Tuning Out the Noise: Investing Lessons from an NFL Comeback Story

“Not affected by failure”

Sam Darnold is the quarterback of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks who are playing in this Sunday’s Superbowl. As the quarterback position is arguably the hardest position to play in professional sports, NFL teams spend enormous amounts of time and money scouting the position. Darnold was a highly touted QB from the University of Southern California in 2018, drafted 3rd overall by the New York Jets at only 20 years old. Expectations were that he would be a star on Day One.

Unfortunately, the start to his career didn’t go as planned. For instance, during a game early in his second season, Darnold struggled mightily, caught on video saying “I am seeing ghosts out there!” (…alluding to how confused he was by the opposing team’s defense.) Shortly thereafter, Darnold was quickly labeled as a quarterback bust and was shipped off to another NFL team. Then another team, then another team. In short, after seven seasons, Darnold has played for five different teams. But after so many teams gave up on him, now in his first season with Seattle, Darnold just finished up an MVP worthy season….and is leading his team to the Super Bowl. What a success story.

Not surprisingly, those four words--“not affected by failure”--were used in Darnold’s 2018 scouting report. Kudos to the scout who was able to see that Darnold would not give up on himself, even when others might. Darnold’s self-confidence not only offers great lessons for our youth, but can also be applied to investing.

Here are a few lessons (as they relate to Darnold) we think we should be teaching our children and grandchildren, as well as applying to our own investing so that we can each improve the quality of our lives:

💪 Belief in oneself and what you do. Throughout constant criticism for years, Darnold never wavered in his belief in himself and his abilities. He stuck to his process always. Similarly with investing, investors should determine what kind of investor they really are, figure out what the right strategy/approach is, and stick with it through the ups and downs. Unfortunately, too many investors instead end up constantly changing their approach. Any wealth manager will also encounter criticism from time to time, but the best ones never waver from their investment philosophies, sticking to their process.

🔕 Tune out the noise. Darnold has had a remarkable ability to not let any of the outside noise bother him. Six years after the “ghosts” comment—which is constantly brought up, Darnold laughs it off, calling it part of his journey. Remarkable emotional intelligence and strength. Similarly with investing, the outside noise is just as loud! Every day we all hear different thoughts on how we should be investing. “You should buy this! Sell that! Buy gold! Buy crypto! Or…No wait, the markets are going to crash, sell everything!” Maybe you’ve heard this one: “I have this great private investment for you, it’s exclusive!”

The point is that the distractions are endless. The best investors, however, can tune out the noise and focus on what is important. They maintain a well-thought-out investment plan, stick with it, monitor it, and make adjustments along the way--rebalancing, etc.

🔁 Dealing with failure. Darnold should be admired for how he has dealt with his early failure. As a 20-year-old kid, with huge expectations placed on him, he failed to succeed on the largest stage in the world. Now, at only 28, he is on the verge of reaching the greatest success in professional football. Similarly with investing, yes, we will ALL have failures along the way. Bad investment choices, etc. It happens to even the best of the best. But how we deal with these failures goes a long way in determining our investment success. Do we just put our head down and vow to never invest again….or only invest in (high-fee) “guaranteed investments”? Or, do we learn from our mistakes and become better investors?

📊 In summary, far too often investors think investing is about who can find the next hot stock. Instead, we should acknowledge that only 4% of stocks are responsible for all of the market’s entire gains in its history! You do not have to “beat the market” to have a successful investment experience and achieve financial independence. We think if you apply the lessons from Sam Darnold’s experience, you will be a better investor, you will have less financial stress in your life (more peace of mind), and achieve financial independence sooner, all leading to a better quality of life.

🏆 Go Seahawks!!!