So, how long does it take to become a good investor?

Consider these points:

1. A child must learn to roll over, then crawl, then stand, then walk, before it can finally run. Everything must happen in due course.

2. To create a career in any profession, one must learn their chosen trade by studying, then getting a basic entry level job, gain experience before the first promotion. The study then continues, and the learning never ceases. Hopefully the promotions continue into one's future.

3. How many shots at baskets do you think Michael Jordan took before he bacame a great basketballer?

4. How many hours of training do Olympic atheletes go through over their Olympic careers?

Now also consider this:

• Most people spend 1-2 hours per day commuting to and from work.

• Most people will spend 2 hours per day watching TV, reading a magazine, listening to music, playing games etc.

Everyone has an untapped 3-4 hours per day that can be spent getting a financial education and learning about investing and wealth creation. That translates to around 1,100 to 1,500 hours per year that could be spent on one's future financial independence! Even if we halve that to say 600 hours per year, that is probably (in most people's cases) 600 hours more per year than what they currently spend on their future.

It is said that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at any particular thing in life. 10,000 hours is a lot of time. However, do you really need to become an expert in the investing field, or is descent proficiency what you are after?

Personally, I think if a person has an above average financial education, and creates a plan and sticks to it, that person will become financially independent and wealthy. You don't have to be the best, to do very well in life. You just need to be consistent, focussed and be above average in your financial literacy. Of course, the better you are, the more successful you will be over time.

If we look at using our daily commute to work and back, this will, on average give us 1.5 hrs of learning time in the car/bus/train listening to audio books and podcasts (this would normally be "dead" time listening to mindless banter on the radio or music). Add another 30 minutes of "study" time at home or during your lunch break each day and you are now putting 2 hours a day into your financial education. There are 365 days in a year, but let's say you do this for just 200 days per year - that turns out to be 400 hours per year of financial education!

By the time you have worked for 5 years, you have put 2000 hours of effort into your education. At this point, you would be well above average in your financial education and already making good investment decisions - and one would expect you'd be well on your way to future finacial independence.

Your financial education will never cease. Technology changes, demographics change, and economies will change - you will need to keep abreast of these changes and learn to take advantage of them.

Over your working life of (say) 40 years (hopefully much less), you will have amassed around 16,000 hours of learning and investing, and that's well over the 10,000 hours stated earlier! How good do you think you will be then???

Start small and build on it. Over time, the little acorn becomes a mighty oak tree.

• Stay focussed.

• Read all you can.

• Listen to people that you respect and admire.

• Do not take anyone's advice as gospel. There are a lot of financial advisors, econimists and "gurus" and what I have learned is that they all have differring opinions - so deciding who is correct and who to follow is impossible. It's always best to listen to advice, and then YOU must perform your own analysis and due diligence. Then make a decision and run with it. This is how one learns.

• Don't just follow someone's recommendations without knowing why. It is pointless, and it doesn't matter if the recommendation is right or wrong, if you learn nothing then what's the point?

• Learn the terminology used in the investment field(s) you have chosen.

• Spend the money to improve yourself by going to seminars, listening to podcasts, subscribing to quality analysis/reports.

• Create a "watch list" of some of the investment recommendations that some of your chosen advisors recommend. Let them build a track record over time before you invest your own money based on their advice.

If you do not become financially educated.....

If you do not understand the terminology used by people in the investment field.....

If you do not understand economics.....

If you do not put the time into your money and your investment portfolio.....

If you do not learn to evaluate advisors and have them show you their track record and references first (never be afraid to ask for client references that go back 3, 5 and 10 years).....

IF YOU FAIL TO DO THE ABOVE, then your money will be lost because you failed to take interest, and you failed to take responsibility in your future. It really is as simple as that.

Investing your money, is the same as raising your child.

If YOU don't learn to do what you need to, if YOU fail to take responsibility, if YOU fail to look after and nurture your child, love it, take an interest in it and watch it grow. If YOU choose to neglect your child, what do you think will be the result???

Same applies to your money.

People hand their money over to Financial Advisors and expect them to do the right thing and look after their money, make it work and grow their capital...... but what if they don't?! What if they aren't that good? How would you know? How do you check their progress and decisions?

Not working to improve your financial eductaion and just choosing to hand over your money over to someone else and expecting them to do the right thing for you is stupidity!

Would you trust a stranger to look after your child without ensuring they have the proper qualifications and accreditations? Wouldn't you do background checks, ask for references etc? Even when everything checks out with the carer, wouldn't you continue to monitor the situation to ensure your child is always put first?

You need to learn to treat your money like your own child.

You don't need 10,000 hours under your belt. Start small, learn, and invest small at the start.

Every investment is also a learning experience.

You will make mistakes, and when you do, look for the lesson!

Even with 500 hours of "learning" and "practice", you will be ahead of the majority.

As you increase your learning, you will increase your investment sphere. As you increase your investment sphere, you will make new mistakes. Keep looking for the lessons in your mistakes.

Continue learning, looking for opportunities, applying your new ideas, tweaking your old ideas and plans, and before you know it, you will be looking back and going "wow, I did it!"