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In his book “Fuel For My Journey”, long distance runner and writer, Dhananjay (“DJ”) Yellurkar, talks about the various human values that he re-discovered as a marathoner. These are the same values which should guide us in how we manage our finances and carry out our investments.
Following an open-heart surgery, DJ had the courage to get out of his comfort zone, face various challenges head on, and become a successful marathoner.
Managing our finances and carrying out investments also requires us to be courageous. We need to have the courage to get out of our comfort zones, learn about the new financial products and tools available and take control of our own financial matters.
Having courage requires us to take calculated risks. It is only when one is prepared to take such risks (e.g. by investing in shares of good quality companies; in equity-oriented mutual funds or similar asset categories), can one reap the rewards – a significant accumulation of wealth in the long-term. As the saying goes - no risk, no reward!
As he embarked on his marathon journey, DJ has been very disciplined – not just with his training schedule, diet, sleep times etc., but also in saying ‘no’ to what would have distracted him from his single-minded focus on running the marathons.
We need to be highly disciplined when it comes to management of our finances and investments. Discipline is required at different levels –
It is only through such a disciplined approach, can we aim to successfully finish our wealth-building marathon!
The Covid 19 pandemic and the lock-down period has been trying times for everyone….more so for DJ, given that he could no longer run outside to remain physically fit and had to take additional precautions given his co-morbidity. However, DJ had the patience and a positive mindset which helped him sustain the difficult period and he could run marathons again now!
When it comes to investing, one has to have patience in the short-term to be able to enjoy rich rewards in the long-term. For example, expecting high investment returns through day-trading type activity may prove costly and may not generate high investment returns over the long-term. Instead, we need to have the patience and be invested for the long-term for the benefits of compound interest to play out fully.
There came a point in DJ’s marathon journey wherein he over-estimated his abilities and compromised with his training schedule. This resulted in him not completing one of the marathons within the cut-off time. There was also another marathon that DJ had doubts in his mind, whether he would complete. However, he didn’t let such doubts and failures demoralise him.
Instead, he accepted the failure with humility, learnt important lessons, continued to focus on his goals and then challenged himself again to run an even more difficult marathon – the one on Antarctica!
In the long-term journey of investing and wealth building, there will surely be moments of failures. We shouldn’t let such moments discourage us from marching towards our goals. Important thing is to be open to receive expert advice, learn from our mistakes, take corrective steps early on and be firmly focused on the long-term goals.
Over-confidence in our abilities may prove to be very costly when it comes to making investment decisions. Instead, we should have the humility to accept that we may not know everything and allow expert managers to manage our portfolio instead.
Whilst running the marathon on Antarctica, DJ experienced support and kindness from complete strangers. He himself has been a pacer, guide (including to visually challenged runners) and has mentored aspiring marathoners to help them achieve their dreams. Such experience of kindness and the honour of paying it forward has resulted in DJ forging lifelong friendships with many of his co-runners and mentees.
Adhering to the various values discussed earlier would help us achieve our financial goals. However, what brings more joy and inner peace is when we also help others along the way. For example, sorting out the finances of our domestic helps, introducing them to the concepts of regular savings, providing a safety net through insurance policies etc. would go a long way in achieving the goal of financial inclusion.
Let’s hope that the fuel for DJ’s marathon journey be an inspiration to us in how we manage our finances and carry out our investments!