7 Virtues of Investing

In a recent PLACE Partner Call with Co-founder Chris Suarez, we learned about the 7 virtues of investing which originated from Aristotle and Plato, and the overarching principle of them all, discipline. These values were used by the Greek philosophers to define the character traits of people who lead successful, uplifting lives. Discipline means we aren’t making things up as we go. As an investor, this means we don’t do anything without doing extensive research first. Curiosity is equally as important as discipline, it allows us to find and enable and develop all of the other virtues. 

The 7 Virtues are as followed:

1. Prudence: Aim to make logical investment choices that will benefit you over the long term.
    

2. Diligence: When making an investment, this means to look at annual reports or the forecast of the investment we are considering making. Take the right action, at the right time, based on all the information available to you.
    

3. Patience: We learned from all great investors, the measure of an investment doesn’t happen overnight, it can take years or decades.
    

4. Courage: As an investor, it takes courage to make a decision and then pull the trigger on an investment. Stick by your investments even when times are tough, it could pay off in the long run. 
    

5. Faith: Even though you can’t see your investments, you must have faith that they are there and constantly working. It takes faith.
    

6. Humility: Wall Street can change at any given moment. Play the market, but don’t venture out too far.
    

7. Charity: Through investing, you can have a positive impact on the world. 

These 7 virtues are critical when  investing as they provide us with the principles to make the best possible decisions when doing so. By practicing these principles, we are able to make logical choices, stay committed to our activities, understand our situations, and remain optimistic.

Sometimes we can become overwhelmed or stressed with our work, but it’s important to remain future minded and practice prospecting. Prospection is the ability to envision what’s possible and we can balance it with thoughtful pragmatism. This means we are taking optimistic action. Surrounding ourselves with partners and leadership who also are future minded will allow us to generate a holistic picture of where things are going and how to prepare if they go wrong. 

Partnership and collaboration are important to all of us, and ultimately they can be the key to our success. Continue to look forward and see ahead, the stress will begin to fall away little by little.