Life

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You must have heard of Peter Lynch, right?

If not for his stellar fund management career, someone may have recommended you his book One Up on Wall Street as the first investment book you should read.

I assume this because that is how I started my stock market career in 2003, by reading One Up, and starting to believe that not only was investing easy, but also that I could be a master at it.

How wrong was I! But that’s a story for another day.

Coming back to Lynch, in case you didn’t know, he was the manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity Investments between 1977 and 1990, and averaged a 29% annual return, consistently more than double the S&P 500 stock market index. During his 13-year tenure, Magellan became the best-performing mutual fund in the world, and its assets under management increased from US$18 million to $14 billion. In all, it was a fairytale story for Lynch and his investors.

But then something happened.

Lynch, at what most people would call the “peak” of his career, retired from work, at age 46. He just walked away.

And what was the reason?

As he talked about openly in an interview after his retirement, his workaholism was taking a toll on his family life, and so he decided to walk away.

Lynch found thousands of people supporting him in his decision to quit his career early. But I am sure there would have been an equal number of others questioning him for his ‘unsmart’ decision.

The pursuit of success and recognition is, after all, a universal aspiration. We yearn for the validation of our efforts, the affirmation of our abilities, and the rewards that come with achieving our goals.

However, as Lynch and many like him have shown, there are times when walking away from the ‘brightness’ and into the ‘shadows,’ becomes the most profound choice one can make.

William Green, whom I interviewed for the 21st episode of The One Percent Show, has this passage in his wonderful book Richer, Wiser, Happier –

Early in his career, Bill Miller (another legendary investor) asked Lynch for advice. Lynch told him that the investment business is so rewarding financially and intellectually that it attracts an overabundance of intelligent people. “The only way you can beat them is to outwork them,” said Lynch, “because nobody is just so much smarter than the next person.” Lynch told Miller that he stayed ahead of the pack by reading investment research while he carpooled to the office at 6:30 a.m., working after dinner and on weekends, and taking no vacations for years. When Miller asked if it was possible to slow down as you got older, Lynch replied, “No. In this business, there are only two gears: overdrive and stop.”

In 1990, months before he announced his early retirement, Lynch said this to reporters from Financial World –

I’ve worked every Saturday for seven or eight years – I mean seven in the morning. In the last six months I’ve started working some Sunday mornings at home. … I haven’t gone to a Celtics game in five years. … You think I enjoy coming in here on Saturday mornings? Don’t you think I’d rather be playing with my kids or doing something with my wife?

“I loved what I was doing,” he told Time magazine in 1991, “but I came to a conclusion … What the hell are we doing this for? I don’t know anyone who wished on his deathbed that he had spent more time at the office.”

Now, I am sure a voice from within you must be saying, “Oh, it is easy to walk away from success and recognition once you have already made it, and have enough money to take care of yourself and your family for the rest of life.”

Your observation is indeed valid. It’s true that having financial security can provide the freedom and flexibility to make choices that might not have been possible otherwise.

However, the wisdom of walking away from success and recognition, and most of all you have worked so hard to achieve, is not solely dependent on financial stability. It is also about realizing that material wealth and external validation, while important, do not always equate to a truly fulfilling and well-rounded life.

Even those who have achieved financial success often come to the realization that there are other, equally important aspects of life, such as personal well-being, family, and personal fulfillment, that need attention and nurturing.

Recognizing when to walk away from the constant pursuit of success and recognition, even when you have the means to sustain your lifestyle – like Lynch – is a reflection of a deeper understanding of what truly matters in life.

It is not just about having the means to do so, but also about choosing a life that is in harmony with your authentic self, regardless of your financial status.

And, by the way, ‘walking away’ is not always about a complete exit from the larger game you are playing.

Like, you can walk away from an investment opportunity that you believe may cost you sleepless nights – maybe, an expensive stock, or a questionable business – and still remain in the investing game.

Or you can walk away from a business deal that does not match up to your levels of integrity, and still remain in that business.

It’s all about the choices we make in life, that determine the paths our lives will take. And then, it’s all about standing with those choices if we continue to believe in them, instead of worrying about what the outcomes may be.

Walking away is not a surrender or a resignation but a conscious choice to reevaluate one’s priorities and regain the balance between ambition and the intrinsic values of love, health, and inner peace.

It is an acknowledgment that the pursuit of external markers of success should never eclipse the fundamental facets of our existence – our bonds with family, our physical and mental health, and our overall well-being.

