Do not despise the days of small beginnings

Zechariah 4 v 8 -10 : 8Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Do not despise the days of small beginnings is a phrase that we use to encourage one another regularly. However when it comes to the nitty gritty of practising this philosophy, it seems no one wants to live it. We all want to go from zero to hero overnight. Everyone wants to go from amateur to expert within the twinkle of an eye. The media entice us with slogans like from zero to hero, “how to make 1 million in one month” etc. Unfortunately life rarely works this way. There is a process to everything in life. You have to start from somewhere and work your way to the top. Most of the great leaders we know today started from somewhere. Barak Obama didn’t end up being presidential aspirant overnight, he started from the grassroots and worked his way diligently to where he is today. Richard Branson started his business on a small scale and today is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation. Bishop T. D Jakes, the founder of one of the biggest churches in the US didn’t arrive at the big seen overnight If you listen to, or read his story you’ll see that he started his preaching with a small congregation and through diligence and faithfulness he was promoted to higher grounds.

Even Warren Buffet, one of the greatest investors of our generation did not become a great investor overnight. He would have started investing with small amounts, gradually increasing it till he got to where he is today. Most people don’t even know that he worked for Benjamin Graham, the author of The Intelligent Investor. Through hard work and diligence Warren Buffet has been able to establish himself.

Why am I being a bit philosophical here? The financial markets offer a world of opportunity to people to build wealth, however only a few people are able to seize this opportunity. Many have tried and have had their hands burned, while many are just too scared to try because of stories that they have heard. Why have people had their hands burned and, why are people too scared or just not bothered to try? The main reason is because they do not understand the true meaning of “do not despise the days of small beginnings”, i.e. they are just not willing to start small. The get rich overnight mentality doesn’t help matters. A lot of training courses take advantage of human greed by selling you slogans like “how to turn £3,000 in £36,000 in 6 weeks”, or “how to make a million in the stock market”. People see these adverts and then rush to register for such courses, paying thousands of pounds, with the hope of recouping their training fees within a few weeks. The end result is usually disappointment. Can an absolute beginner turn £3,000 into £36,000 in 6 weeks? I won’t say impossible, but certainly, it’s unlikely. To do that, it’s 99% certain that person violated all rules of money management.

Are you new to investing via the financial markets? Is it something that you have heard about but are too scared to start? I’ll challenge/encourage you to start small and see how you’ll progress onto being great. Start off by buying 100 shares instead of 1000 or speculating £1 per point instead of £10. If you can’t make money consistently risking £20, how on earth can you honestly expect to make money risking £200 a trade? Diligenttrader encourages people to start small.