NFA Finance

I’ve never taken one.

But if you’re asking me what the internet has taught me, that’s easy: you better think for yourself.

One hundred percent.

There’s an incredible amount of information out there. You can watch somebody repair an engine, learn how a business works, or hear a perspective you never would have encountered otherwise. I appreciate that. Coming from the car business, being able to look up a repair and see somebody work through it is useful as hell.

But finding an answer and finding the right answer are two different things.

You can watch one video telling you exactly what to do, then watch another telling you the opposite. Both people sound confident. Both have comments agreeing with them. Now what?

That’s where you have to do some thinking.

What’s the explanation? Does it make sense? Has this person actually done what they’re talking about? Are they leaving something out? Can I check it somewhere else?

I don’t think you should hand over your judgment just because somebody has a camera and an audience.

I’ve spent more than 25 years in the car business. I’ve heard plenty of advice, and I’ve had plenty of opportunities to find out what happens when an idea meets real life. When you’re the one putting up the money, doing the work, and dealing with the outcome, you start asking better questions.

That applies online, too.

Somebody can make a business sound easy in a ten-minute video. I’m going to wonder about the expenses they didn’t mention. The time involved. The problems. What happens when things don’t go the way they planned?

I want to understand what I’m looking at before I decide it makes sense for me.

And that doesn’t mean everybody is lying or that you can’t learn from anyone. There are people sharing valuable experience for free. It’s pretty incredible that we have access to that.

I’m saying you still have a job to do with the information.

Read it. Listen. Look into it. Ask questions. Then decide what you think.

And be willing to find out you’re wrong. Thinking for yourself has to include questioning your own opinion. If I only believe something because it’s what I want to hear, I haven’t really thought it through either.

Sometimes the most useful thing you learn is that you didn’t know as much as you thought you did.

I don’t need to pretend I’ve taken an online course to answer today’s prompt. I’ve learned plenty just by being online, looking things up, and paying attention. But the lesson I keep coming back to is the same:

You can have access to all the information in the world and still make a bad decision if you never stop to question it.

So learn everything you can. Take advantage of what’s available. Just keep using your own brain while you’re doing it.

The information is out there. The responsibility to think about it is still yours.

— Nicholas Francis
Modern Day Dealer | NFA Finance