Category Archives: Patience

Does your Exit hurt you?

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Good. 

Good? 

Yeah. Good. 

A proper exit – hurts. 

Huh? 

What about exiting on a high? 

Sure. 

Go ahead. 

Exit on your high.

Who’s stopping you? 

However… 

… who’s to say that the high won’t become higher? 

Exactly. 

No one knows. 

So, while the uncertainty about the high becoming higher is still out there – smarty – why are we going to not let it play out? 

Exactly. 

We are going to let it play out. 

Purpose? 

A new high might be posted. We then make more profit. 

Or, trade starts going against us, and we start to lose some of what we’ve gained. 

Hurt starts. 

When you can’t stand this hurt anymore – exit. 

That’s a proper exit. 

It’s leaving a bad taste in your mouth in the end. That’s when you know it’s a proper exit. 

You’ve stomped out the possibility of a new high. 

You’ve taken what the trade has to give. 

You’ve let the hurt set in. 

You’ve let the trade arrive at its logical conclusion. 

Now, you are exiting. 

Congratulations, you are exiting properly. 

Continue like this and you’ll become a great trader. 

What, have I let the cat out of the bag? 

Don’t worry, one can say it a million times and 99% of all traders will still continue to exit improperly. 

It’s human nature. 

Human nature works against the mindset of a winning trader.

The Business of Writing

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Many things can happen when one writes. 

What happens depends on why one writes. 

Some write for money. 

Their bread and butter depends on it.

Writing gets them money. They earn a living. 

At times, they have to eke out words. Even when they’re not coming. Quality goes down. 

Money in the equation carries its own side-effects. 

What happens when money is not in the equation?

Yeah, some are so lucky. 

However, luck or no luck, one has to still want to keep money out of the equation.

When money is what one is writing about, you can imagine the temptation. 

One falls back on one’s basic definitions.

Why am I writing?

Am I writing for money?

Do I need any money that my writing might generate?

If the answer here is no, then the question still remains.

Why am I writing?

Am I writing for fame?

Who doesn’t want to be famous?

Am I able to control this impulse?

If the answer here is well-yeah-mostly, the question still remains.

Why am I writing?

What is the answer?

I’m writing…

…because…

…the words are coming. 

I’ll continue to write till they keep coming. 

I’ll stop writing when words stop coming. 

I’ll resume writing when words start to flow again. 

I’m not going to stop their flow.

I’m nobody to stop their flow. 

Has writing ever harmed me?

Never. 

It soothes. 

Balances.

Calms. 

Settles.

Concepts become clearer. 

Spreads goodness. 

Creates vacuum within, because your energy has ventured out. This vacuum will attract fresh energy from the universe. 

Has there been any regret about writing?

Readership? Perhaps?

Flow reaches its destination. Ultimately. If it’s persistent. 

My writing is persistent. 

It will keep coming. 

Its flow will reach its destination. 

So, any regrets then?

None. 

Happy reading!

🙂

That nagging nagging push towards action 

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Yeah, it’s always lurking… 

… in the background…

…waiting for an opportunity… 

… to catch you unawares… 

… and spring to the forefront. 

Market-play is a mental battle. 

Your mind wins or loses it for you. 

Make your mind understand the value… 

… of action… 

… and of inaction. 

Make your mind pinpoitedly choose… 

… the time for action… 

… and for inaction. 

Make your mind automatically switch from…

… a state of action… 

… to a state of inaction… 

… and vice-versa… 

… and feel perfectly normal doing the switch… 

… again and again and again. 

The above by itself is a winning state of mind for you, which you can build upon. 

🙂 

Satisfaction

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Satisfied?

No?

Why not?

Trading badly?

No.

Investing badly?

No.

Then what?

Can’t pinpoint.

I see. 

I’ll tell you what.

What?

I’ll tell you what I think it is.

How would you know?

It’s an educated guess. 

Ok, go ahead.

Are you doing what you’ve come to do?

Meaning?

You’re in finance, correct?

Correct.

Do you feel happy about being in finance?

Yes. 

In finance, how many things are you doing?

Many.

How many?

Nine. Maybe ten. 

What do you think is the reason for your dissatisfaction? It’s not results, you said. Look in the ten things. Is there one thing amongst them that you’ve come to do?

