Lord Ganesha, also known as Ganpati is believed to be the God of wisdom, a symbol of happiness, prosperity, knowledge and remover of obstacles. Adored by his devotees, there is a lot of inspiration that we can take about financial planning from the Lord himself.
Here are 5 lessons of financial prosperity from Ganpati Bappa.
Listen out and loud
The Lord’s big elephant ears signify how it’s important to have your ears wide open at all times, pay attention to all the information coming your way, absorb all the knowledge and filter out what’s not necessary. Lord Ganesha is also known to be worshiped for beginning new ventures. Therefore, by taking a cue from there, you can start saving and investing money early, ideally as soon as you begin to generate income. As investors, there can be an overload of knowledge and information that comes your way. However, making the right decisions at the right time with the help of sound knowledge and guidance of financial advisors, by listening to them carefully can be a big step forward in your financial planning journey.
Think big to achieve bigger
The Lord’s huge elephant head signifies that one should always think big. From a financial planning perspective, it’s important to identify goals and categorize your investments accordingly. Thinking big about your future is a way to secure it better, by knowing what you want to invest for and thereby identifying your short, medium and long term goals. Goals can be met when they are prioritized well. In order to do this, it’s also important to keep your thirst for financial knowledge alive. Lord Ganesha symbolizes wisdom and intellect, which gives us the inspiration to be financially literate and understand the various investment options that can be suitable for our goals and give us good returns in the short or long term, as planned by us. While thinking big, it’s also important to realize the magic of compounding which is earning interest over interest and generating more wealth over a longer period of time. Secure yourself by taking advantage of this and working towards the bigger picture.
Concentrate and stay focused
Although bestowed with a big head, the Lord has very small eyes which signify that in all the big plans that we take on, it’s very important to concentrate and be detail oriented. With attention to the minutest of details, this feature of the Lord inspires us to understand the nitty-gritty of our planned investments, the pros and cons involved in each of them and therefore, be mindful of how we plot this journey for ourselves. Even after making that commitment, it reminds us to stay focused and be consistent with it to ensure that we don’t deviate from our plans and disturb the financial planning process for ourselves. Not to forget, the focus also enables us to be protected and prepare ourselves for monetary turbulences, which should be paid just as much heed as we do to any of our other investments.
Trunk-like patience to adapt in all conditions
The Lord’s trunk symbolizes the virtue of patience that we must all possess as it’s unlikely that things always go as planned. Having a foresight towards this and ensuring that we can adapt to new circumstances as per the changes or new developments, is an inspiration for us to take. The long trunk also signifies that the Lord can sniff out danger or negativity, which is why he’s referred to as the remover of obstacles. This teaches us the lesson to be vigilant towards our investments and not be lured towards lucrative offers and those that promise anything big in a short span of time. To sense the unrealistic and frivolous nature of any such investments and steer away from it, being aware of market conditions and the risk involved in the investments that we choose to make, is an important lesson to bear in mind.
Strong tusk power to fork out bad investments
The Lord’s strong tusks are a reminder to us to have the strength to take the right decisions and eliminate any negative influences that there might be. Building your perceptions after critical analysis is a way to attain that sense and strength to fork out poorly performing investments that hold back the potential of the portfolio.
The lessons above lead to financial security in the future, well represented by the laddoo in the Lord’s hand which signifies that the fruit to patience, focus, perseverance and good thinking always results in something sweet. On this Ganesh Chaturthi, let us acknowledge Bappa’s lessons that we can follow for life and work towards a safer and wiser path of savings and investments. Best wishes from CAGRfunds to everyone on this auspicious occasion. Ganapati Bappa Morya.