6 Financial Lessons that you must learn from Narendra Modi…

Media has brought to something called the NAMO-Fatigue by making adventurous coverage on how he sold tea at stations, how he spent his youth in Himalayas, how he eats ladoos from his mom’s hand, how he performs pooja at ghats, how he make fun by using some great words like shehzadey, maa-bete ki sarkar and starting the political match with 1-0 against Pakistan.

Now the frenzy has stopped as he has taken oath to be 15th PM of India and it’s time to get behind the desk and work. Narendra Modi had a humble background till yesterday is an interesting story. I am dedicating this article to him since I being an avid political watcher, have learnt good number of lessons from him. I would honestly confess that rather applying these learnings to finance, if these are implemented in larger life also, the outcomes would be more satisfying. Also I would like to mention that now no more I care that I am praising a man from saffron brigade or man associated with 2002 riots, as now he is leading us and all Indians. So now he is OUR Prime Minister.

Disclosure: My Great Grandmother Kamla Beniwal is current Governor of Gujarat.

What can you learn from Narendra Damodardas Modi…?

You should visualize a grand picture, take risk

Can a normal person dream about MISSION 272+, knowing that 30 years have passed without a single party gaining majority, knowing that the 100+ political national/regional parties command vote on caste/biryani politics, knowing that 16-17% people belonging to a religion will not vote in favour due to past wounds and knowing that your own guru/senior will not like your decent.

In life also you cannot follow someone else. You should be courageous enough to vision your own success story. Life’s biggest stopper is the thought… What If I Fail? Normally people say in financial field, that one should avoid risk… where as I advocate – Go Find Risk. Because where there is risk lies a challenging opportunity. One has to find those opportunities, eye gaps and see a larger frame.

You should build a plan with micro details

Namo travelled 3.5 lakhs plus Kms stretched into 400 rallies with physical presence and 3000 rallies addresses digitally. He assembled one of the largest gathering of social media, advertising, manpower (RSS/VHP/ABVP) and experts on politics. Part of the plan that Amit Shah be deployed in UP, East and South be targeted.

In financial life also we have been advocating that best way to lead a tension free life is to build a plan. If you have made one or in process, you would appreciate the details. The result lies is detail planning. When you summarize and fix goals, you are not only obtaining clarity but you are also freeing your mind with vague thoughts and aspirations.

You should accumulate resource before you act over your plan

Apart from the team and muscle power, Modi had inner qualities like- command over language, oratory skills, hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm, zeal for fitness, leadership and fearlessness. He knew his humble background would sell and his skills as Gujrat CM would come handy. He started preparations very early and even tested his resources long ago before the elections were declared by making speeches to students and woman entrepreneurs.

Same way each of us are packages containing different backgrounds, economic strengths and with different skill sets. It is very important that plan of life be aligned with these resources. So if you are preparing a budget you should be aware of how much money you have in hand and what the expenses are. The information is also an important resource.

You should be patient if you have confidence over your plan

Why don’t you regret 2002? Are you sorry? Do you feel pain? Were you involved? Maut ke saudagar? Butcher man? 100s of question and he had his same answer- DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK. I think last 5 years Modi also learnt this lesson that, if you are 100% sure of your plan you have to be patient and not behave like a kid. He is known to have left 2 or more interviews before 2009 when grilled on his hard core image.

You have to have patient in what you do. You cannot get over-joyed, over-saddened or stressed. There are times when you will be pulled down by your own thoughts arising when you see butter melting on someone else pot. In investments particularly in equity, nothing will happen overnight. You cannot change your course on every 10% gain or loss. Hence patience and maintaining calmness is very important.

You should be ready with back-up, ignore critics/noise and straighten a few

He took a last minute shot – Addressing a rally at Amethi, he made Arnab wait till the last day, tighten loose screws of Giriraj Singh, openly criticizing Mamata Banerji, over playing Diggy Raja, taking pot shot on Priyanka Gandhi and leveraging from book of Sajay Baru. It’s not easy at it seems as when you are making n number of promises every day.

