6 financial lessons to learn from Ramayana this Dussehra
There is so much to learn from Ramayana in every aspect of our lives including many financial and investing lessons. Since Dussehra is the time to take a fresh perspective of life as it marks the beginning of new things, its time to take a look back at how we invest and revamp our strategy.
According to Hindu mythology, on the day of Dussehra Lord Ram killed Ravan, who had abducted his wife Sitadevi. This triumph of good over evil is celebrated across the country. This day is also known as Vijayadashami which is observed on the tenth day in the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin or Kartik.
Dussehra is the perfect time to get rid of all our investing evils and make sure that now we start fresh and mark the beginning of our investing success.
Ram life’s story inspires us to lead a life that is financially safe and secure. Here are 6 investing lessons that can be learned from the Ramayana and imbibed in our lives for a healthy financial future.
1. Keep fear at bay
Keeping money idle, or selling on dips and not investing?
When Sitadevi was held captive by Ravan in Lanka, Lord Ram searched was determined to get his beloved back no matter what it takes. He was fearless, yet patient. Despite everyone warning him about the power of Ravan, he never let the fear get over him. He was dedicated to his goal of getting Sita back and win over every obstacle along the way.
In our lives also, to overcome fear we need to first acknowledge it and then work on winning this fear. When it comes to investing, to make a winning we should maintain balance and don’t let fear overcome us.
Panic selling is often the first reaction of most people when stocks are going down and the value of their portfolio decreases. As an investor, don’t make decisions in fear, for example selling when the market falls. In fact, it should be time to find good companies at a cheaper valuation, aka bargain deals. Win over the fear and success will follow.
2. Greed never wins
Leveraging your trades?
The advocacy of ‘Dharma’ or righteousness by Lord Ram emphasized the significance of being upright. Lord Ram never tried to take control of Lanka after winning it. You too can learn that don’t be greedy, save your hard-earned money and let it grow. Getting into the debt trap (leverage) in trading is dangerous. Similarly, spending more than what you earn to lead a life you can’t afford is the mantra of financial destruction too.
Most people want to get rich as quickly as possible. This thinking makes it hard to maintain a disciplined, long-term investment plan.
By saving wisely, spending cautiously, and investing smartly you can apply financial discipline to cater to your current and future needs as well as your family’s needs. Inculcate and nurture this financial discipline.
3. Patience and impatience
Focusing on short term performance?
It’s no easy feat when someone takes off your comfortable and luxurious life, your position of power, and leaves you with nothing. But when Ram’s father, King Dasharatha, asked him to leave the kingdom upon his wife Kaikeyi’s demands that Ram be exiled into the wilderness for fourteen years, Ram and his wife Sitadevi obeyed King’s order with grace – no questions asked. Ram’s brother Lakshman joined them too.
Later, when Ravan abducted Sita, Ram decided to get Sita back, even if it meant war with the undefeatable Ravan. Despite everyone’s warning, he never gave up on getting Sita back, and neither did he look for short-cuts or unethical strategies. When the war broke out between Ram and Ravan, Ram fought the war with patience and perseverance. Eventually, Ram defeated the invincible Ravan. Not only did he get his own kingdom back, but he also won Lanka. It is this virtue of patience that made him the great Lord Ram we all look upto, and he got everything back, and more.
Ramayana teaches us the importance of being patient and perseverant in the hardest of times. This patience if applied in our financial life, can bring us success. The volatile stock markets always test our patience. We often lose it, don’t stick to our asset allocation and investment plan, and end up selling when the markets drop. But what we often forget is that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.
Perseverance and patience are your tools to succeed in life and in the world of investing!
4. Winning anger
Trying to beat the markets?
Defeating Ravan to save Sita was a gargantuan task and one that Lord Ram wouldn’t have been able to accomplish if he hadn’t been calm and wise. Impeccable level of control over his feelings and emotions have been the signature attribute of Lord Ram.
When it comes to your finances, this is the same approach that you must adopt. Making decisions in a hurry, or panic will harm your finances more than it will help them. Making decisions based on logic and devoid of emotion will help you do what is best for your money.
5. Build an army
Relying on cash or concentrated portfolio?
Ram knew that to win the mightiest warrior Ravan he needed an army. He could not do it alone. A strong army was his only chance to succeed and he created one with the help of Sugriva, Hanumaan, Vibhishana, and other kings.
When it comes to your portfolio, you need an army too. Don’t just rely on your savings and fixed deposits for a worry-free financial future. An army of a well-diversified portfolio, spread across asset class, is the mantra to succeed in investing too!
6. Giving up ego and recklessness
Impulse purchases, excess spending and not being humble?
Lord Ram lived his life by the principles of ‘Dharma’. He was disciplined, practical and responsible. Despite being a prince, upon exile, he lived as per his current reality. He was not ashamed of being frugal. He did not let his situation cost his happiness. He led a happy and righteous life no matter where he was – palace or forests.
We can take an example from the Lord and practice honesty and responsibility.
Live within your means. While earning and spending is a necessity give equal importance to saving and investing. Create a budget and put aside a percent of your income into your savings pot regularly, which will help you create wealth. Then based on your risk profile and investment tenure, identify your investment avenues, create your investment plan, and stick to it. While you should review it periodically, don’t let market vagaries affect your portfolio decisions. Asset allocation and discipline is key to investment success – impulse decisions are the cause of failure.
It’s the same for trading. When you have your trading strategy in place, make sure you stick to it. Good traders know their exact entry and exit points, the amount of capital to invest in the trade, and the maximum loss they are willing to take. So, always have the discipline of putting stop loss in your trades and book profit and exit when the expected levels hit. Fear, greed, ego, or false hope that the stock price will bounce back, I can never be wrong, or the price will go up further are the biggest causes of a trader’s failure in stock markets.
In life and in trading, keep emotions at bay, and be humble (accept your mistake, cut short your losses, and get out). Recklessness is not acceptable in trading {or investing}.
This Dussehra, discard all the unhealthy financial habits. Get out of investments that are not fundamentally strong and that don’t fit in your investment goals. Create a well-diversified portfolio that is going to be beneficial to you and your family’s future.
