If you enjoy the deep-dive economic analysis and financial planning strategies, I suggest passing over my more sentimental commentary this week. I sat down to write Sunday after an unprecedented week of family togetherness centered around Thanksgiving, filled with gratitude and positivity. It was a nice reprieve from the generally more negative outlook we receive far too often from cultural and financial media, especially in a hotly-contested election year.
In many conversations with clients this year, optimism has not always been at an all-time high. I reviewed some data this morning for an objective review that may drive overall sentiment. Looking back to 1948, the current unemployment rate is better than 82% of monthly observations. And back in 1928, the trailing stock market performance was better than 83% of annual observations. While the data is earning a solid “B” grade, I believe that the contentiousness and uncertainty around the election had “vibes” running at “C-“ at times.
A recent piece of media helped me zoom out on the opportunities and challenges I might focus on today. Ingvar Kamprad wrote “The Testament of a Furniture Dealer” in 1976. The founder of IKEA had been in business for 33 years and wanted to ensure his values continued within the company that would become the largest private consumer goods company in the history of the planet. The excerpt below was his final tenet for the company.
“Happiness is not reaching your goal. Happiness is on the way. It is our wonderful fate to be just at the beginning in all areas. We will move ahead only by constantly asking ourselves how what we are doing today can be done better tomorrow. The positive joy of discovery must be our inspiration in the future too.”
I learned of this fantastic read via a podcast about the history of IKEA, linked below. The authors shared that Mr. Kamprad, decades later and months before he passed away in 2018, told the IKEA board members that he was jealous of them that they get to continue the joyful journey of running the business.
This sentiment of joy in participating in the game, no matter the current challenges, brought to mind a graduation speech that Warren Buffett gave to Nebraska grads in the winter of 2020. He said he would gladly trade places with them, even with the challenge of starting a career in the middle of an unprecedented global pandemic. He shared an optimism that, despite our current challenges, our current opportunities are at an all-time high. It doesn’t seem a coincidence to me that leaders of two of the biggest public and private companies in history share an unbridled optimism that they bring to their daily lives and work.
At Ballast, we have worked with the extra focus this year on our internal operations, and part of that process was putting down our core values on paper. One of these values is “Positive Thoughts = Positive Results.” This tenet guides our interactions with each other as a team, with each member looking to make their neighbor’s job easier and more enjoyable. It also guides our interactions with our clients and our community. No matter the challenges we may face as individuals, families, or participants in the larger economy, we will continue to focus on optimizing the areas we can control. I hope our enthusiastic efforts will be as contagious as Ingvar Kamrad’s or Warren Buffett’s are to me.
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