“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics.”
-Mark Twain
Last week, while driving to work, I decided to listen to a CD rather than to songs on my phone. I enjoyed listening to most of the songs on that disc. As they say, the best was left for the end.
Shortly before arriving to work, a motivational talk I had burned on that disc, starting with this sentence: “You have to be odd to be number one”. It is true that many people have heard this phrase at least once in their lives, but what came next was the important part.
I know for a fact that I, as a business student who wants to specialize later in finance, base a considerable amount of my analysis on numbers, formulas and statistics. However, I once had a corporate finance class with a teacher who said that statistics are not everything in the world of finance, that they are a two-sided cutting blade.
This made me think of a movie called Cool Runnings, based on the true story of Jamaica’s first qualification to the Winter Olympics, more specifically in bobsled. After a first day flop, the athletes were sitting together, trying to figure out what went wrong on that day. One man finally says: “I did not come here to forget who I am and where I come from. I am trying to be the best I can be, and the best I can be is Jamaican”. This is why, first of all, we can never know whether the numbers are true or not, if we do not try. Second of all, we need to try and be in the top 1%, with the best of the best. When I am talking about the best of the best, I am not talking about the best in the world, but about the best version of you. There is no point in giving something anything less than a 100% effort.
True, statistics tell an important amount of things, especially when it comes to sports, but they do not tell the entire story. They show the story of the end results of people who tried to make it happen. How many times have we seen people defy the odds, after they were that mathematically it was impossible?
I have personally been told that only a very small percentage makes it in business, a smaller percentage has their ideal body, and even less have their ideal body.
If 99% fail, do you see that the odds are against you?
Or do you see an opportunity?
When you see facts and numbers, do you back down?
When was the last time you put a 100% effort on the line to prove facts wrong?
P.S: There will be no articles for the next two weeks since I will be out of country. I wish you a pleasant summer as mine is about to start now.
Change The Lens 