I love sports. I can remember learning all kinds of sports when I was a young kid–about a century ago! Baseball, basketball, hockey, skiing; you name it, I tried it. Only trouble was; I was pretty terrible at all of them. Small in stature and no coordination–that was me.

My dad took me to baseball, basketball and football games. It didn’t matter who won. I always had a good time and still remember some of the games that we attended together. Mom liked to come to baseball games with us to see her favorite player, Ted Williams.

In high school, I ran track and earned my “letter” in my senior year–I think I still have it somewhere. When I entered Babson College, they had no track team, so I tried swimming. I enjoyed swimming and learned a skill that would become a staple of my exercise program later in life.

I continue to enjoy sports. I read the sports section every day; I go to an occasional baseball or hockey game; and I swim almost every day. I love to watch all kinds of sports on TV, but I avoid spending hours doing that. My favorite is the Olympics where the old phrase, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” comes to life.

Following the stock market is a lot like following sports, but in this arena, the phrase “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” takes on a whole new meaning. Investing is not a game; the victories and defeats involve your life savings. Yet too many investors become lazy and invest in stocks on a whim, as if it were just a game. Games don’t have serious consequences, whereas investing almost always does. Don’t become lax! You should treat every investment as if you are investing all of your money into each and every stock.

Even though investing is not a game or sport, there are several analogies that can be applied. Like an athlete, I try my best to stay focused and stick to my investing “game plan,” in other words, my investment strategy. I won’t buy a stock unless I am convinced that it is the most undervalued stock among the thousands of choices in the stock market. When my investment strategy isn’t working (no plan is perfect), I might make a tiny adjustment, just as a baseball manager might adjust his lineup.

Warren Buffett is often criticized when the stock market is advancing by leaps and bounds and his investments are just plodding along. Mr. Buffett sticks to his investment strategy, though, because he is confident that over the long term, his investments will provide a satisfactory return. His 20% per year returns are quite satisfactory, indeed.

Finally, we need to learn from our mistakes. Athletes make plenty of them, and the most successful athletes learn from their mistakes and then put the experience behind them. I have always admired individuals who can improve their skills by analyzing what went wrong. Warren Buffett was quick to admit that he made some mistakes in 2008. I’ll bet he won’t make those mistakes again!