Yes. 

Are you doing enough of it?

No. 

Why not?

I’ve just started developing it. It’s risky. I’ve started slowly. 

When’re you going to scale up?

Over the next twenty years.

Huh?

Yeah, because sky’s the limit. I’m going to scale up very slowly, and always as a single digit percentage of my total networth.

So over the next ten years, will you have reached a substantial level.

Yes, of course. 

Do you think you’ll still be dissatisfied?

No. 

There you go. 

Sheer Moat Investing is not Antifragile 

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There we go again. 

That word. 

It’s not going to leave us. 

Nicholas Nassim Taleb has coined together what is possibly the market-word of the century. 

Antifragile. 

We’re equity-people. 

We want to remain so. 

We don’t wish to desert equity just because it is a fragile asset-class by itself. 

No. 

We wish to make our equity-foray as antifragile as possible. 

First-up, we need to understand, that when panic sets in, everything falls. 

The fearful weak hand doesn’t differentiate between a gem and a donkey-stock. He or she just sells and sells alike. 

Second-up, we need to comprehend that this is the age of shocks. There will be shocks. Shock after shock after shock. Such are the times. Please acknowledge this, and digest it. 

To make our equity-play antifragile, we’ll need to incorporate solid strategies to account for above two facts. 

We love moats, right? 

No problem. 

We’ll keep our moats. 

Just wait for moat-stocks to show value. Then, we’ll pick them up. 

We go in during the aftermath of a shock. Otherwise, we don’t. 

We go in with small quanta. Time after time after time. 

Voila. 

We’re  already sufficiently antifragile. 

No magic. 

Just sheer common sense. 

We’re still buying quality stocks. 

We’re buying them when they’re not fragile, or lesser fragile. 

We’re going in each time with minute quanta such that the absence of these quanta (after they’ve gone in) doesn’t alter our financial lives. We’re saving the rest of our pickled corpus for the next shock, after which the gem-stock will be yet lesser fragile. 

Yes, we’re averaging down, only because we’re dealing with gems. We’ll never average down with donkey-stocks. We might trade these, averaging up. We won’t be investing in them. 

Thus, we asymptotically approach antifragility in a gem-stock. 

Over time, after many cycles, the antifragile bottom-level of the gem-stock should be moving significantly upwards. 

Gem-stock upon gem-stock upon gem-stock. 

We’re done already. 

Looking for a Deal-Breaker

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I look. 

Don’t find it. 

Look again. 

And again. 

Keep looking. 

Tired. 

Eyes ache. 

Sleepy. 

Stop. 

Resume next morning. 

Still nothing. 

So on and so forth. 

Few days. 

Absolutely nothing. 

Buy the stock.

Yes. 

That’s the chronology. 

After zeroing in on a stock…

…that’s the chronology. 

Am I happy the search was unsuccessful?

You bet!

Am I spent?

Yawn…yes. 

Was it worth it?

Of course. I now own a quality stock. 

What’s happened before?

Stockscreener. 

Stock pops up. One that appeals to me. 

Check it for value. 

Pass.

Check it for moat.

Pass. 

Look for deal-breaker. 

Yeah, final step. 

Takes the longest. 

It’s boiled down to a yes or no. 

One’s going to holding the stock for a long, long time. 

This is when one is asking every cell in one’s body. 

Yes or no?

No deal-breaker?

Fine. 

Going for it. 

It’s a yes. 

When are you doing it Right?

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There’s something called the Line.

You feel it.

It’s abstract.

You have to be its master.

Then, you’re doing it right.

Controlled, the line won’t disturb your life.

It’ll very probably add to your life, in terms of wealth.

If you let it control you, everything is finished.

Goodbye.

Life. Wealth. Peace of mind.

It pays to master the line.

How do you feel the line?

By being invested, or in a trade.

How do you master the line?

By being invested or in a trade, again and again, again and again, and then some. Simultaneously, you’re nipping your bad behaviour in the bud, while the line is on.

You control your temper. You don’t lose it.

You develop patience with loved ones.

You learn how to position-size the line, while winning or losing.

You attenuate all kinds of disturbance.

