I was taught early on to frame athletic competition in specific way, to understand the depth of the players on the field. As a kid, the exact saying that inspired this lesson had a different meaning to me than it does now, which I’ll explain in a minute:

“There’s always going to be someone bigger, faster or stronger than you. Work around that.”

When you apply this saying to athletics, you see how it reframes expectations. At some point, you’re going to compete against someone either with better genetics, more raw talent or just an age difference that creates a natural advantage. It’s inevitable.

Today, now that I am becoming an old man with kids, slightly rounder than I’d like to be, I instead apply that same principle to investing.

An investor (or trader) can think “I want to outperform the market” or “I want to be the best investor in the world” or “I want to perfectly time every top or every bottom” but the thing is, in a system with millions of participants, and even more variables, there is always going to be someone bigger, faster and better than you in the market on any given day or week or year. It is a game where being the absolute best is a perilous mindset to have because of the sheer randomness and people, companies, funds, and firms involved.

Instead of trying to outcompete the fastest, biggest, and strongest – find tasteful, clever, and patient ways to work around these challenges.

Step 1: Set your expectations accordingly. Aim to be consistently above average for a long period of time.

Find your lane.

Find your skill.

Thrive at that.

There’s always going to be someone with faster systems, more capital, and inside information. Patiently work around it.