Tom thinks he's a logical investor
Feb 04, 2026Tom's been looking at a development in Brisbane. The numbers are solid. He knows it. His accountant told him to move.
He's been "thinking about it" for nine months.
Tom thinks he's being careful. Doing due diligence. Being smart.
He's not.
Both of Tom's parents died before he was seven. That kind of loss installs something in a child that never gets inspected. Two beliefs, buried so deep Tom would laugh if you told him:
All good things are taken from me.
Nothing can be relied on.
Tom doesn't know these are running. But every time something genuinely good appears — a real opportunity, the kind that changes your financial position — those beliefs wake up. Discomfort. Tightness. Something that feels like doubt but isn't.
And now his clever mind goes to work. Not for him. Against him. Finding flaws in the deal. Building a case. Manufacturing "logic."
Four opportunities in three years. Four times Tom had good reasons to say no. Four times someone else said yes and made money.
This is subconscious programming. Installed in childhood. Running his financial decisions forty years later. Tom has no idea it's there.
His accountant can't see it. His financial adviser doesn't know to look. His business coach told him to "back himself more" — which is useless advice when the problem is invisible.
This is the most important thing you can learn about money. And almost nobody is teaching it.
Perry Mardon