You keep going on and on like this, till one fine day, the line’s presence becomes a part of your life. Line-switch being on doesn’t change you or alter your behaviour in any negative manner anymore.

That’s when you’re doing it right.

Effects?

Trade on = like when trade was not on.

Investment? You’re not thinking about it.

You sleep well.

Good family life… not disturbed by the presence of the line.

Yeah.

Line.

Master it.

What is an Antifragile approach to Equity?

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Taleb’s term “antifragile” is here to stay.

If my understanding is correct, an asset class that shows more upside than downside upon the onset of shock in this age of shocks – is termed as antifragile.

So what’s going to happen to us Equity people?

Is Equity a fragile asset class?

Let’s turn above question upon its head.

What about our approach?

Yes, our approach can make Equity antifragile for us.

We don’t need to pack our bags and switch to another asset class.

We just approach Equity in an antifragile fashion. Period.

Well, aren’t we already? Margin of safety and all that.

Sure. We’ll just refine what we’ve already got, add a bit of stuff, and come out with the antifragile strategy.

So, quality.

Management.

Applicability to the times.

Scalability.

Value.

Fundamentals.

Blah blah blah.

You’ve done all your research.

You’ve found a plum stock.

You’re getting margin of safety.

Lovely.

What’s missing?

Entry.

Right.

You don’t enter with a bang.

You enter at various times, again and again, in small quanta.

What are these times?

You enter in the aftermath of shocks.

There will be many shocks.

This is the age of shocks.

You enter when the stock is at its antifragile-most. For that time period. It is showing maximal upside. Minimal downside. Fundamentals are plum. Shock’s beaten it down. You enter, slightly. Put yourself in a position to enter many, many times, over many years, upon shock after shock. This automatically means that entry quantum is small. This also means you’re doing an SIP where the S stands for your own system (with the I being for investment and the P for plan).

Now let’s fine-fine-tune.

Don’t put more than 0.5% of your networth into any one stock, ever. Adjust this figure for yourself. Then adjust entry quantum for yourself.

Don’t enter into more than 20-30 stocks. Again, adjust to comfort level.

Remain doable.

If you’re full up, and something comes along which you need to enter at all costs, discard a stock you’re liking the least.

Have your focus-diversified portfolio (FDP) going on the side, apart from Equity.

Congratulations, you just made Equity antifragile for yourself.

🙂

Focused Diversification : Mantra for all Times

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I’m more into focus.

One can focus on one thing at a time.

Agreed.

What if after that one thing starts running, it doesn’t require any more focus?

Wow.

Then I focus on another thing.

Get it running.

Then another.

Till my focus window is full.

Let me tell you about my focus window.

I focus on cash, debt, equity, forex, gold, real-estate, arbitrage, and options.

With that, my professional focus in finance is full full full.

I get something running.

That’s it.

Then I don’t need to be with it. Mostly.

Let me run you through.

1). Cash – Bind it in a worry-free and accessible manner. Done.

2). Debt – Study the underlying very thoroughly. Reject 10 underlyings. Take up the 11th which passes all criteria. Be happy with a slightly better than FD-return. Done.

3). Equity – Invest for life. Study till you drop the stock or take it up. Only invest in what meets all criteria and offers margin of safety at time of investing. On top of that – SIP (systematic investment plan). Done.

4). Forex – Get a software robot to trade it for you. Or some human-capital. All available online. Requires a bit of fine-tuning. Keep tuning till you start making a return. Done.

5). Gold – Buy physical gold. Research your source. Needs to be impeccable. Bullion. Coins. SIP. Accessible. No jewellery. Done.

6). Real-estate – Make your real-estate yield you an income. Regular income? Done.

7). Arbitrage – Understand what this is, and why it gives you a tax benefit. Get an online MF account going with Kotak MF or DWS. Divert some funds into their arbitrage MF, either or. I prefer Kotak. Monthly dividend payout option. Done.

8). Options – Get the option-strategy going. You don’t require a desktop. Mobile is sufficient. All you now need to do is take care of square-off. On mobile. This means a slightly higher level of engagement than the above avenues. Only slightly. Are you ok with that? Fine. Done.

In a flow, it’s all doable.

And, you remain focused.

Why all this?

Times demand it. You never know what might come in handy, and when.

