“My Intentions were Pure when I invested. Still, I lost. Why?”

15^th April 2020

“My Intentions were Pure when I invested. Still, I lost. Why?”

Dear Fellow Travellers,

Greetings from Hitesh! Reading our post on Buffett and Munger, I got the above question. I am feeling happy that readers are opening up with their doubts and questions. This has been the most asked question from the time you can go back. Some of the related questions.

1.  I wanted to do good for him/her, still, I am getting a bad name for that.

2.  I am straight forward and suffering and cheaters and black marketers are making tons of money.

3.  I am doing hard work and not getting enough to meet my needs and many people are doing nothing and moving in Mercedes.

You can add as many such questions to the above set of questions. I will deal with the question my reader has asked me from an Investment perspective only.

I will deal with that in 3 areas and after reading all of them, you can decide which one is applicable to you.

1.  Wishful intentions: - Most of our good intentions are casual intentions. They are not serious. All Good Morning Messages / Happy New Year Messages / Best of Luck Messages are nothing but wishful thinking. We forget as soon as we wish. How many of you asked the person in the evening how was your day – after wishing him a good day in the morning. In fact, we wish to so many people, that we don’t remember that we are WISHING. The same way we come to the market CASUALLY and start investing without having proper knowledge or skill sets. This is not PURE Intentions but wishful thinking.

2.  Intelligent Intentions: - 90% of successful people will fall into this category. They have the skill sets, knowledge, patience, hard work and all the good habits necessary for success. The only missing link is that they want only PROFIT. Apparently, it may look FAIR that you have the knowledge, taking a risk, doing hard work and things like that and now you are expecting profit or return. But investment and life are Zero-sum game. Your profit is somebody’s loss. Say you sold Reliance at Rs.1600. You booked your profit. But those who bought at Rs.1600 is in the loss. You have not made him lose, but the fact is - he is in a loss.

Let me give you another example – A doctor’s wife and Patient wife both go to the temple. The doctor’s wife prays for the good business of her husband and the Patient's wife wishes for the fast recovery of her husband. Now, the Doctor will make money only if the patent stays longer and if the patient recovers fast – the doctor will lose the business. Both have genuine intentions here.

3.  Wise Intentions: - 100% of happy and successful people will be in this category.

Lord Krishna in GITA had said –

Karmanye vadhika raste, Ma phaleshu kadachana
Ma karma phala he tur bhuh, ma te sangotsva karmanye

You have a right to “Karma” (actions) but never to any Fruits thereof. You should never be motivated by the results of your actions, nor should there be any attachment in not doing your prescribed activities.

The buffet is a wise investor. He does what he can to the best of his efforts, skill sets, knowledge and resources. He leaves the results to the market or nature. This is the example of PURE INTENTION according to me.

What NEXT?

Use lockdown time to finetune your inner talk and hidden motives. Dig a little more to find out your true colour. I can assure you – it will add to your happiness in the times to come.

Have a happy investing.

Follow me on Twitter @hiteshmparikh / WhatsApp – +91-9869425399.

Live With Passion…Invest With Passion.

Hitesh Parikh