In addressing the issue of self-esteem, I mentioned at an earlier date that the authors of the book, Nudge, had pointed out that humans are very reluctant to change.
Well this morning in the Wall Street Journal that point was made again.
Jason Zweig, who writes under the heading of The Intelligent Investor, pointed out that, even with the worst the market conditions in decades (a 55% negative change between October 2007 and March 2009), many of the owners of 401(k)s bought, held and sat stock-still.
He provided data that indicated that many of these people barely budged in the face of an onslaught of bad news.
For example, for Vangard Group, 17% of its participants had been 100% in stocks in 2007; by year end 2008, 16% were still there! The real issue is about our taking action to change ourselves and our self-confidence.
You have probably either seen a late night commercial that appealed to you or came across either an ad that really drew you in.
Maybe you went so far as to even buy the materials, the seminar or the ebook.
Parallel to the above information, data from such marketers indicates that only about 20% of the buyers ever do something with the materials.
IN OTHER WORDS, the people just threw their money away because they liked the idea and lacked the confidence to begin the change.
In other words, though the investors cited above and the purchasers of the materials, did take action, the action they took was completed at a surface level.
In both cases, yes they took action but demonstrated a lack of self-confidence to implement their decisions.