Sitting in a Kolkata hospital lobby while getting my father treated for a heart ailment, I see this wall hanging that says – “It will never happen to me!”
![It Will Never Happen to Me!](https://safalniveshak.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/image.jpg)
The pictures below this headline show how a person hurts his heart through stuff like…
- Alcohol consumption
- Cigarette smoking
- Poor eating habits
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Stress
…yet continues to think that a heart ailment will never happen to him.
It will happen to everyone around him, but not to him!
Such thinking is widely prevalent when it comes to deadly diseases, death, or even investing doom.
We all consider everyone else as vulnerable but ourselves as invincible. And this is the reason we continue to play with fire, whether it comes to our life, habits and investing.
Charlie Munger says…
A lot of success in life and business comes from knowing what you want to avoid : early death, a bad marriage, etc.
Ironically, most of us while knowing what we must avoid for a healthy heart, long life, better relationships, and comfortable financial life, are mostly travelling on the path assuming others are going to die there, but we will survive.
This is sad, and dangerous! Why?
Because…
It happens, and often!
My father is as healthy a person as anyone can be – no alcohol consumption, no smoking, and he certainly does not have a sedentary lifestyle.
But he has still suffered a serious heart ailment, for which he is being treated now.
He was not “supposed” to have such a disease, but he still has it.
The situation seems under control as of now (keeping fingers crossed!), but his heart has surely taken a serious hit!
Anyways, over the past three days, I have seen several cases of people with heart problems who would have believed at some points in their lives that “it will never happen to me.”
Sadly, many people I see suffering here are in their 40s and 50s. Even sadly, most would have surely fallen to these ailments on account of the poor habits like the ones mentioned above.
But people don’t understand the base rates of living a dangerous lifestyle and then falling into a deadly health issue. It’s high, and increasing!
I am not in a situation to write further at this point of time but, dear tribesman, stuff happens!
Especially in life and also in investing, “It will never happen to me!” is a widely held but dangerous notion.
Surely take risks in life, but only ones that will not cause you a permanent loss.
I am not old enough to dole out advice on healthy living, but I know it surely helps.
I have reiterated it several times in the past, and would do it again today. Remember what Charlie Munger says…
All I want to know is where I’m going to die so I’ll never go there.
You know where you are going to die – in life and investing – so please avoid going there.
Please!