My learnings as a Businessman. (Part 22)
“Learn from yesterday. Plan for tomorrow. Party tonight.”
A wise man had once shared this phrase with me. It is now my philosophy in life.
I am not recommending that you should get sloshed every night, but do try to understand the essence of the saying.
Learning No 24:
Enjoy the journey
We moan and groan as we drag ourselves from one dreary meeting to another, one job to the next, with the hope that someday, when we’ve made our millions, this dreariness will go away.
Guess what? It won’t!
In our constant endeavor to get bigger and better, we seldom pause to enjoy what we’ve achieved.
And nowhere in the world is it as pronounced as it is in India.
In this country, running a business is about starting from scratch to bring an organization to a point. Then the next generation takes over makes it bigger. This continues over and over, generation after generation.
Unfortunately, the person who started the business, was never around to reap the benefits of the riches he had amassed… he was so busy making money, that he had no time for life.
Compare this with (arguably) the richest man in the world, Bill Gates, who has publicly announced that not a single dollar from the empire created by him, will be inherited by his offspring.
I guess he sees the value of being a self made man, and wouldn’t want to spoil the excitement of discovering this, for his son.
One day, your time on earth will be over, and you will leave all your wealth to someone who will not appreciate the amount of struggle you put in to make it.
So instead of wasting it on someone, who will have no value for your hard work, reward yourself regularly with the profits you make.
You’re working hard at making the money. Shouldn’t you be the one to enjoy the benefits?
Also, saving up millions so that you can retire and do all the exciting things you want to do, is stupid. What’s the point of being a millionaire at an age when you can’t enjoy it?
As long as you can afford it, aren’t taking loans to pay for it and have something saved for your old age, indulge!
At the expense of sounding clichéd I’d like to reiterate the age-old adage
“Enjoy the journey. Because it is as important as the goal.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
(This is part 22 of a series of blogs on my learnings as an entrepreneur )
Read Part 23 here
photo credit: tokyoform via photopin cc
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