Happy Mentor

By now, most of us know the importance of association. As learned people say, “Association can make or break a person.”  Let us discuss the positive side of association in your road to be rich. It is not just the learning from good friends as much as what you put into your mind through them or by them. You can even call this subtle peer pressure to be rich. Let me give the examples of in my own life how two of my friends inspired me.

There are a few interesting aspects of life wherein most of us lack clarity. Let me give a few examples. We get carried away by things that are urgent and work on those rather than working on important ones. Have you not come across people when interrupted in their activities ask, “Is it urgent?”  and not, “Is it urgent?” Similarly many people are not able to distinguish between ‘good’ people and ‘right’ people.

I am always amazed by people who are not only very successful and rich but also very happy in their approach to life. I have seen many of them with hearty laughs and pleasant smiles. It is not as if life has not tested them in the past but their positive disposition helps them in overcoming the life challenges. In fact, many a time they convert such challenges into opportunities for further growth.  Can we learn something from them so that we can also heartily laugh all the way to our banks and be happily rich?

I have seen a few people extremely intelligent people who are mediocre in their journey to be rich. They seem to be hitting several potholes instead of a smooth road. May be, some of you may recall the names of a few from your circle of friends and relatives.

There are people who have achieved great financial success without formal financial   qualification. One can happily quote the examples of Bill Gates and even Ganesh discussed in our ‘Happy Road to be Rich’ program. 

There are a lot of actions that are recommended by experts for any young person aspiring to be rich. Can we single out the most important of such actions? In my opinion it is, “Pay yourself first.” This means “Save first and spend later.” This is not the first time we are discussing this principle. This is worthwhile reminding oneself any number of times.

It is indeed a great honour to rub shoulders with successful and rich people. I have had the privilege of interacting with some of the richest people in this planet. When you observe them for their qualities, there is a lot to be learnt. While there are a few common characteristics like passion, work ethic, focus etc. in most of them, there are also a few individual characteristics that we can observe. Let me narrate my learning from some of the richest people. I am not going to name these great people for reasons of confidentiality.

I do across a few young and promising professionals, who want to become CEO by 35 and retire by 40. They are saying this because of the amount of stress they encounter in their career. While I have shared my thoughts on stress management with thousands of corporate executives, only a few of them are consistent in applying the simple and powerful tools, I discuss with them.

There are two broad approaches in the journey to be Rich-earning more and spending less. A few experts even recommend that one should do both to become rich faster. This topic can be debated for centuries and each standpoint has its merits. The question we are taking up now is whether frugality should be a life-long affair! Let me give my opinion.

For the last twelve days, I am spending most of my time in a hospital at Chennai attending to my mother. In the process, I am getting more clarity on the need to really take care of one’s health in the life journey to be Rich. When someone is in the hospital, the time and energy of the patient as well as the kith and kin are needed. Also, everyone goes through several moments of anxiety and that saps the energy.