Boast Your Victories, Hide Your Losses

Have you ever wondered why is it that so many people seem to be doing great in their lives? Everyone seems to talk about themselves like they are perfect and should be promoted to the CEO of their company. Everyone talks about how much money they win in the casino, 4D, stock market or anything else. However, these very same people that talk so much about all the good things that happen to them do not seem to get any promotions after years of corporate life. They also do not seem to be particularly rich. What’s wrong?

I attribute it to a common trait of humans where we like to boast about all the good things and hide all the bad things that happen. People only talk about the thousands of dollars they won from 4D, not about the tens of thousands they paid to win it. People only like to talk about the outstanding tasks that they completed at work, not about the tons of times that they screwed up. Well, there are probably exceptions when talking to best friends or loved ones, but in front of people we don’t know, this is how most people tend to act.

Over time, it has almost become a norm for people to just hear about the good things. In interviews, asking about one’s weaknesses appear to be a fairly common question, but nobody likes to admit that they have weaknesses and thus it is common to come up with standard model answers for such questions. It is ironic that the very nature of human is imperfection, yet many times, we try to appear perfect to the public eye. Isn’t that really tough for us to endure in the long run, having to put up a front on so many occasions?

Sometimes, I feel sad for the people who jump MRT or jump buildings after stock market downturns. It may be partly their own mistake to play beyond their means, but if society had taught people to embrace that humans are imperfect and that to err is common, perhaps there won’t be as many tragedies. After all, a person that is alive has the potential to bring more net good to society than a person that is dead. (most of the time)

Anyway, I think that this human trait is very important to take note of. Often, we tend to focus more on our victories and less on our losses. I know one or two people that claims that they buy 4D over tens of years and have been winning consistently over the long run. Statistically, I know that it is impossible and that they have simply been too elated at their wins to count the number of times that they have lost. If they kept records, they would have found out that they actually lost.

Similarly, as we tend to focus on all the great things that we have done for our companies, we keep thinking that we are underpaid. However, if we don’t spend our time thinking of how much we have already contributed to the company and just continue to find ways to contribute more, won’t we stand a better chance of getting that next promotion?

I think this attribute is one of the greatest personal finance disaster. We focus too much on our victories and forget that there is a much longer journey ahead.