Sunday, April 1, 2012

Investment mantras from Rahul Dravid - my article as published on www.moneycontrol.com

Adieu the Great Wall of India. Indian cricket and the fans will miss you, Rahul. 
It was his finest qualities that separate a champion from an ordinary sportsman. He showed the world how the old-school qualities like hard work and concentration - focus on the job at hand - can take you to the top and maintain the position for years.
At some point in his career, in one of his interviews, Rahul Dravid said: "It's not easy to concentrate for 10 hours. You switch on and off. You push yourself. Your mind wanders, but you bring it back. You steel yourself. That's the real beauty, when you win the battle against yourself." Profound, simply profound!
The stuff champions are made of! In fact, the same qualities are required in many areas of life. And investing is definitely one of those.
Dravid explained what is required to be successful in playing a long innings. It's difficult to concentrate on what is required to play a long innings. Batsmen play rash shots and throw their wickets, they get out in the nervous nineties, they become adventurous - they lose concentration. Playing a 20-20 game requires one to be adventurous, but playing a long, hard fought test match innings requires completely different qualities. That is what allowed Rahul Dravid to play the maximum number of balls for any test batsman. It was also his sheer concentration that he holds the record for the highest number of catches for a non-wicketkeeper.
Investing for life is akin to playing a test match. You do not need to hit the fours and sixes. You do not need to score at a fast pace. You need to hang around. You need to keep the scoreboard ticking. The most important thing is not to lose your wicket. In terms of investing, you need to keep getting returns on your investment such that you do not lose - (1) the principal, and (2) your purchasing power.
Very often one gets overconfident. Even when it is not necessary, one tries to take risks. Very often, one forgets the goal and panics only to run away from risks. Both may yield unfavourable results for the investor.
Investing is really a battle against one's own self. As the Dean of Investing said, "The investor's chief problem - and his worst enemy is likely to be himself."
Thanks Rahul Dravid for reinforcing the belief that the first step to success is to focus on the goal and then concentrate on the job at hand. Any deviation would be harmful to one's financial health.
- Amit Trivedi
The author runs Karmayog Knowledge Academy. He can be reached at amit@karmayog-knowledge.com

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