Life and failure are the biggest teachers, as they say. Every day in life is a learning of a different kind and some of the lessons learned stick with us forever. And of course, teachers come in different forms – a friend, a colleague, a family member, a mentor or simply even a book or a blog these days.
I’m happy to share that a lot of my thought process is influenced by three people – my dad, Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet. Financial planning being the core of my work, here are some of the most memorable life lessons that I go by which I’ve learned from them.
- You should be ready to try things. Even if you fail, it is fine. People who succeed are the ones who tried.
I’ve felt encouraged to start a business with this very belief and voila, with the right resources, support and most importantly by trusting my instincts, today we have CAGRfunds.
- Focus on the work in hand and live in the present.
Time spent regretting about mistakes made in the past can instead be well invested in trying to learn from the same and develop yourself to become better. The analogy is the same as focusing on your goals and working towards them today so that the future is secure.
- Discharge your duties faithfully and well. There is no alternative to hard work.
No pain, no gain. A simple learning which we all know of. We, at CAGRfunds ensure that we advise our clients earnestly, by thoroughly understanding their needs and ensuring that their investments are made wisely. Having seen the results of working hard is a reassurance of this lesson.
- Never cheat someone to make money. It comes back in the form of Karma.
Money is precious to everyone. Being in the business of finance has given me enough reasons to understand that, educate people about it and most importantly, to handle it well for other people who trust us with it. Everything connects to everything else – just like karma. You save enough now, you have a lot taken care of in the future. You ignore managing your money now and your money won’t help you much in the future.
- Avoid envy and resentment. These two are subtle emotions but have serious and bad consequences.
Negative emotions can make you take wrong steps causing losses of various kinds. They can make one act thoughtlessly or hastily – both not advisable in financial planning or even otherwise generally in life. A valuable lesson that applies in business as well as in my personal life.
Happy Teacher’s Day!