Life

How I Multiplied My Income 2.5x, Savings 5x, and Happiness 20x (After Quitting My Job)

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~ Mark Twain

On 1st January 2011, when most people around me were making resolutions to lose weight and eat better, I was making up my mind to do something else.

I finally did it on 4th January. I told my boss – “I quit!”

Quitting my job was a tough decision to come by, as I was surrounded by mixed views from all around, including from within me.

“You’re sure you want to quit your job?” asked my concerned father.

“How could you quit when we have spent so many years training you?” asked my boss, forgetting that I had also spent so many years serving the company.

“Hey, please don’t quit!” said my colleagues.

“Yes, you can do it!” said my wife.

“Yes, Papa will be at home to play with me at all times!” exclaimed my seven year old daughter.

Now, here is how my mind was playing tricks with me.

An Excel to Save Your Life

While India is ranked amongst the skinniest nations in the world (as a large percentage of people cannot afford food), there is no doubt we are getting fatter and unhealthier.

This is especially true of an average adult in urban India, who combines the stress of work with junk food and with sedentary lifestyle, all of which makes for a lethal combination.

Now, many people erroneously suggest that education is the answer to achieving good health. Really?

In 2014, we have more education, information, awareness, policies, programs and getting-in-shape resolutions, than any other time in history. But the fact is that in 2014, more people reading this would get weightier, and unhealthier.

The simple reason you see more young people visiting doctors and hospitals is – we have created a lifestyle that is unsustainable.

My 2014 Wish for You – Be Miserable

“Why are you in such a sad mood, Ravi?” I asked my friend as he visited us with his family this Christmas.

“You should see my stock portfolio Vishal!”

“Why, what happened?”

“Oh, it’s up just 30% this year!”

“30%! And you are still sad?”

“Yeah, because this could have been more than 30% had I not missed a few amazing stocks like…”

“Like?”

“Like Mindtree that is up 120% in the last one year, Cera Sanitaryware that is up 90%, Eicher that is up 80%, Aurobindo Pharma that is up 105%…and then there are the ones like Relaxo and Ashiana Housing, that are up 100% since April.

My Ode to A Great Teacher

“Okay, so despite all my requests to stay over for some more time, you have finally decided to call it quits?”

“What do I do, my dear Vishal, I was longing to live a life much more peaceful than I had done all these years, and thus I had to go.”

“Yes, yes, I understand that…but you see, I can’t say how easy or difficult it would be for me to live with the thought that you are not anymore by my side.

“But you see, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I will never see you again. You have been an inspiration for me, one of the greatest teachers I ever had, and now it would be incredibly difficult to reconcile my desire to see you again, living and speaking, hale and hearty.”

“I do not feel happy leaving this place as well, but you see dear Vishal, there’s no other path I could have chosen.

“And by the way, I am already leaving with you a lot of my memories and thoughts that would stand by your side whenever you need them.”

“Yeah, I know that. I know how you have inspired me to make a difference in others’ lives, and stand up to the challenges.

10 Simple Rules that Brought Me Financial Nirvana

I was in Ahmedabad last week for my Art of Investing Workshop (here’s the proof), and met a few young executives – in their mid 30s – who had questions about how I have managed my own financial life so well so far.

A couple of them were, in fact, amazed to hear my story and told me that I have been an exception.

“That’s not true!” I told them. “I have not done anything special in my financial life that anyone else cannot do.”

In fact, whatever I have done to bring myself to a stage of financial nirvana – if I may use that term – I have done with the help of some simple rules on how I treated my money over the years.

Now, while I am too young to dispel any life-changing advice on “how to be a financial rockstar” or “how to remove all financial worries from you life”, I am happy to share below 10 rules that have changed my life for the better over the past few years, and how these can also benefit anyone who practices them with discipline and integrity.

Here are those 10 rules.

One Small Step Can Change Your Life

We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There’s no need to rush
It’s like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It’s gonna happen when it’s
Supposed to happen and we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time

When you can’t wait any longer
But there’s no end in sight
when you need to find the strength
It’s your faith that makes you stronger
The only way you get there
Is one step at a time.

~ One Step at a Time (Jordin Sparks)

Every path to success has been littered with doubt, fear, and uncertainty, as well as persistence, calculated risks and repeated action.

The difference between someone who fails and someone who succeeds is the courage to act, repeatedly.

I Invest, So That I Live Like a Man…Not a Donkey, Dog or Monkey

In my collection of short stories that I have found on the Internet or in books and magazines, here is one that I believe carries a deep meaning, and a harsh truth, for our lives.

Here it goes.

God created the donkey and said to him:
“You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly
From sunrise to sunset carrying burdens on your back
You will eat grass, you will have no intelligence
And you will live 50 years.”
The donkey answered:
“I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 20 years.”
God granted his wish.

Life & Money Lessons from Kantilal

“Wadala Station?” I asked as a taxi approached me while I was returning home from a trip to the Siddhivinayak Temple here in Mumbai today.

“Come, sit,” the driver said, as I thanked my stars because a few drivers had turned my request down.

“I was going towards Chembur, and Wadala is midway, so would take you there.”

“Oops, but why does your meter start at 20 rupees? Isn’t this high than normal fare?”

“Sir, this is a cool-cab (Mumbai’s AC taxis), so the rate is higher. But don’t worry, since you don’t need the AC, I will charge a normal taxi’s fare only.”

“Thanks! By the way, Chembur is very close to my home. Why don’t you take me there?”

Life, Liberty, Happiness…and Investing

Image Source: Flickr

“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence.

In fact, it is considered by some as part of one of the most well-crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language.

These three aspects are listed among the inseparable rights of man.

Despite this, as I suppose, it would perplex a visitor from Mars whether we human beings really want what we say we want – life, liberty, and happiness.

This is especially true if the Martian were to drop somewhere on our stock markets, and examines the behavior of investors, speculators, analysts, and fund managers.

He would no doubt question the intelligence of the planet’s inhabitants, and would wonder…

“Do these guys really want life, liberty, and happiness…the rights they have been wanting for ages? They seem to be hell-bent on destroying themselves through their foolish actions! Is this the way the entire humanity works? If yes, I must thank my stars for being a Martian and not a human!”

The Analyst Who Sold His Ferrari

Imagine a stock market analyst appearing on CNBC advising traders to “stay long on L&T”, “short M&M”, and “buy IRB on dips”.

Given enough of dirt we may have thrown at such analysts in the past, I am sure what kind of a person you may be imagining. Someone dressed in a crisp, formal shirt and tie, and sharing his expertise on accumulating stocks.

Maybe someone like this…

Now, imagine seeing the same person clad in a loose khadi kurta, sporting a French beard, wearing a hearty smile, and advising you to give all your stocks away.

I am sure you may not be able to imagine that, given that there’s a negligible probability of a stock market analyst appearing in this second avatar.