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I have a friend who is one of the most “on top of things” person I’ve ever met. Constantly busy, with a full calendar, phone buzzing non-stop, and always trying out something new. It may be a new productivity app, a different fitness routine, or a new investment trend. He follows ten finance influencers and sends me screenshots of fund comparisons late at night with the question, “Which one is slightly better?”
But behind trying to be on top of things, or probably due to that, I often find him stuck and uncertain. His savings are erratic. His investments are scattered. His health is going downhill, and he says he’s lost connection with a few close friends because, in his words, “There just isn’t time.”
When we sat down recently, he confessed how he feels like he’s running hard, but not sure if he’s moving forward.
Now, when I think about it, I realise that my friend’s issue isn’t effort. He’s making a lot of it. It’s that he’s living without a hierarchy.
He’s treating every task and every decision as equally urgent. And when you give everything the same weight, nothing gets the attention it truly deserves.
This is more common than we admit. Especially today.
Social media, for all its wonders, is a master at distorting our internal compass. It rewards visibility more than value. The way the algorithm works is that things that get clicks and likes (often noisy and short-term ideas) rise to the top. And those that matter most, like ideas on consistency, patience, and long-term behaviour find a much smaller audience because they don’t excite. Yes, they’re slow and often boring, but they’re still the foundation.
Unfortunately, our brains get trained to chase what looks important, rather than what is.
This is where the Eisenhower Matrix becomes a useful mirror.
Originally developed by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, the framework divides all tasks into four categories:
- Quadrant 1: Important and Urgent
- Quadrant 2: Important but Not Urgent
- Quadrant 3: Not Important but Urgent
- Quadrant 4: Not Important and Not Urgent
Most people, like my friend, spend their lives stuck in quadrant 3. So, they would react to things that feel urgent but don’t matter much in the long run – like social media notifications, market updates, latest stock “opportunities,” and reels that make you feel you’re falling behind. These things demand your attention, and so they get it.
But real progress, in investing, health, and in relationships, lives in quadrant 2: Important but Not Urgent. These are things like that SIP you need to increase, the health check-up you’ve been postponing, the honest money conversation with your spouse, or even the need to step back, reflect, and realign your goals. These things rarely shout for your attention. But they quietly shape your life.
My friend, like many of us, had built his routine around the urgent. He’d scroll through financial news every morning but hadn’t revisited his asset allocation in two years. He spent hours comparing fund returns but hadn’t paused to ask, “What’s my long-term plan?” He seems to be constantly optimising the edges while ignoring the centre.
That’s where Morgan Housel’s “hierarchy of investor needs” becomes relevant.
At the foundation of this hierarchy are the boring but essential behaviours: living below your means, having an emergency fund, staying invested during downturns, and picking a reasonable asset allocation. These things aren’t exciting. They won’t get you likes. But they will carry you through decades of compounding.
Higher up the hierarchy are things like choosing the right stocks or funds and minimizing fees. These are useful, but only after the foundation is strong. Otherwise, you’re just rearranging furniture in a house with shaky walls.
Now, here’s the irony: the things that matter most often feel the least urgent. And the things that are least important often feel the most urgent. This is especially when social media and peer pressure amplify them. We chase what others are talking about, not what we truly need. And over time, our lives begin to feel scattered. We are active, but directionless.
Hierarchy forces us to strip away the noise. It’s a form of honesty, and leads us to ask: What are the non-negotiables for my success? Let me focus there. For most investors, these include:
- A healthy savings rate
- An emergency fund
- Broad diversification
- Reasonable expectations
- Time in the market, not timing the market
- Staying the course
If you get these right, even roughly right, you can afford to be wrong in the details. But if you neglect them, no amount of detail will save you.
That’s the wisdom of hierarchy. It’s like building a personal filter in a world that throws a hundred opinions at you every day. And it’s about accepting that the “basics” are what ultimately create the most meaningful results.
So, slow down, tune out the noise, and return to the basics, the low hanging fruits. And trust that in both investing and life, the simple and quiet things, when done consistently, are the ones that matter most.
A Simple Exercise for You
Draw a pyramid. At the bottom, write the things that have the biggest, most lasting impact on your investing life. For most people, these will be behaviours like saving, staying invested, managing risk, and avoiding panic.
Above that, write the nice-to-haves, like your asset allocation, investment selection, and rebalancing frequency.
At the top, write the small stuff, like debating two near-identical stocks or funds and reading market forecasts.
Now ask: Where does most of my attention go?
And where should it go?
That contrast alone can change how you show up as an investor and also a person trying to build something meaningful and lasting.
Two Books. One Purpose. A Better Life.
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“Discover the extraordinary within.”
—Manish Chokhani, Director, Enam Holdings
“This is a masterpiece.”
—Morgan Housel, Author, Psychology of Money
