Today I complete 02 years of my freedom. This week, 24
months ago, after contemplating till eternity I finally took the leap of faith.
To be honest, it has not been all roses, being on your own
never is.
Looking back I
realize that I have done myself a HUGE favor by jumping in the unknown. In fact taking my odyssey with the U&U
situations, my trading and investing philosophy also revolves around that. Real
riches or achievements are in the unknown and unknowable. People who remain
within the confines of knowable and known are just another brick in the wall,
run of the mill existence and since life is so short, they die before they
learn 2 live. (Do u know that your
probability of dying during a given year doubles every 8 years)
Not that I achieved a whole lot monetarily. I earned ROI of
close to 2% per month on my corpus, which comes to slightly better (40%) than
my last drawn salary. But that is because
of a low base affect (Amex was paying peanuts).
Anyways it was never about money, all ma close friends can vouch for it.
Anyways it was never about money, all ma close friends can vouch for it.
I would like to quote Ed seycota here,
‘I don't judge success. I celebrate it. I think success has to do with funding and following one's calling regardless of financial gain’.
The kick I get out of what I do is priceless, the learning
in these 02 years have been stupendous, the potential (I have just scratched
the surface) is mind boggling and more than anything else no piece of shit
tells me what I have 2 do. My day starts when I open my laptop and ends when I
close it, and both the things can happen any time of the day I please!! (Irony
is u tend to work more without much fatigue when u like it)
It has been a great decision in other perspectives as well,
I have more time for myself, I play with my son Zohan and actually get to see
him grow on a daily basis, I attend the workshops and seminars I wish, I go out
interview and meet interesting people from my profession, I get time to
meditate and exercise, I watch all my favorite programs and yes I read about 2
books a week, every week.
I couldn’t do even 1 of the above mentioned fancies earlier due to erratic work schedule and more than anything else as vouched by my family and friends I am a lot more cheerful and jovial since I left jail and I am sure over the years it will start reflecting on my health.
The book starts with an quote from Greek philosopher Epicurus – “Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.” The book argues that a person’s wealth should be calculated on 7 parameters and not just the paycheck increase (although even that was a question mark in Amex). They are
1. Health
2. Security
3. Respect
4. Personality
5. Harmony with nature
6. Friendship
7. Leisure
I read this recently and so was not aware of these parameters when I took my leapof faith but in hindsight I realize that I was not doing justice to even a single one of the 7 back in corporate slavery days.
I would like to take this occasion to once again urge the
readers to find their calling in life and then JUMP. Just look around and see
the no of people (your friends, family, neighbors etc) dying daily. It is
inevitable, our days are numbered, make the most of it by doing what you are
cut out 2 do and not what society expects of u.
As Mark Twain once said, “
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover”.
