A short trip to mountains last week made me realise “How mountains can teach us so much and specially can teach us Heaps in the area of Personal Finance management.” Sharing five things that I found that one could relate to:
Aspire to reach heights:
Hills Aspire to reach the sky. Sky is the limit. One can never measure the height of a mountain until one has reached the top, only then one can see how low it was.
Similarly in Financial planning one aspires for higher goals/ destination. Our wishes and wants also grow Higher and Higher with each passing day. This longigngness of higher Aspirations in Finances makes it similar to mountain ranges.
Mountains can be Barren and Fertile at the same time:
Mountains are full of rocks and are barren at places which means unproductive or unsuitable. Also, it can have fertile land which is good for any productivity or vegetation. Hard work of farmers can turn Barren land into fertile land. Without any effort, the barren land will never get turned into fertile one.
While planning for our finances, we may end up taking Non performing/ wrong decisions. Smart work can help in turning wrong decisions to right ones if we stop procrastination (delay) in taking decisions. We must make immediate actions without waiting for the mistake or error to be rectified on its own.
The journey may be Topsy turvy but the destination is beautiful:
The mountain journey may be topsy turvy at times with sharp bends and curves but the thought of beautiful destination keeps you going.
Similarly, The journey towards a goal may seem tough at times but the beautiful outcome keeps you going. One may find it difficult to save at times but visualization of outcome makes it possible.
It is tough to take U turns :
It is tough or difficult to take U-Turns on mountains . So, if we don’t know the way …we ask for directions every now and then and to avoid taking U turn.
Similarly, one should be very sure and do the best possible due diligence before opting for any investment option for a goal as a product may be good but not the best one for you as “One size doesn’t fit all” One small wrong decision will cost you hefty.
It takes time to get a Shape:
The mountains never got their structure in a single day. To make mountains accessible to us, the roads were built with lot of strategies, hard work, time and patience. Nothing was done overnight.
Similarly, the power of compounding shows its result in the long term only. For example: if one invests Rs. 2000 per month for his goal which is 30 years away. He was impatient throughout the term and finally withdraws the amount after 25 years , he receives Rs. 55 lacs approx but if he stays for another 5 years, he would have received Rs.1.12 crores. The “Time” gives more value to money.
So, now we know Rome was not built in a single Day.
“You can never conquer the mountain. You can only conquer yourself.” — Jim Whittaker
Our thoughts hold the key. Our thoughts plant the seed of success or failure, in our thoughts battles are fought and won or lost. Its all in the Mindset. If we bring discipline in our thoughts we can conquer and win the World out there.
Gurleen Kaur is a Financial Consultant and devotes her time to her company www.hareepatti.com. She has done her Bachelors in Finance and Investment Analysis(BFIA) from College of Business Studies(CBS, Delhi) and MBA from IMT, Ghaziabad. She will be a Certified Financial Planner by June 2014. She can be Contacted at gurleen@hareepatti.com
The original article was posted HERE