Time flies

Due to the way the pandemic is playing out one never knows when the next lockdown will take place. I have started looking at time more like Before Covid (B.C) and After Covid (A.C).

These days I become nostalgic quite often (maybe it has to do with my age or maybe with restrictions in place I don’t get time to spend) and tend to keep going back to the journeys we took as a family because now taking national or international vacations has become almost impossible due to new variants of Covid coming up all the time.

While I had visited the US many times, I took my family for the first time to the US exactly two years back. We entered the US at Washington DC and had the opportunity to see the lovely celebrations and decorations around the White House with the Christmas tree and the toy trains criss-crossing each other on the lawns between White House and the Obelix. We also visited Capitol Hill and took the tour, which was an eye opener.

I wonder if I had delayed taking my family during that trip, given the Covid situation, I may not have been able to go, till I don’t know when.

The critical thing here is time – it waits for no one – and there’s never an “opportune” time. Time is what it is. You need to grab whatever comes your way and put your best foot forward.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Financial Freedom – keep counting the gains – live your life

Abundance, Financial Independence, life

A lot of times we get obsessed with saving for investing because we are unsure of the actual amount we could need for the future. It becomes a moving target. If you get to 100K you think you need 500K to survive. When you hit 500K you think you 1M to survive. This way you are never happy with what you have. You never learn to live your life in the moment and value what you have.

Something which I have mentioned earlier also, which I learnt from reading Dan Sullivan’s books and watching his videos, is the concept of counting gains.

So I started writing the blog posts on financial independence and freedom not because I had become wealthy but because I saw that I could find systems of investment which can help me grow. As these investments started growing I could take up activities which enhanced and expanded my life. And I wanted to share these learnings with everyone , so that others need not go through the same challenges which I went through.

From a stage where I had zero investments and zero financial backup, I kept clawing upwards. Now I can decide to feel sad that my investments have still not made a dollar denominated millionaire or I can feel happy that I was at zero and today I have hit some value while also living through lovely experiences along the way. This gives me the feeling of abundance.

When you are driving down from Washington DC to NewYork City you see the milestones for the amount of distance pending to reach NYC. Since the destination is fixed, it makes sense to know how much time and distance is left to reach it. However if you were to change the destination en-route from NYC to Rochester, then to Albany, then to Toronto, you will go crazy trying to figure out when you will eventually hit your destination. It then makes sense to think in terms of how much distance you have already gained towards your destination rather than how much is pending.

With your finances also you need to keep counting your gains and feel happy that you have been able to achieve some intermediate targets. Tony Robbins also had this concept of creating buckets and making investments according to the buckets. Once the bucket is full you need to use it. Like if there’s a bucket for vacations, then once the bucket gets full based on the target you need to go out and have a vacation. This way you will actually live your life.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Relationships make a difference

books, life, relationships, Sales

When I was starting out in sales I read a book – What they don’t teach you in Harvard Business School. It was authored by Harvey McCormick. I was very impressed with the achievements that he mentioned in the book.

I have forgotten most of the book, but one sentence that has stayed with me has been – All things being equal people buy from friends, all things Not being equal they still still prefer to buy from friends.

That one statement keeps ringing in my mind from time to time. It has been a guiding statement whenever I interact with anyone.

I try to ensure that I make long term relationships by being straight and upfront in whatever interaction I have with people. Not only with prospects and customers but even with vendors and everyday people.

When you build these kind of relationships you can be sure that you can pick up the phone and call people when you want and they will also answer your phone. Also because you have dealt straight with these people you aren’t scared when connecting with them.

Its also similar to the philosophy of giving first that Joe Polish talks about. When people trust you and know that you will be transparent in your interactions, they are also open to interact

Does that mean that I have not been tricked and taken advantage of because of this philosophy, absolutely not. But the amount of times I have been duped is way smaller than the amount of times the relationships have helped.

My advice would always be to play the long game and build relationships which can last you a long long time.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Karmic cycle

charity, Karma, life

I am a strong believer in God. I also believe that things happen for us , to teach us , rather than to us. The bigger thing though is that whether you believe in an entity called God or not, you do understand that the universe has a way to equalise things. I don’t know about the animal kingdom, but I have always found even in the toughest situations, in unknown locations where people didn’t know my language, I could still get help.

I don’t like the idea of talking about the ordeals I have gone through life, because I believe everyone faces tough situations in their life at some point or another.

On the other hand I do believe that if you keep doing good, even during your tough times, your pain keeps getting reduced. It could be because your brain feels good by helping someone. It could also be that the person whom you helped sends out positive waves in the universe for you.

If you do so much good in the world, there’s so much positivity about you, that tough times don’t seem so painful. The more good you do, there’s a tendency to want to do more. Due to this you feel grateful, you have grace -as Tony Robbins says or you have a feeling of abundance – as Dan Sullivan says.

This makes your mind want to find solutions to the problems that you are facing and take help from others also to figure out ways to solve problems. Most people in this world are good and they like to help. That’s why humanity has been able to last more than 30000 years.

You wouldn’t get that feeling if you were to watch the news. As per the news, the situation has never been worse than what it is right now. Inspite of this there are people working to solve big problems, they are working to help others out. If you will look at videos of Dr. Peter Diamandis or read his books, you will realise that the world has never been a better place in all its history.

Keep doing good. The universe has a way of rewarding you. You can call it by whatever name. I prefer to call it the Karmic Cycle.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!