Hello, and welcome back!  Last month, I shared some of the painful lessons I learned in the school of hard knocks. From 2000-2007, after suffering a significant loss from a mutual fund manager who ran amok with my and others' hard-earned dollars, I had the duty and privilege of serving as lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit. For seven years, we fought the unscrupulous company and its managers - suing its officers, board members and auditors.

This chapter in my life ended a little better than it began, as we managed to recover a significant portion of our lost assets. At the same time, long after I got over the shock and anger of what had happened, I still needed to manage the funds I extracted out of my lucrative career as a professional trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). I still had obligations to house my family, save for education expenses, and prepare for the day when I would not, or could not, continue to earn a living by trading on the exchange.

On Pains and Gains

One strength I have always relied on is learning from my own (and others') mistakes, misfortunes and missteps. Investor and hedge fund manager  Ray Dalio has a handy expression for this type of thinking: " Pain plus reflection equals progress."  He got that right! We all experience pain and loss in our lives. But I believe in turning past missteps into learning moments by reflecting on how to avoid them moving forward.

So over time, I asked myself: What can I do differently in the future? How can I prevent this from happening again? How can I not only survive but thrive in spite of this?