How many times you hear people say “Meditation has changed my life” or “Running has changed my life”. Is it true that meditation, running, cycling or going to a gym can change your life? Well it is the whole process that helps—not just the act itself.
Let us say you start meditating 3 times a day for ten minutes each. Once at 7.00 am, once at 1.00 pm and once at 7.00 pm. Breakfast, lunch and dinner? First week, you do four days and miss three days Next week you do five, then six and in three months you are meditating for 15 minutes at each session. Now this ensures that you go to bed at say 11.00 pm at least — so that you can get up at 6am and do your meditation at 7.00.
This means no late night parties - no drinking binges, etc. So the activity of meditation has brought a lot of discipline in your life. That helps as much as the meditation itself! ditto for running, cycling, - the process helps. After 6 months or 1 year you go around saying “meditation helps”. True, but partially. When it comes to investing, again the first step is discipline—start saving money. That is the toughest part. Once you learn to save, doing a SIP is not so tough.
The discipline of saving say 20 per cent of your salary is a good target to start with. Do a SIP in an index fund till you start learning about investing. So doing a SIP is about the discipline of taking money away from you as soon as it comes. It is one of the best ways of investing for a young person just starting to invest. It works just as well for a seasoned investor who does not need to think everyday about where and what to invest.
Like meditating, once you decide to think of saving and tell yourself that Rs 10,000 per month should be the SIP amount - it can happen. In the first year you miss 4 months, then 3 and in the 4th year you celebrate the 12 installments! Do not kill yourself over missing one or two installments—it takes time to build in the discipline. Creating wealth is a long term, multi-year, multi-decade and multi-generational process. You need to make a start. Ideal age of course is 22, but it is even better if your father or grandfather had started the process. If they did not, you could.
I hear such stories very often. Of SIPs started in 1999, 2008, and is still continuing. Now with the magic of stepping up. This allows you to do a sip of Rs 5,000, then Rs 5,500, then Rs 6,000 — and so on. The amount of wealth created is amazing. On the other hand you regularly read about celebrities who earned millions of dollars going bankrupt. Being driven to suicide. Yes discipline is boring— especially when you are young. However, at a later date the same discipline gives you financial freedom. Ironic is it not? Discipline leads to freedom!
PV subramanyam
writes at www.subramoney.com and has authored the best seller ‘Retire Rich - Invest C 40 a day’