Be Water, My Pal – Safal Niveshak

It isn’t the strongest or probably the most clever who will survive however those that can finest handle change. – Charles Darwin

The factor that separates us people from different animals is that we consistently become new varieties, new avatars. We’re unhappy, we’re joyful, we’re emotional, and we’re offended. We talk by completely different languages, we do completely different varieties of labor, and we take care of completely different form of folks otherwise. Successfully, we carry on altering ourselves as per the calls for of time and state of affairs.

Actually, success in life relies upon largely on whether or not we’re in a position to change ourselves with altering occasions.

If we’re versatile and formless – like water – taking the type of no matter is round us, we acquire energy and succeed towards those that rigidly maintain on to their floor.

Regardless of this, in terms of our concepts – particularly when we’ve just one – we rigidly maintain on to them.

That is very very similar to Henry Ford who supposedly stated, “Individuals can have the Mannequin T in any color – as long as it’s black.” This practically ruined Ford Motors Firm within the Nineteen Twenties, as a result of whereas Mr. Ford was in love together with his concept of “solely black Mannequin T” automobiles, Individuals have been shifting to larger, quicker, fancier, and brightly painted cars.

Or very very similar to the previous “me” who would usually not change views on shares even when circumstances modified, and paid heavy costs.

I see buyers fall in love with their shares within the garb of ‘purchase and maintain’. We’ll maintain on to dangerous companies, and particularly these which are going downhill. We’ll stay caught in a established order mode as a result of we hate to confess we’ve misplaced cash. We’ll even put a better worth on the shares we already personal than we might be prepared to pay for a similar issues if we didn’t personal them. All this as a result of we’re too inflexible to alter our concepts, even when circumstances are shouting at us to take action.

In case you have been by such a second in your personal life (or investing life), you wish to hear what Bruce Lee, who died 50 years in the past, at present, suggested –

Empty your thoughts. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Put water right into a cup, it turns into the cup. Put water right into a teapot, it turns into the teapot. Water can circulation or creep or drip or crash. Be water, my buddy.

Haruki Murakami wrote this in Kafka On The Shore –

Generally destiny is sort of a small sandstorm that retains altering instructions. You modify course however the sandstorm chases you. You flip once more, however the storm adjusts. Again and again you play this out, like some ominous dance with dying simply earlier than daybreak. Why? As a result of this storm isn’t one thing that blew in from distant, one thing that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. One thing inside you. So all you are able to do is give in to it, step proper contained in the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and stroll by it, step-by-step. There’s no solar there, no moon, no course, no sense of time. Simply high-quality white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the form of sandstorm it is advisable think about.

And you actually must make it by that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. Irrespective of how metaphysical or symbolic it is perhaps, make no mistake about it: it can reduce by flesh like a thousand razor blades. Individuals will bleed there, and you’ll bleed too. Sizzling, pink blood. You’ll catch that blood in your fingers, your personal blood and the blood of others.

And as soon as the storm is over you received’t keep in mind the way you made it by, the way you managed to outlive. You received’t even be certain, the truth is, whether or not the storm is actually over. However one factor is definite. Whenever you come out of the storm you received’t be the identical one that walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.

Issues come up on a regular basis in life and in investing, and you may attempt to preserve your inflexible form, smashing into the issues till you break. Otherwise you might be like water and slip by the cracks.

Charlie Munger stated –

The sport of life is the sport of eternal studying. A minimum of it’s if you wish to win.

Actually, a number of of life’s nice pleasures are to continue learning, letting go of beforehand cherished concepts, and emptying your thoughts for brand new concepts to come back in. Then you definitely’re free to search for new ones.

Be formless. Be adaptable. Be open to new concepts. Like water.

It’s certainly a pleasure to be water, my buddy.

That’s about it from me for at present.

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With respect,
— Vishal