Dont be Serious!!

"Three-fourths of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world will disappear if we step into the shoes of our adversaries and understand their standpoint."~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

How true are those words. They are the words of wisdom. In our day to day practice, when we look at things from some one else' perspective, it can really change our own point of view.

And then, they say, “Don’t be serious be sincere!”
You can do your bidding with a smile on your face.

Chetan Bhagat in his address to Symbiosis Pune said about four pillars / storms in life that can put your spark to sleep.

Disappointments
Frustration
Un Fairness
Loneliness of Purpose

Don’t be emotional with money

Many of my friends are very concerned these days. They form two basic categories of people.

One are those who are reaching the other side of middle age who are worried that they may not have enough when they retire. Inflation is eating all their savings. 

And then there are those on this side of middle age who think they don’t have many avenues these days to invest. Almost all kinds of investments are giving negative returns.

My advice to most people has been to 
1. Realise yourself – be sure of what kind of financial profile you fall in
2. Act according to your profile
3. Set your expectations correct and stop being emotional about it

Today, I will discuss only the first part, Realise yourself. How does that come about?

I have seen the following category of people in my life:

CATEGORY: AGGRESSIVE
These are typically the folks who can do the following well:
1. Take risks with money and not flinch if they fail
2. They are the mavericks and early adopters of investment patterns, they bet big on aspects of investments that they research “enough” but decide using their “guts”
3. Generally understand the laws of demand and supply

CATEGORY: MODERATE
These are typically the folks who can do the following things well:
1. Take calculated risks and sometimes mourn their loss but never get disheartned, maybe become averse to some forms of investments but in general they take the tested path of investment returns
2. They are the mainstream investors with moderate funding sources, and try only the tested formulae in life
3. Generally understand the laws of leverage

CATEGORY: PASSIVE
These are typically the folks who can do the following things well:
1. Take low to minimum risks when it is about money.
2. They are the laggards, not given to losing money at all.
3. Generally border between paranoia or lethargy. Paranoia of risking the money. Lethargy to do the research to invest properly. It may also come from lack of information, knowledge, education or simply pessimism.

CATEGORY: FRIVOLOUS
These are the folks who:
1. Take “unnecessary” risks – some pay off but most don’t.
2. They are the hearsay guys, and their money follows their heart and ears.
3. They are emotional about their money.

If you know which kind of personality profile you are, next time I will talk to you about what kind of actions you should take to make some money.

In the meantime if you have read or interested in reading check this book out, absolutely fantastic in teaching you the basics of investment.

How to create your own career?

I have been asked by many of my colleagues and juniors on how to build and manage career. As I stand at an interesting crossroad on my career, and I don’t know if I am successful yet in what I am trying to do now, I have been considered successful till now and therefore I believe I have some words of suggestion, that you as a reader may find interesting.

Here are some pointers on how to build your career?

1. Setting GOALS is a very important aspect of life.
   a. GOALS must be S.M.A.R.T (Specific-Measurable-Actionable-Result Oriented-TimeBound)
   b. Life can have many aspects. Decide what are most important aspects for you. Some examples of life aspects for which you can decide goals could be: Job, Finance, Personal, Professional.
2. Roadmap – you need to have a roadmap / a plan, on what you want to do with your life. 
   a. Those who are at the start of their career need to create a roadmap of 25 years / 10 years / 5 years / 2 years timeframe.
   b. Those who are in the middle of their career need to look at the 15/10/5 year timeframe or any chunk that they feel comfortable to manage.
   c. Those in their late years can only plan on a 5 year horizon at most.
3. Network – ability to leverage networks is very important. Build networks that can:
   a. Give you advice on how to shape your career
   b. Provide you with opportunities
   c. Help you have fun 
   

These three are essential the building blocks of your career. They form the strategy. 

Next time on this topic, I will discuss how to operationalise this strategy.

Never Burn those Bridges

Never burn bridges.

In a weak moment of rage it may seem the absolute truth to burn the bridge, to speak the unthinkable, to angrily summarise your colleagues’ failures / incompetencies as you see them.
But experience has taught me that there are more than one way of saying what you want to and not burning the bridge.

Always start on a positive note, say what you like about the person and then slowly ease in the direction you would like the colleague to take at work or whatever it is that you want him / her to perform.

Why should you do this? Simple, you and you alone are responsible for your future. But you really don’t know what it has in store for you. Who knows the same person whom you insulted could become your boss! Or if you are running your own business, he / she could be the decision maker on behalf of the customer!! Or worser still, while you are on a roadshow promoting your product, the journalist who needs to take the interview is that same person!!

There are many permutations of what your future holds for you, but are you willing to trade your future for that one moment of passionate outrage? That’s the question that you need to answer, I think I would not burn any bridges unless I really don’t want to cross that river ever in my life.