I accidentally learned a valuable lesson this evening. And, it ties directly to what Mac G. wrote here at Death Valley Magazine. I have an attorney, he wrote up some papers for me, looked fine, I signed them. End of story, I thought. First error on my part. I did the usual, I trusted someone I paid to get things right. First lesson - trust yourself. Not others, even if you are paying them.      

I later hear that there were some minor changes to the papers. Fine, agreed. But, the papers are not quite where I thought they would be (back at my attorney). No problem, everybody on the other side is working overtime on this deal. But, something wasn't "right" in my head [of course something's not right in my head, but that's another story]. I get the paperwork out and start looking it over. An hour and a half later - crap, there's an almost $60K difference in what's listed and what should be listed. Why did I miss such a glaring error? First, I was distracted by some $300 change. Second, I trusted that someone I was paying would not make errors. Third, I didn't listen to what Mac G. wrote about a "sixth sense." I felt it but dismissed it. That alarm feeling you get when something isn't right but you don't know what. So, you play Mr. Logical and ignore it.

That's the stuff that will get you dead in a gunfight and get you financially ruined in the world. No matter what you are paying whoever, from doctors to lawyers to accountants to anybody, if you just feel like it ain't right - it ain't. Instinct (from thousands of years of being human) will get you alerted if you are smart enough to listen to it. I finally listened to me with some doctors and now I will listen to me with lawyers. Please don't make the mistake I almost made this evening. If it just doesn't feel right, it's not.

Update: my personal attorney fixed the problem, so no problem. But, that doesn't mean that we should not listen to our instincts...