“Someday” Is code for “Never”
POSTED BY ON December 29, 2011 COMMENTS (27)
I got an interesting question in my mail box – “Can you please coach me on How can I overcome my casual approach towards my finances and live a good financial life?”
The thing is that deep down we already know how to live a good financial life; the issue is that we are somewhere unwilling to take the required actions. Personal finance is not a rocket science; it simply has some hand full of things that you need to do. It is not about “How to” live a good financial life; it is a matter of choosing wisely and to make commitments to the actions that are required.
Someday I am going to sit with my advisor and sort out my finances,
Someday I will go for financial planning,
Someday I will do something with the idle cash that I have
Someday I will alter my investment style
Someday I will buy a term plan
Someday I will increase my investments
Someday I am going to buy my own house
Someday I am going to complete all my pending actions
Someday I will read all the nice articles that are starred in my inbox
Someday I am going to read entire article archive of Manish
And Someday I am going to organize my finances?
Give me two days and I will show you what I can do with my finances. This Someday syndrome always keeps you away from wealth creation in life. I re-collect a line from a famous movie Day and Knight “Someday. That’s a dangerous word. It’s really just a code for never” .
The code to your financial success is in your hands. Today you can choose to bring a dramatic change in the way you live your financial life. What you choose today determines the quality of your financial future. The “Someday investor” is all about hoping, wishing, desiring and wanting things to happen in his/her financial life. The truth is this really does not serve you in your financial life.
Once an old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life –
A fight is going on inside me, he said to the boy. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, which wolf will win? The old Cherokee simply replied, the one you feed.
What are you feeding your financial life? – “specific actions or someday actions”. Specific is being committed, someday is being casual. When you make a choice to be in action you gain leverage over other investors. The more specific you are in defining your actions the better your financial life gets. Keep feeding your commitments. Keep choosing. Keep taking actions. This blog is your sacred space, it is for you to add different dimensions to your financial life, if some conversations trigger new thoughts or actions than allow that action to happen and don’t forget to share your actions with us. Leave your questions in comments section and we will try to incorporate them in future articles.
Lastly 2011 is about to close its doors, why don’t we take this opportunity to lock our “someday” behind the doors of 2011 and step forward with commitment in our hearts. Wish you all a very prosperous 2012.
This post was written by Nandish and this post was taken from our finacial coaching blog where we keep on writing these kind of coaching conversations from time to time.
Thanks for the insight. I hope to make most out of your article.
Dear Manish and team,
Wishing you a very happy new year
Cheers 🙂
Ending the new year with the nice article…Thanks for sharing…
Wishing every one happy new year and happy investing……
Narshimha
Good to hear that .. happy new year
Manish
Happy new year to Manish and team. Thanks for the wonderful coaching all these time.
Shinu
Thanks new year
Manish
@ Nandish,
Grt Article once again… Jagoinvestor have been a eyeopener and always provided great Financial knowledge… Keep up the good Work!
@ Mahavir,
Your views are requested on Personal Accident Policies:
http://jagoinvestor.dev.diginnovators.site/2011/12/accidental-insurance-policies-in-india.html
Regards,
Pankaj
Thanks Mahavir. All in your space.Wish you a very exciting 2012
Nandish / Manish,
Good one. Wish you & yours a very happy & prosperous new year.
Someday works for me. I have been thinking to buy a Personal Accident policy for quite some time…
SOMEDAY………. I will buy it.
Keep up the good work.
Rakesh
Rakesh
Good to know that some day works for you , but that someday should happen in some weeks or months , for some poeple its years 🙂
Manish
I recalling some words from my Elders which is perfectly match with your Article title. He Said : ” Jis sentence k piche ‘gaa’ ‘ge’ ‘gi’ lag gaya , samjo woh kabhi nahi hona.
Example : invest Karungaa, gar kenge, Premium bhar denge, badal jayegi, etc
Initially i sound it funny , but its quite true. since then i never use or never allow to use others such words in personnel or professional life. I always would expect and provide fix date, fix number or fix duration during conversation..
Good info by Nandish,
keep sharing
Wow listening to elders is wise most of the times. language really plays a very important role.
Hello Nandish,
Nice one indeed. yes latency and procrastination take their toll in the long run.
“Someday I will have ‘X'” is a good statement only if that encourages you to work towards getting/owning that ‘X’.
We need to begin that long journey by taking – even if small – steps.
Sometimes all you need is 10 seconds of insane courage to change your financial life. That one small step can take place in those 10 seconds
Agreed. Incidentally it reminded me of one of my Teachers who used to say same thing by telling us story of Tulsidas. Changes may take few moments and last for lifetime.
Thank you Nandish for writing & Manish for sharing it with us.
Have a great 2012.
Hey Mohsin,
What someday actions are you gonna take before you step in 2012
Its the typical attitude that we have inherited. Chal tha hai, dekhenghe, socha nahin, mera pehcein kha hai..
Yes this someday is “Never”. Infact it is “NOW or NEVER”
Once we stop procrastinating and get into action,things will start to move. It need not be rushing up.
To begin with It can be incremental and in short and manageable steps and of course time bound.
This site is doing fabulous job of educating everyone right from a simple literate guy to a highy professional.
Sadly our education curriculum does not incalculate financial habits in the students
Good Work Guys…
Have a Happy new Year Ahead.
Daniel thanks for sharing and all appreciation. But the moment we use “WE” have inherited it dilutes the whole thing. Can you step forward and say how is your attitude in your financial life and what changes you need to bring in your attitude.
This is being specific. This is being a responsible investor who owns things.
Nandish, First of all a very happy and a prosperous new year.
Having lost a good amt of money in Stock market and from being a careless/reckless investor, I believe I have corrected myself to a large extent.
I realised that I need to do right thing at the right time. From being underinsured to properly insuredby way of High RiskPure term plan. Brought in discipline by bringing in SIP for a horizon of 15 yrs. Invested in debt (PPF) for all including my little kids. Continuing with Traditional Insurance plans as these are at the fag end of maturity. Focussing on blue chip stocks from A group and buying in small quantities for long term. Grabbing timely opportunities, sharing information with friends.
I meet friends and people often and discuss, proper financial commitments are still looked upon as somthing greek and latin and most often people end up making excuses. Precious time is lost . Earlier comments are based on experienences.
Thanks for sharing. I can see it is not going through the experiences but it is growing through the experiences in your case. Realizations are very important to elevate our financial life to next level
Realization materialises when an individual stops procrastinating.
Dear sir!
Thanks for the information. An eye opener for all those investors who keep on saying someday.
We should remember that there is no someday from monday to sunday
Its all about coming out of “Comforzone” Syndrome.
Always rest in your comfort zone and dont live in it. Most people do the reverse when it comes to personal finance
When it comes to the syndrome and the psychology of how Personal Finance works in their mind it is more neglected upfront by various reasons.
I’ve heard many saying “yeh sab toh mera LIC agent bhi karta hai isme naya kya hai” – hence shaking their comfort zone is a huge parody for the planners.