Investing

Long Term Investing is like Meditation

Recently, I received a WhatsApp forward on ‘Nandi’, a bull considered to be the vehicle of Lord Shiva.

Although it had nothing to do with the stock market, there is a lot a long-term investor can learn from the way ‘Nandi’ has been described.

The source of the WhatsApp forward turned out to be a post by Sadhguru on his personal blog.

With due credits to the original author, here is what he said:

Nandi is a symbolism of eternal waiting, because waiting is considered the greatest virtue in Indian culture. One who knows how to simply sit and wait is naturally meditative. He is not expecting Shiva to come out tomorrow. He will wait forever. That is the quality of Nandi – he just sits, alert. This is very important: he is alert.

Interesting, isn’t it?

Think about it. What are the most important qualities a long-term investor needs to have?

  • Buy Good Companies.
  • Don’t expect it start rising immediately.
  • Patience to wait eternally.
  • Being alert.

The points mentioned above might sound easy, but the ups and downs of stock market will not make it easy for you.

Even if you buy top quality companies, not doing anything and simply sitting on the investment – can make you a very successful investor.

You cannot expect the market to reward you immediately or consistently. In other words, the company you buy may not rise immediately after you buy.

It could even fall, and fall sharply.

It could rise, and rise sharply too.

Even if it rises 50%, it may not continue to rise consistently.

If you have done your research and invest in good companies with growth potential – all you have to do is simply sit and wait – without having any expectations. Just like ‘Nandi’.

That does not mean you sleep over your investments. You must be alert. Are the fundamentals changing? For example, Nokia and Blackberry were market leaders. Apple challenged them, disrupted the mobile industry and won.

If an investor was less alert, not changing with time or was unable to understand the potential disruption that a keyboard-less touch screen phone was making – all the gain in investments over several years could have been lost in investments like Nokia and Blackberry.

Could something similar happen to Maruti too, if they are not able to compete in the design and electric-vehicles department? Could Tata Motors challenge them? We are already seeing many more Tata cars on the road. Or some other company like Mahindra & Mahindra?

Being alert in the market is important. What has worked in the last 10 years, may not work in the next 10.

At the same time, the market can periodically fall – these are opportunities, which you need to grab. Being alert helps here too.

Listening to the market or observing the market can also help, because the leaders of the bull market are usually the companies that rise faster than the market (Nifty) and fall comparatively lower in corrections.

Why is the market rewarding a few companies? Read more about them, go through the annual reports, understand their business. Then invest and have the patience to wait.

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