Lessons In Investing From The Ancients!!!

I am back from a well deserved short holiday to Shimla with the kids. Well I got to meet my parents and kids had a gala time getting pampered by their grandparents. Since I am an avid reader and always pack a book or two whenever I travel; this trip consisted of the “The Richest Man in Babylon” and “The Dick Davis Dividend”, the latter I am half way through but it is the former I would like to discuss here. Just the other day I was discussing with a fellow blogger how the fables or short stories are a very strong medium of learning and are more effective in conveying the message.

“The Richest Man in Babylon” by George Clason is one such book with a whole lot of wisdom packed into its roughly 150 pages. The story is set in ancient Babylon where the king calls upon the richest man in Babylon; Akrad to share the secrets of his wealth. Akrad the protagonist of the story had humble beginnings and with some advice from his mentor starts on a journey to amass wealth of huge proportions. He outlines seven principles of wealth building or as he says “Seven Cures for a Lean Purse”.

In the second part he sends his son Nomasir with a bagful of gold and a tablet outlining the five rules of gold (read money) to set out and prove himself to be worthy to inherit his father’s estate. The five rules are;

Ok so whats new in the above post which we haven’t read in many a book? Yeps we have READ but have we ever comprehended it. There is a whole lot of difference between readings and reading comprehension just as there is a whole lot of difference between hearing and listening. We hear a lot of above wisdom oft repeated by likes of Warren Buffets but do we ever listen to it? No we just hear and move on, this lil book has sold more than two million copies worldwide, so has the lives of two million people changed? I doubt because most of us just read and move along and only a few practice it. This brings back the poem by Frost I mentioned in the previous post “Two roads diverged in the wood, and I… I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference”.

Another reason why we often fail to follow the simplest of advice is because of our inherent EGO which makes us Homosapiens Believe that complex is simple and just plain simple is Boring! I will sign off with something I read in Dr Wayne Dyer’s book “You Will See It When You Believe It”, he starts this book with the following sentence “You cannot drink the word water. The formula H2O cannot float a ship. The word Rain cannot get you wet. You must experience water or rain to truly know what the words mean. Words themselves keep you several steps removed from experience” Therefore if you happen to read the book or any book which you think might make THE DIFFERENCE just don’t read it; Practice what you have read!