The global financial meltdown of 2008 has been unprecedented and the ripple effect will be faced in times to come, though India is much better off. How to Cope with it and what to do to lead a Happy and Joyous Life?
Here are a few tips you may like to follow:
1. Look for positives and learn lessons for the future. Shed a feeling of gloom and move on with head held high. Look at what you have, a good family, food on the table and life in a young democratic Country which is being applauded all over the world for having escaped relatively easily.
2. Follow solid middle-class values, cautious, conservative and careful. Be humble and well grounded.
3. Secure your present, provide for the future on an on-going basis and only then be adventurous.
4. Do not mortgage your future for instant pleasure through acquisitions today.
5. Income is variable (job permanence, business stability and growth etc.) but Debt (loans, E. M Is) is permanent and the meter runs 24X7.
Two Prominent Investment Bankers of the Country have recently quoted their fathers, advising them never to take personal loans and to be risk averse with personal savings. Both claim to have followed this dictum and are happy.
6. Remember that there is no free lunch or free holiday in life. More seemingly enticing a proposition is to make quick or easy money, greater the danger and risk to loose your shirt (due to high risk investments people have also lost their peace of mind, even life)
7. Money is important, never undermine it’s importance. Use it as one of the means and never as an end in itself. Enhance your horizons to increase your earning and wealth creation capacity, but on a sustainable model.
8.Beyond a limit, law of marginal diminishing utility kicks in and the bigger cars, larger houses , luxury items, size of the business etc. all fail to give the thrill you expected them to provide .Then starts the race for more, which cannot be won, so why fall into that trap.
9. The trick is to stay hungry for success, be competitive, stay focused, stretch your targets (still achievable, though with lots of hard work and effort) but do not get carried away to indulge in big punts and gambles, which seemingly will propel you to a different league.
10. Except very few examples of people who have achieved wealth through huge gambles and betting on very long odds, law of averages does not favour this model, i.e for every such success, there are countless failures .For staying lucky, be prudent.
11. Economic freedom should be the aim, but it cannot be achieved through borrowed capital. (for conveniences and high leveraged debt for business)
12. Most of the things and events which bring continuous happiness are free or inexpensive. The happiness achieved through physical proximity of the family, smile on the face of the dear ones, creative success of the wife, best performance award to the son for the Quarter’s best sales results in his job have no substitute. Recognize and enjoy these on a regular basis.
13. Prepare a balance-sheet of your life and evaluate all your assets, starting from the kind of parents , (affection, moral and spiritual values given by them) spouse, children, relatives (much maligned, but we do not hesitate to land up at their door-step un-announced with bag and baggage, so give them some credit), friends, education, money, assets etc.
This will give a holistic assessment of emotional, spiritual and physical assets which surely will far outstrip the liabilities.
14. Value what you have and then look at what you aspire to have. Aspirations and Dreams are good and make life worth living, but we must filter the actionables.
15. Spend enough time in soul searching to figure out what do you want in life what are you passionate about, do your own S.W.O.T analysis (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) and Go for your Calling-patiently, persistently, without major short-cuts (they cut short the life) and chances of success will increase beyond expectations.
CONCLUSION
Life is interesting, take charge, enjoy the process and the journey, have faith, surely look at the emotional and spiritual aspects ,be prudent (and upfront about it-Warren Buffet is known to be prudent and thrifty) and Celebrate God’s Grace every day for a Happy, Joyous and Free life. (….. to be concluded)