Go Slow and You'll reach
People want some ‘key’ to their financial problems. But don’t have any time and patience to learn…..just give us ‘instant’ results.
The problem is everyone want so much, so soon, and so fast.
Therefore, it’s tough to step back and realize this is a process, not a lottery ticket, and that you have to be in it for the long run.
They think in terms in which they have become acquainted…instant food…instant coffee…so they think there must be some instant solution, a key that someone can hand over to them and all their financial problems will be resolved.
Sorry to disappoint....But.....there is no key.
It is a long effort and requires patience. And the more you are in a hurry, the longer it will take.
The first thing to do in any worthwhile pursuit is to have the right mindset.
Let’s try to understand it through a Zen story:
Once it happened that two monks were traveling. One was very old, the other was very young.
When they got off the ferry boat they asked the man who had brought them to this shore:
Will it be possible for us to reach the town where we are headed before the sun sets?
Because it was a hilly track and the sun was just going down, at the most they had one hour.
They had to arrive before sunset because once the doors of the town were closed, then the whole night they would have had to remain in the forest outside of the town.
And it was dangerous, wild animals were there.
The ferry-boatman said: Yes, you can reach if you go slowly.
The old man said: Yes, I understand
But the young man said: You are fools, you both. How can one reach if one goes slowly? I am not going to listen to this stupid nonsense!
And young man started running, it was a hilly track, and he was in such a hurry. He fell down: he was hurt, wounded, all his things scattered.
Then the old man caught up because he was coming slowly.
He looked at the young man: he was crippled, blood was flowing, and he said: Now how will you be able to reach? You tried to reach quickly and now you cannot reach at all.
This is a parable but gives many insights about how it is in investing or life in general.
So first step is :