Passing The Mirror Test

I just finished "One Up On Wall Street" by Peter Lynch, the legendary fund manager of Fidelity Magellan. The chapter 4 in the book is called "Passing The Mirror Test". In short, you should answer:

1) Do I Own A House? (A: Yes)
2) Do I Need The Money? (A: No)
3) Do I Have The Personal Qualities It Takes To Succeed? (A: Yes)

For questions 1 and 2 the answer is easy as they are objective. The third one is tricky as probably anyone investing already will say yes :-)

The qualities related to success as an investor according to Lynch:

• patience
• self-reliance
• common sense
• a tolerance for pain
• open-mindedness
• detachment
• persistence
• humility
• flexibility
• willingness to do independent research
• willingness to admit mistakes
• ability to ignore general panic

And on top: "In terms of IQ, probably the best investors fall somewhere above bottom 10%, but also below top 3%".

Still say Yes to the third one? I say "Maybe, hope so"..