Reading “Unlock the Power of Faith and Creativity in Your Healing Journey” Boundaries can lead one to the greatest success.
After 40 years of studying highly successful people in . . .
. . . I believe the most accomplished folks have one thing in common.
They set boundaries by saying “no” to most requests on their time because they recognize the relative unimportance of almost everything.
Indeed, the most successful folks in the world save their time for the best choices.
Four come to mind.
Continue Reading “How boundaries often lead to the best possible life”