Reflecting On Great Advice

 The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.¹⁴ Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” - Isaiah 29:13-14

I was thinking about some of the best advice I ever received - separately - from two men I worked with back in 1993 after I had been promoted to an Equity Analyst job.  Taken together, these two bits of advice have served me very well, and I find that when I have followed these pieces of advice, they have served me very well.  These two men were former bosses of mine:  the late Dave Anderson and Howard Jacobson.

The first thing Dave told me after I became an analyst was never take anything the Wall Street guys said at face value.  We did rely a lot on their research, but their recommendations had ulterior motives, and their supporting thesis always  was geared to support their recommendations and was not always to be trusted.  Howard told me to pay particular attention to those who said "Buy" when all others said "Sell" and pay attention to those who said "Sell" when all others said "Buy".  Combine these two sentiments and you avoid the madness of crowds.

At the time I didn't fully appreciate the wisdom of the advice.  But it is some of the most sound advice I have ever heard.  I am beginning to take on curmudgeon qualities because of this advice and I rather like it.  When I have followed this advice in virtually all aspects of life, it has served me well.  I have learned that life is not really lived following the conventional wisdom or the latest trends.  I have found that following the wisdom of the wise leads to maddening crowds, while the most interesting people following their own path.  They have chartered their own course to excellence, they have maintained their own standards as others have compromised theirs.  What I have ultimately found is that those who avoid the maddening crowds have generally achieved the greatest inner peace.


So, what is wrong with following the "wisdom of the wise"?  I will not tell you to never follow it.  I will tell you to question it first, and not follow it blindly.  Know who you are, your "true north" first.  Use your critical thinking skills.  Learn to ask yourself what assumptions come with the conclusions.  What viewpoint does the author or authors bring?  Where do you agree, where do you disagree?  You do not always have to be the contrarian, but when you find yourself swimming in the madness of a crowd and following the wisdom of the wise, question everything just a little bit harder.

The lesson for me is that my natural Midwestern skepticism is truly a gift from God.  Much of that skepticism is simply common sense.  People with fancy educations and big shot job titles do not impress me.  Bottom line results do.  Those who achieve have found their peace and are comfortable with who they are.  We are given brains that are capable of critical thought.  Question everything the experts say.  Follow your own course.  Do not believe everything you read (except what I write, of course!).  Never trust anyone who says "trust me."  Use what God gave you, apply a sack full of common sense, and that will lead to sound judgment, inner peace and a lifetime of happiness.