Health, Wealth and the magic of compounding

Health, Wealth and the magic of compounding

Kedar's comment about doctors managing our 'health' and CAs managing our 'wealth' was intriguing. Somehow it stuck in my mind and after some deliberation I realised that the concept of compounding, which is thought to be associated with financial matters, is applicable in almost all walks of life. Any physical activity, wealth creation, relationships, happiness, learning – all would benefit from the wonder known as compounding.

Consider savings. The earlier you start, bigger is the corpus when it is time to retire. Think of studying. The more you study in a systematic manner, the more erudite you get. Consuming healthy food over a period of time helps one in managing lifestyle ailments like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure (or even avoiding them). Quality time spent on nurturing relationships helps us in not getting isolated or lonely. Especially in these social media crazed times, man has never been so lonely and as a consequence depressed and melancholy.

The key for compounding to work is being consistent over a long period of time in whatever you do. If you plant a seed, you need to water and nourish it regularly at pre-determined intervals for the plant to flourish. It is human nature to get bored with repetitive tasks and we keep finding newer ways of keeping us entertained. We need to issue a clarion call to ask people to reduce and subtract non-consequential things from our lives. Life will be much simpler without the clutter. Types of clutter that we collect over the years are enormous and we are not even aware of it! We lose focus of what really matters in life because of the many distractions we have.

Compounding works wonderfully in health. All of us have experienced this phenomenon. We are definitely a lot healthier than what we were a few years ago. Compounding works in our relationships too. We all love our families but seldom make our feelings known. Men are usually guilty of this (myself included). Relationships wither away if they are not nurtured carefully. All of us would benefit hugely if we introspect and bring about behavioural changes wherever we feel we are lacking or need help. There is no shame in asking for help. Naveen guruji was speaking to me today about building trust. Trust is strange as we expect others to trust us unconditionally but we do not accord the same courtesy when it comes to trusting others. So work on building bridges. Trust people.

Develop new habits. Bring about behavioural changes. Read new books. Go for drives with your family. Invite friends over. Play traditional board games at home. Exercise daily and diligently. Save money. Invest in your children by ensuring they get quality education so that they are ready to face an uncertain tomorrow.