And the best part? When you learn to walk away from things you think may kill you – financially, mentally, otherwise – you also survive to play the long-term game, in investing or in life. And survival, as we understand, is the only path to true success and happiness.

What else are you here for?

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I recently announced admission to the January 2024 batch of my most comprehensive classroom course in Value Investing titled – Value Investing Blueprint.

This residential course is scheduled to be held from 11th to 14th January 2024, at the campus of Pune-based FLAME University. The last date to apply is 10th December, 2023.

Click here to read more and apply if you are interested in joining this course.

Since it’s a classroom course, seats are limited.

The course will take you through the entire process of practicing value investing to identify long term wealth creating stocks. This includes helping you:

• Create the right value investing mindset and build a behavioural framework to avoid biases and create the right investment thought process.
• Assess business quality – separating good from gruesome
• Analyze financial statements to find well-performing businesses
• Calculate intrinsic valuations using various methods
• Identify competitive moats and whether they are sustainable
• Build a portfolio of sound, wealth-creating businesses

Click here to read more and apply if you are interested in joining this course.

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I have started work on a series of short videos – titled The Inner Game – to share my thoughts around investing, decision making, learning, and just the practice of trying to live a good life. You can watch them on my YouTube channel, including these recent ones –

• The Eyes See What the Mind Knows
• It’s Harder to Be Kind than Clever
• The Most Stupid Sin
• What We Possess vs What We Pursue
• A Story of Courage and Hope, the Charlie Munger Way

You can also find these and all past sessions on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon.

Hope you like these and find some value. Please let me know your feedback and/or suggestions for improvement. Thank you.

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That’s about it from me for today.

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Stay safe.

Regards, Vishal

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Well, if you were to believe the Roman philosopher Seneca, life is not short but long if we know how to use it –

It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.

But since we often fail to use our limited time on this planet well, life indeed turns out to be short, or so it seems.

[Read more…] about Life is Short

First things first. I wish you and your family a very happy, peaceful, and blessed 2023.

I am grateful to have you share this journey with me in the past, and look forward to continuing our connection in the years ahead.

Now for a story from the life of Charlie Munger, who is 99 years old today.

I have shared this story countless times over the years, because each time I talk or write about it, I experience a sense of inner peace and strength. And so, even if you have read this story earlier, read it again today as you begin taking your first steps into this brand new year.

[Read more…] about A Story of Courage and Hope from the Life of Charlie Munger

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Life’s passing by too fast, or so it seems. I complete 44 years in my present state of existence today. That’s more than three-fifths of the average life expectancy of an Indian male.

Now, while spiritualists would want me to believe that I have existed from anadi (before the beginning of cosmos) and will exist till ananta (infinity), I see forty-four years as a good enough time to find some meaning in one’s life. At least, my rapidly greying hair and receding hairline help me realize that.

Now, while it amazes me that I’ve been around that long — I feel like I’ve barely begun (except when I look at the actuarial table).

I’m not usually one to make a big deal about my birthday, but as always, it has given me an opportunity to reflect.

[Read more…] about The 44th Lesson

One of the best books I have read on living a life of purpose is the one from the world-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen, who developed the theory of ‘disruptive innovation’, which has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century. In fact, Christensen introduced ‘disruption’ in his 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma, which was supposedly the only business book that Steve Jobs had on his bookshelf.

Anyways, the book I am talking about today is Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life?, the idea for which came up first in a 2010 speech he gave to Harvard Business School’s graduating class.

Drawing upon his business research, he offered a series of guidelines for finding meaning and happiness in life. He used examples from his own experiences to explain how high achievers can all too often fall into traps that lead to unhappiness.

[Read more…] about Reflections on Life, Investing, India at 75, and Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

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This is a story from January 15, 2009. It’s not my story, but an inspiring one.

US Airways Flight 1549 on its way from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, struck a flock of birds shortly after take-off, losing all engine power.

Unable to reach any airport for an emergency landing due to their low altitude, pilots Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane in the Hudson River. All 155 people on board were rescued by nearby boats, with only a few serious injuries.

[Read more…] about Safal Niveshak is 11 Years Old

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I recently read a story to my son, which was about a martial arts student who went to an accomplished teacher to seek training under his guidance.

He asked the teacher, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it?”

The teacher casually replied, “Ten years.”

[Read more…] about A Reminder to Focus on the Journey, Not the Destination