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One of the best lessons I ever learned came from a 7th grade art class. Most people struggle to draw because they draw what they think something should look like, rather than what’s actually in front of them. They draw their idea of a face, not the face they actually see. The trick is to forget what you think you know and just be honest about what’s in front of you. I’ve come to realize that this lesson has shaped much of my life, especially in business and investing. I built a company from the ground up by looking at an industry and seeing it for what it actually was, rather than accepting how everyone thought it was supposed to work. I didn’t have all the answers, but I trusted what I could observe over conventional wisdom. Investing is much the same. So much of it is clouded by narratives, popular opinion, and preconceived notions about what a company is or should be. People often see what they expect to see, or worse, what they want to see. The hardest part isn’t analyzing the facts. It’s being willing to see them for what they are, even when they contradict everything you believe. I never consciously thought about that art lesson while building a business or making investments. It’s only in retrospect that I recognize how much it shaped the way I think.