What if you face minor derailment in your plan… for eg you lose your job, meet an accident or face sudden demise of a near one. You have to take charge and make amendments. You have to face it and see what best can you do? You have to access the loss and try to recover it or walk over it so that the bigger plan is not disturbed. In financial plan lot of these hiccups can be managed by insurance and contingency fund. But the idea is to remain on track as major things are on stake.

Enjoy success as it’s your habit to be successful

There were about 5-6 programs and write ups on what he shall wear on oath taking day. All fashion expert had their view but the man showed no difference. He was his usual self. He never credited himself for success and never showed an outburst that he has brought fortunes for his party. His passion for country has over taken his success charm. He has indicated that he will be active around what he has been chosen for.

Finally, as your hopes are high, so are mine… but this man taught us that elections can be more entertaining than movies and cricket. As he starts a new journey I thank him and his amazing story making us learn new lessons and for solidifying what was already being practiced.

Do share your views and emotions in the comments section. 

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Hemant Beniwal is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and his Company Ark Primary Advisors Pvt Ltd is registered as an Investment Adviser with SEBI. Hemant is also a member of the Financial Planning Association, U.S.A and registered as a life planner with Kinder Institute of Life Planning, U.S.A. He started his Financial Planning Practice & TFL Guide Blog in 2009. "The Financial Literates" is a dream & mission to make Indians Financial Literate.

20 COMMENTS

  1. One of the greatest article….I read it thrice and forwarded to many frnds. Very inspiring, thank u.

  2. Heart touching and very emotional article. Surely if we come close to practising these principles..we can reach much higher scales than we desire.
    Of course as always very nicely put and structured Hemant 🙂

  3. Very effective, energetic , emotive and engrossed thoughts.
    One has to really learn the lessons of life from this message.
    Politically it could have been different if there was coliation government, but if you believe in yourself, act honestly and sincererly then the result will be what you want.
    Thanks again for the great article.

  4. I have been following him during his election campaign and wondering about his energy level. This is one thing one has to keep in mind that when you are on a larger mission, God helps you. According to me, what was the really important aspect of his life that he had no family to pull him down and no liability to carry on, no one to dampen his enthusiasm at home front. This made him sort of desperate to look for higher values of life and take risks in attaining the goal to serve the nation. Unless you are deeply imbued with ethical values and have a built-in sense to serve the country and unless you have seen the poverty, hypocrisy, etc from very close range you cannot fortify yourself to fight against it. Moreover, a life of drista(visionary) in which maya( passion, lust etc)does not pull you down and a when you are not bonded by senses( indrion ka sukh), you can see things far and beyond. I think Modi ji has a sense of dedication for the cause of nation building which is rarely visible these days. He must have had some potion of what was felt by Tulsidas in his hey days. May he live long and work with the same fervor and zeal and leave a trail of new thoughts for the posterity to follow and let there be thousand lashes to those who went out to criticize him for his actions, austerity. simplicity, and his family life.

  5. =Quite an inspiring article. Congrats for culling out worth emulating traits from
    the working of the worthy PM.

  6. I am a SARDAR PATEL fan,naturally I am NARENDRA MODI supporter as well.
    for right reasons I have always voted for BJP.
    NATION PATENTLY AWAITS FOR MIRACLES FROM HIM.being in narendra modi ‘s gujarat, from my experience I can say ,one may have doubts about his performance when he presents his report card in 2019,but there will be no doubts about his sincere hard work put over all years 2014-2019 to achieve them.let us accept ,he is also a mortal human-being, liable to commit mistakes,but those mistakes will not be intentional.LET US LEARN A LOT FROM HIM.

  7. Its a pretty good article, I hope every Indian looks at that his/ her nation has a good leader ( Prime Minister) who shall take the country to heights.

  8. But you didn’t mention about the financial power that is required to achieve the goals in this case.

    • Hi Manny,
      We are living in the world of Krishna – not in the world of Youdhister – they both were on the same side but different styles.

  9. Hemant sir,
    This is one of the best article from you.I read it twice.
    while reading this article second time i feel you are doing same sort of hard word for Indians to make them vishwa-guru in managing finance with same zeal and dedication.
    Thanks sir to educate us.

  10. Really I read it on today, I find it is one of the best article analyzed by you .I am very much impressed

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