Yeah, times are tough.

However, you are tougher.

To use Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s terminology, you are antifragile.

Let it come, then we’ll see…

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Looking around for an opportunity?

Or letting one come?

Does it matter?

Is there a difference?

You bet!

When you’re looking around, you could be in a hurry. You want to get it over and done with.

Big mistake.

You are vulnerable.

Entry price will be expensive.

Your adversary feels your anxiety and jacks up entry level.

Quality? What quality? You’re in a hurry, right?

Don’t be.

Hurry spoils the curry.

Let the investment come to you.

It will.

Brokers are restless. They want to sell. They’ll knock at your doorstep once they know your funds situation. And, believe me, they won’t ask you about your funds situation. They’ll ask your banker. In fact, your banker could well be on retainer. He’ll make sure that high quality info ups his retainer fee. That’s how it works today. Don’t believe me? How come so many people have your cell number? Did you give it to them? No? Information is a commodity. It can be bought for a price.

So, wait.

Block your surplus funds as fixed deposits.

Get an overdraft going for one fixed deposit.

Delve into your normal activities.

Now you’re sitting pretty.

An opportunity comes.

It’s cr*p. Broker’s hoping you’ll bite into the nonsense being sold.

You tell the broker to buzz off. Lack of hurry gives you the clarity required to act like this.

Something lucrative comes along. Price is right. You overdraft on your FD. Yeah, it’s ok to pay the price for quality with margin of safety.

You can always fill in the overdrafted amount as new funds accumulate. The nominal interest paid for ODing is called opportunity fees. It’s chicken-feed. Just forget about it.

The best investments in life are worth waiting for.

What’s the mild pain for?

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Carrying forward a niggle?

Something that doesn’t stop you from performing, though?

However, something that nags?

Can’t stop to get it out of your system?

Momentum doesn’t allow you?

When you do stop to get it out, it doesn’t go away?

Is it more mental?

Or more physical?

Can’t decide?

Don’t know what to do?

Who to ask?

What if the hospitals grab you?

Make your wart into a cancer?

Are they then ever going to let you go?

Naehhhh.

Totally stumped?

We’ll, I’ve got something for you.

Are your ears standing up?

Can’t believe your luck?

Could Nath be bee/essing?

How does he know about all this stuff?

What makes him an authority?

Why should I trust him?

Well, don’t.

Is it costing you to listen?

Well, then listen. No harm.

So, as I said, I have something for you.

Are you ready?

Here goes.

Two words.

Embrace it.

Yeah.

Yeah, embrace the niggle.

Make it drive you on.

Make its mild pain give you quality output.

Milk it.

Make the niggle your advantage.

What if it goes away?

Halleluyaa.

You’re pain-free.

What if it doesn’t?

It then becomes your secret weapon.

That’s like buttering your toast on both sides.

🙂

Where’s the Love?

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Bro…

… it’s there…

… and it’s not.

You don’t find it, right?

You look and look.

You try everything.

Still not satisfied.

You think you’ve found it in something…

… or someone…

… is it there?

Possible… possible… possible…

… till it’s not.

It could’ve been there.

Then, it could’ve just gone.

Yeah, just like that.

Where does that leave you?

Are you to die without finding love?

Are you to find it beyond your current incarnation?

No point then, right?

Why not here?

Meaning right here, right now.

In the moment.

There is love in the moment.

It occupies a dimension.

You need to vibrate resonantly.

That’s when you start to mingle with its vibration.

You find it.

Your vibration warps.

You lose it.

Stay with it.

For a while.

The moment teaches you about the nature of what you look for.

Start to graduate.

Find it in ventures.

Some find it in finance.

Some become doctors.

Entrepreneurs.

Blah blah blah.

Post-grad to people.

Tough ball-game. We fail. Then we try again. We keep trying, till we kinda learn. Or not.

PhD in your life-partner.

Whoahhhhh, now you’re rolling.

Found it in your life-partner and stayed with it?

You’ve come a long way, bro!

Bully for you!

🙂

Limits will keep you Safe

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Safety is under-rated.

People scoff… at safety.

Ask someone to belt-up.

Or, ask xyz to take a backup.

Emergency fund, anyone?

Insurance?

Plan B?

