Week of May 15, 2017: I don’t start out with winning in mind…
It’s The Walter Mitty race at Road Atlanta – the 40th running. It is one of the major historic car races of the year and represents an opportunity to be around cars and people who have written many of racing’s greatest chapters.
At the start, I do not focus on winning. In fact, the first thing I do on the grid, right before we go on track is to recite Shepard’s* prayer; it goes like this: “Dear Lord, please don’t let me **** up.” Then I recite, out-loud, the following:
• I’m a pudknocker
• If I win, I get an $8.50 medal
• I do not have racing car insurance
• this is a hobby
• why am I doing this?
It is fun, exciting, so much so, sometimes I forget to breathe. And, if you are racing against a friend, you’ll find me giggling at the turns and twists we throw at each other to gain an advantage: I am competitive, so are the other pudknockers sharing the track with me. If it turns out to be your day, the sense of accomplishment is immense not just in the result but the preparation. We estimate that for every lap, about a minute and a half long, we spend about an hour on prep; the details are endless and make a difference in outcomes.
Once in a blue moon, a race goes well, and I end up on the podium, 3rd overall, this time: seventeen cars raced in 8 different classes of cars: I finished 1st in my class averaging slightly more than 100MPH over the 2.5-mile course; not bad for a beautiful sunshiny day in a race car. This is particularly sweet when your racing buddies remind you that gloating at their expense is bad form. To me, starting out with winning in mind is not crucial in doing well in a race, any race, rather, putting myself in a position to win, is: I just try to finish the race, and not make big mistakes, the rest takes care of itself.
And, so it is when we take-on a planning assignment for a client. Preparation is the key. Whether the primary goal is stepping through the retirement 
door, saving for a college education, leaving a legacy or having income for thirty years or more, holistically understanding all the parts and pieces, and how they fit together is critical, in order to put our clients, in a position to win, by reducing the propensity for the big mistake.
For a flavor of what and how we do things visit our case studies…. https://windsorwealth.management/case-studies/
Our portfolios reflect over weighted exposure to Domestic Equities.
Carlos Dominguez – Portfolio Manager
Sources: The prayer, by Alan B. Shepard the first American in space: he said as he was on the launching pad at Cape Canaveral right before lift-off. The entire quote is available at https://www.wired.com/2011/05/50-years-of-americans-inspace-remembering-alan-shepard/ The Mitty Photo Gallery https://www.sparkplugsociety.com/Sets/HSR-Mitty-2017/
The foregoing information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete, it is not a statement of all available data necessary for making an investment decision, and it does not constitute a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Carlos Dominguez and not necessarily those of Raymond James.