TLDR: What we can learn from meditation and parallels with investing

A little personal story to start with. Given the global lockdown because of corona virus, most of us who are able to work from home are working from home. Getting cooped up inside the house without being able to go anywhere makes things very hard. So I started meditation as a stress reliever and help me focus on my goals and work.

Has it done the trick? Not even close. But since I am in the early days of the practice, I have decided to continue over the next few months. Vipasana or the westernised version called mindfulness is what I am trying to practice. With very little meditation practice under my belt, I opted for guided meditation using a popular app called CALM.

15 minutes of focusing on my breathing, easy peasy right? Wrong! I realised that my mind cannot be stilled for even a minute. Thoughts constantly pouring in - did I prep for that meeting? Did I pay that credit card bill that was due? Has my kid started her class? Wonder if the corona virus cases has reduced today? etc. etc.

It is incredibly difficult to still your mind and focus on just the act of breathing. I have also realised that self-talk that we do in our heads is the most we will ever talk with anyone in our entire life. But I digress.

The parallels of meditation and investing is so clear now. We are constantly bombarded with news, notifications, stock movements and alerts all around us. Even the most seasoned for long term investors must feel this overwhelming feeling of what to do next.

As it is clear from my meditation practice the most difficult thing to do is to do nothing. The same applies to long term investing.

Do Nothing

Stick to the plan, do your SIP / DCA. Do not try to time the market, react differently. Reduce X, increase Y, stop Z. Do nothing. stick to your plan, forget the market corrections and turmoil and stick to the automated SIP schedule.

The most difficult thing that is stopping from meditation gold as well as investing goal is our inability to do nothing.

So try your hand at meditation and do nothing when it comes to long term investing. Just stick to your plan and let the SIP continue.

Good luck and Happy Investing

#MyFatFIRE