Is anyone really interested?

Ok, don’t have a plan B. Fine.

Then, you need to watch your plan A like a hawk.

You need to install safety nets.

One such net is a limit.

Limit movement of funds.

Nowadays, this takes but a few online clicks. Setting fund-movement limits in your netbanking is not difficult at all.

What does a limit do?

It says ballyhoo to your emotions.

Greedy?

Too bad, fellow, funds more than your defined limits can’t leave your savings account, in case you wished these to depart for your trading account.

So, greed is in check. With force. Order of the day.

Limits will keep you safe.

Over-optimistic?

Same check.

Limits will keep you safe.

So on and so forth.

A little self-control is required though.

You’re not going to tamper with your limit, right?

Right.

What to do in the Age of Shocks?

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Wait for a shock.

That’s it.

Then go in… a bit.

Sound simple?

Ain’t.

Why?

Firstly, patience.

Who has patience, today?

Few.

Secondly, psychology.

Shock brings pessimism.

You don’t want to go in, not even a bit.

That is the whole thing.

Punchline. Understand it, and you’ve won already.

Thirdly, funds.

Who has funds, when the shock arrives?

Few.

Why?

Barely anyone knows how to SIT on funds.

I didn’t either.

Self-taught.

Through mistakes and pain.

By putting money on the line… losing it.

Took eleven years.

Now I know.

So don’t tell me that one is only born with the ability to sit.

Don’t waste your funds. Save them. They are your soldiers.

Fourthly, energy reserves.

Who has energy reserves when the shock arrives?

Few.

Why?

We’re too busy doing this doing that, always, forever. We don’t know how to conserve energy and build up reserves. Those who do then use their reserves to carry forward their strategies upon the arrival of a shock.

Fifthly, focus.

The hallmark of a big winner is focus.

Who has focus?

Few.

We’re too busy diversifying. It’s safer. Investing in the wake of shocks requires pinpointed focus.

Sixthly, courage.

Who has courage?

Few.

Why?

We’ve been taught to avoid, and move on. Life’s too full of BS that needs to be avoided. However, coming out during shocks needs courage. Face the enemy, and fight.

Seventhly, and perhaps this should have been on the top of the list, common-sense.

Who has common-sense?

Almost no one.

Why?

We’re too busy being complicated and sophisticated. We want to portray falsehood. We miss the forest for the trees. However, shocks are tackled with common-sense. Simplicity in thinking is paramount. The simplest ideas making the most sense are also the most successful ones.

Eighthly, long-term vision.

Who has vision?

Handful of people.

Why?

We’re too near-sighted. We want instant gratification. However, a shock presents excellent ground to root yourself in for the long-term. Understand this, and you’ll have understood a lot.

I could go on.

That’s quite enough though.

Above are eight points to think about,  to be seen as eight weapons that need sharpening, to come out fighting in the age of shocks.

Be patient, optimistic, fund-heavy, energy-heavy, focused and brave. Use your common-sense. Have long-term vision. BASICS.

Wishing you successful investing, in an age riddled with shocks.

🙂

Constant Activity doesn’t necessarily mean Progress

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Beware…

…of the urge to…

…constantly remain active.

The times preach it.

Maybe it was valid for different times.

Today, sitting still is an asset.

Many things happen while one sits still.

Systems cleanse.

Systems rest.

Space is created.

Recuperation is paramount.

Strength is built up, to come out firing on all cylinders another day.

Lack of activity thus becomes a secret weapon.

Weapons are double-edged.

If you’re not careful, they cut your skin from their other side.

We guard…

…against unnecessary food…

… and drink…

…laziness, sloth, mental over-zealousness, gossip and / or any kind of evil…

… while we’re inactive.

If we let such cracks seep in, it’ll have been all for a waste.

We’re not going to be inactive and be called a waste, because that’s a double-whammy.

We’re going to be pinpointedly inactive, and still be more productive than the 24×7 active ones.

We’re going to lead a good, full life with activity amidst productive periods of inactivity.

Yeah.

Meet the BenchWarmers

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Yeah, one too many real-estate agents (REAs) have popped up over the last decade.

Any Tom, Dick or Harry (TD/H) who has nothing to do becomes an REA.

