lessons learnt the hard way !!

When I was younger, I had read somewhere that One who learns from one's mistakes is wise but One who learns from other's mistakes is wiser. I did not think about it much at the time with my limitations of personal and professional experience. But having been through what is probably more than 3rd of my life ( assuming life expectancy of 85 ), I think lessons from other's mistakes lack one key element which makes it difficult to learn it. You are not the actor/player in that experience so the lesson never really gets pounded. The lessons you learn from your own experiences/mistakes/falterings are much more profound and much more meaningful. Essentially you have paid the price and you get the reward by learning from it. Somebody else's experience is not the price you paid so how can you learn from it as much as the one who was "actor" in it. I feel that we need to make enough personal mistakes to wisen up and do rely on other's experiences but not expect the same magnitude of learning.

It's been long since I stopped writing and I definitely feel that a part of me was missing while I stopped. With this post I am restarting. Don't have many readers but the ones who will seek some tidbits of wisdom will find me eventually :)

Fischer Black and the revolutionary idea of finance

The title of my post today is the name of book I have read recently. For those of you uninitiated, Black is the one behind Black-Scholes formula. He missed Nobel prize because he died at a age(57) before his work received Nobel prize (received by his co inventors- Scholes and Merton). This man had no prior knowledge in economics and finance until he met Treynor who remained his mentor for rest of life. I am deeply impressed by this biography of Black. It took 7 years for author Perry Mehrling to put together this fine biography of Black.

Fischer- the man who was maverick, he did not believe any theory or any idea until he assimilated it himself by his own thinking process. The man who took cereals with orange juice instead of milk. The mind who impressed everyone he met. The man who took time for research after office hours and the weekend hours. The non academician who was pulled towards academics but came back to industry again- when he realized that his ideas and theories were way too ahead of time and people's minds. At least in industry he can work on recent issues and needs. The man whose office in MIT Boston( when he was a professor for a while) overlooked charles river. But he chose to close the window and put his rack of books in front of it and sat on his chair with back towards it. He worked and researched alone for hours together in locked rooms. Even his receptionist who sat outside his room could call him only when needed.

I saw a passion and enthusiasm in Black for his work which was unseen by me before. No wonder when throat cancer was detected in him, the first thought in his mind was to complete his planned book on business cycles before he die. I thought people think about family when their time is counted. He was able to get the book in print before he died called Business Cycles and Equilibrium

I learned many things from the life of this great man- primarily that strong belief on your mind and thinking is supreme for going a long way in your life. In his short life, he has given to finance academia and industry far more than many intellectuals.

Sunday Evening

Here in lake tahoe, I see a beautiful evening. I have been here since 3 weeks for my summer internship. This is the first time I am spending so much time with myself. That must sound strange. We all spend time with ourselves through our lives. Isn't it? But in true sense, we spend time with ourselves when we stay alone for a while not meeting or seeing other people. It is a great opportunity for self discovery. So what am I doing? In hidden realms of this self discovery I am reading and thinking.
I am reading this book " The Predictors" by Thomas Bass( based on true characters). It's an interesting story of cowboy entrepreneurs looking to win on Wall Street. I also saw a movie "21" starring Jim Sturgess today. The movie is inspired by true story from a book 'Bringing down the house' which is about group of MIT students making a killing at Las Vegas casinos by learning to beat the game 'Blackjack'. Both the book and the movie bring a question to my mind. Where did the protagonists of both book and the movie find their drive? I see their minds working extraordinarily to make money for themselves, to be rich. In the process they defy otherwise bounds and conventional processes--the way to do things normally, for the ordinary men. I see only one answer---the strong desire for fame and fortune consuming their minds. They find ways or make ways to get to the ends they desire. I feel alive thinking about them. This Sunday evening seemingly ordinary becomes special with my thoughts.

Turns and Twists

Its been 10 months I have been away from blogging. The journey in between has been exciting and enriching. The shark story I shared with you is fresh in my mind. It's easier said than done but. Who would love to run for life rather than running for lunch instead. Everybody wants to wake up to a day where the turn of events are more or less predictable. Or if they are not, the changes anticipated are not drastic . Does anybody want to wake up to each day not knowing what's in store for him/her that day? If it happens by chance, its another matter. But if its a matter of choice, would someone chose it over something more certain to happen.

For those of you who have seen the movie "Good Year" starring Russel Crowe, there is a point which I want to make through it. Russel loves a small town girl in france but cannot leave his coveted london job for marrying her as the gal's desire to stay in the same place. Russel tells her this place does not suit his life. In reply to this, the girl says maybe your life does not suit this place!!!. Subsequently, when he is given a choice between "becoming a partner in a firm" or "take thousands of dollars and leave" by the top honcho of the firm. He decides to leave for the town with the girl with uncertainty looming in his career.
Like I heard once that if you finding tough to make a choice between decisions in your life. Think like your end is near. You will be surprised to see that the choice which is truly important to you will seem like your obvious decision.

I will share more of my thoughts soon.

Sharks In Life --Part 2

Have you ever wondered why a deer chased by a lion always beats lion in speed? Lion is several times more powerful ,has more stamina and on paper ,it can run faster...So why that happens...The reason is simple----
deer is running for life and the lion is running for lunch...

Did something come to your mind..Yes when we run for lives we run at our best...So sharks always bring the best out in fish ...!!!!

So how to start being chased by sharks or how to get some sharks behind ? I know its easier said than done as most of the times we are making contingency plans in face of our original plans failing ..I do it and so do most of us... We love being safe and secure. Calm and peace is all we want..Why do we need sharks? Will it be wise to take the risks? Will it not pressurize us and lower our efficiency?

Yes life is easier without them so why bother getting them behind? But mind you just because its easier ,is it the best way for us to lead our lives....
The answer lies within you...Lets start dicovering it :::

vaneet

Sharks in life

I heard a japanese story of sharks and i could not help myself relating my actions and thoughts to it...I will try to put the story in my words..
Japanese sea water near shores did not contain ample fish due to inadequate nutrients and salts. Hence their fishing ships had to venture farther away from shores for fish. The travelling time involved led the fish eaters not relishing it as they found it stale.
So the ships decided to take freezers to the sea so that fish tastes fresh.
But the japanese connosieurs still could tell the difference between the fresh fish and a day or two old caught fish.
Now the ships arranged for the tankers in which they stored the live captured fish and brought them live to the shore....
But the japanese still could tell the difference as the fish of tankers were sluggish and not as alive as the fish from sea..
So finally after much trauma the japanese ships found the solution...They left a small shark in each of the tankers. Even though the shark ate their few fish on the way but the fish which got alive on the shore were as fresh as the fish in the sea.

Hence the moral of the story is that we need to keep sharks in our lives ..sharks can be anything they can be challenges they can be risks..they can be ventures or efforts or plans which can eat your time energy ..But then this is what which keeps u alive ..which keep u on ur Feet awake ..which gets the best out of you..
All limits are set in our lives by ourselves and when sharks are behind , we forget our limits and do what we can do and achieve what we never thot we would..

I wil touch in my next post how i have been setting sharks in my life and how i feel about it..

Journey Starts....

I have always believed that life' s too short to be Little...To strive for the best , to seek for the extraordinary and to dream for the impossible ---the three commandents of life can keep you awake day in and day out. Being sincere never means being serious, hence enjoying the present with each milestone achieved and most importantly living excitingly through this journey keeps you upbeat :)
This blog is meant to share the experiences and learning while having fun..
So lets welcome the moments to come and
Lets make our lives better...