Why do we do what we do ?
Posted By: Admin
We are all creatures of habit and are followers. So right from the way we do things in our daily life we have the habit of following the same practice that our elders have been doing only that the time is different. My Great grandfather was a farmer, who spent 12 hours in the field on hard labour, so his frugal meal consisted of lots of rice ( affordability was another issue) with very limited protein, fats etc.. given his hard labour, he continued to stay healthy in spite of a high Carb diet. However today our biggest labour is pressing the remote button to switch on the AC or the TV or getting up to walk to the loo.. yet we continue to eat as if the world is running short of food. Why do we do what we do ?
Even in the investment world, we follow the same practice. My father made the greatest returns investing in a house he bought in the 1980s.. so I too am out to pursue the same … so irrespective of it being my third property… I will go forth and still buy it because I am Papa’s boy and Papa would have approved this. Back then property & gold were the only things one could invest into.. today is a lot different we have Stocks, Mutual Funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts, Crypto Currencies, Non Fungible Tokens ( NFTs)… so many exciting things but we continue to stick to our mindset.
Rakesh Junjunwala the renowned investment guru recently told in an interview, that in 2005, he sold Rs 27 crores worth of Crisil Stock to buy a house in Mumbai. By 2021, the house had appreciated to about 75 Crores, but the value of the CRISIL stock if it had been held would have been worth 750 Crores.
Of course one is not saying that one must not invest in real estate or Gold, just that excessive dependency could be avoided.
Zen master & Tied Kitten :
Centuries ago, in a Zen Monastery there was a Zen spiritual teacher. Every evening the teacher would deliver a lecture to his disciples. As they began their evening lectures / meditations, the kitten that lived in the monastery made noise and moved around distracting the young disciples, who would follow its actions instead of paying attention to the teacher. So the teacher ordered that the kitten be tied to a pillar near the hall during the evening practice, to ensure the meditation session was not distracted.
A few years later the teacher died and a new teacher came, the practice continued.
A few more years later the cat died, the disciples went out and brought another cat to be tied to the pillar during the evening lectures, because that was always how things were done at the monastery.
The statement “ this was how things were always done” is a dangerous statement that lulls you into complacency. You need to keep asking yourself, why do we do what we do?
I am sure the current investment options are a lot more challenging to comprehend and execute than the traditional ones. But we are all headed for the future, so we better learn and adapt to what's coming rather than stick to older ways.
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By Babu Krishnamoorthy, Chief Sherpa
Category Finsherpa | Tags Financial Freedom