Small little office, empty chairs, one TD/H reading a newspaper or watching TV… familiar?

Meet the bench-warmers.

Real-estate is in the dumps.

Sure.

Real-estate bill is in the offing. Might come out soon, might come out later.

Circle-rates are trying to bring the black-money component down.

Government A-B-C categorization is all warped.

Meanwhile, deals have dried. Volumes are zilch.

Is this the bottom?

Who says yes?

I’m afraid not too many have that conviction.

I don’t either.

You see, at bottoms, there’s blood on the streets.

Do you see any blood?

Nope.

Is black-money receding?

Slightly, maybe. Some say significantly. Some say insignificantly. Wishy-washy answers at best. Let’s put this under the “not-sure” category.

Are the bench-warmers packing up their benches?

Nope.

Are more bench-warmers springing up, in anticipation of volume-spikes?

Yeah.

Is this going to make their situation only worse?

Yeah, probably.

When will things start moving finally?

No one knows for certain.

Under the circumstances, how can one call this a bottom?

We’re still way above 2005 levels.

It’s not a bottom, or so I think. Maybe I’m mistaken. However, that’s my opinion.

All right, if it’s not a bottom, what is it then?

Time to wait and watch?

Yeah.

Time to pick up (a property) already?

Probably not.

Time to nibble at a real-estate stock?

Maybe. Just make sure the fundamentals are good and debt-component is negligible. And nibble. That’s all.

What about the bench-warmers? How should they act?

Use their office to generate income. Any which legal way, through any vocation. If not, rent it out with fool-proof lease deed. That’ll generate income too.

Bench-warming degenerates our faculties. It shouldn’t be practised over a prolonged period of time.

Patience and Nerves Anyone?

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As someone I look up to put it recently – “It’s a game of patience and nerves!”

What is?

The stock-market. 

For whom?

The long-term investor. 

Do you have any?

What?

Patience, or nerves, or both?

You do?

Well, then you’ll do well in the markets, over the long-term. 

We look for complication. Meanwhile, we forget the basics. 

These are basics. 

If you’re not patient, you’ll for example jump into a stock at the wrong time, or you’ll jump out of it too early, or what have you. 

If you don’t have patience, well, develop it. 

If you can’t, do something else instead. Trade. Don’t long-term-invest then. 

If you cannot develop patience, you are not cut out to be a long-term holder. 

One method to cause the tree of patience to grow in you is to create the correct environment. 

Just don’t do anything that will make you jump. 

Invest your sur-sur-plus, money that is then pickled away, money that you won’t miss, yearn for or require over the very long-term. 

Go in with margin of safety. 

Stay in a stock you’ve singled out and entered until there’s a glaring reason to exit. Try to exit upon a high. This is the market. Highs are its nature. So are lows. That means that highs come. Wait for them to come, to exit from anything you need to exit from. 

Nervers, well, they come into play if you’ve not invested with margin of safety. 

I do remember two instances though, where everyone’s nerves were tested. October 2008, and March 2009. At these times, stocks sold for a song. Good ones and bad ones alike. Fear did the rounds, extreme fear. That’s what fear does. It creates once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Take them. Maintain a clear head. Your nerves of steel will do that for you. Create an environment for your nerves to become strong. Or, perhaps expressed another way, create an environment where any weakness in your nerves is not required to show itself, and gets subdued into extinction. 

How?

Again, just go in with your sur-sur-plus. You’re not going to miss this money even if the sky is falling upon your head. And you’ve gone in with margin of safety. Your nerves will stay intact. 

Ensure your basics. Allow them to shine. 

The rest will take care of itself. 

Good investing. 🙂

The Tipping Point

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What is it about tips?

Why do they have that lure? That magnetic effect? That greed-invoking element? That goosebumps-causing energy?

Tips thrive in any market. 

They are given at the drop of a hat. 

The giver feels he or she is doing a favour. The receiver feels obliged. 

What has led to the giver feeling complaecent that he or she has something one his or her hands?

The giver was a receiver, a very short time ago. 

He or she got sucked …

… into the story. 

The story is tempting. 

It builds upon many half-truths and binds them together in such a presentable manner, that one’s defences, if any, are just maimed. 

In comes the tip. 

Off goes the mind, counting the unmade bucks.

In goes the money. 

Mostly, it doesn’t materialize. 

Why?

Tips do the rounds as short-cuts in people’s half-baked minds. 

A short-cut to wealth. 

The 99% here don’t want to do the spade work. They don’t want to get their hands dirty. They want spectacular returns, though, and they want them now. 

That’s the short-circuit. 

Investing is about doing lots of research. You dig. And then some more. It’s about patience. You wait. And then some more. It’s about having a sorted mind, and then going in. It’s a full-time occupation, unless you streamline it so well, that it then goes hand in hand with your other daily activities, and drops into the background like a mantra that keeps resonating with your breath. 

Does one become a brain-surgeon in a few hours?

Do you ask the brain-surgeon to teach you brain surgery in a day?

NO. 

It takes time, study, effort, will-power, finances, mindset, etc. etc. to become a brain-surgeon. 

It takes a lot of similar things to become a successful investor. 

You make yourself into one. 

It’s your effort. 

You don’t become one following tips.

People ask for tips. Daily. It’s a disease. I’m scarcely able to deal with it. I just evade. 

Folks, those who ask for tips are expecting to be made a brain-surgeon in one day. Not happening. It’s a short-circuited way of thinking. Don’t ask for tips. Invest on your own. Do the study. Invest the time and effort. Make mistakes. Become fully baked.

Go for it. 

The whole nine yards. 

Yeah, the whole hog. 

Multitaskers and OnebyOners

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Yeah, I made up that word…

…why not?

Who makes the rules?

Do you listen to all rules?

Breaking some rules is harmless…

… and those are the ones I love to break!

We live in the fast-track. 

Is there a place for slowdy-lumps?

Well, no, and yes. Or, yes, and no. 

Are you a fan of multi-tasking?

I’m not, by the way. Have to have to, sometimes. Don’t like it. 

Why?

I don’t like doing anything in a half-baked fashion. I’m sure that on some level, you don’t either. Either in it for the whole hog, or count you out, right?

Yeah. Or so thought I. 

World moves. It passes you by. If you don’t multi-task. Juggle. Use whatever word you wish to.

Is it healthy? 

No. 

Multi-tasking leads to confusion in the mind-body continuum. Feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction are muddled and befuddled at best. 

Is that the quality of life you want?

No. 

I want clear-cut stuff. 

Clear-cut defined effort. Clear-cut defined satisfaction and enjoyment. 

I’m a onebyoner. I get the above kind of satisfaction and enjoyment. It is wholesome. Quality of life enhancing. 

Am I old-fashioned?

Don’t care. 

Why?

Because quality of life is more important to me than looking stupid for a bit. 

Try being a onebyoner for a while. Note the difference in the flow of life. You get to stop between completed tasks. Breathe. Take a break. Do something else. Move on to the next task. One step at a time. Brick by brick. 

Life is more enjoyable. 

Try it. 

Things To Hold On To

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There are some up days…

…and there are some down days. 

Could be because of anything. 

On down days you need to hold on to something(s). 

These provide anchor. 

You wedge yourself into something, and are not swept away. 

There’s right diet. Leads to good health. You make sure your diet doesn’t stray on a down day. It is likely to if you don’t watch out for its deviation attempt. 

Exercise. Get moving. Alone the hormones secreted during exercise should make you feel better. 

If your down day is not because of professional issues, get professional (baby)! Meaning, use your profession as an anchor. Dive into it. Deeply. Forget about time. 

Look after the well-being of someone you care about. 

Pursue something extra-curricular. Again, dive into it. 

Travel, if you can. 

You can fill in the blanks. 

I’ve set up a very basic list. 

We’re very basic here. 

We don’t believe in sophistication. 

We break life down to basics. 

We keep things simple. 

So, what does the anchor do?

Yes, it stops you from being swept away. Your anchor gives you stability and solidity. 

Then, your anchor consumes you. You lose track of time. 

What was time, – oh ya – a healer. As time passes, you forget the issue, or the issue dissolves, or dilutes. 

You wake up on another day, refreshed, and join the battle where you left off. Issue seems smaller. Your forces are replenished. You fight. You win. 

Never forget your anchors. Have them ready. Anytime. Any place.