NDM-2023 got me back on the road this morning. It was my first race after the Covid Delta wave. Running the tree-lined roads of Delhi with hundreds of fellow runners, filled me with a sense of déjà vu. The emotions were strong. I distracted myself by trying to math-out the probable finish times of friends that crossed me by on the opposite loop. Soon, I was smiling, thinking of the similarities between the sport and investing.
1. Start
I am unduly benefiting from association with a marathon. I ran a mere 10k. I have barely run all last year and am not trained. So, a 10k is all that I could commit to. I am glad I laced up. It will push me to longer distances this year. Investing too is relative. There is no perfect time, corpus value, or asset class that we need to wait for or commit to. The earlier you start, the longer you compound.
2. Plan based on current situation
My goal with today’s run was simply to finish. And enjoy a hearty breakfast thereafter. I have had different goals in previous runs – they centered around pace and heart rates at different intervals. Not today. Investment plans too should be set based on one’s own financial situation, expense commitments, and risk appetite. You know this the best. There is little reason to be pressured by a shampoo salesman that is convincing you of the virtues of an AIF structure that he barely understands.
3. Possessing knowledge is one thing. Being able to execute it is different.
There are many race week and race day rituals. Since I was not chasing any milestones, I did not follow any of them. I reasoned that this late in the day, efforts to servicing my wheels for a fast finish may result in injury and a wretched DNF result (did not finish). Retail investors have a fair share of businessmen and corporate executives. They are familiar with ‘dhanda’ and the economy. This knowledge does not necessarily result in stock market gains. The anecdotal evidence of doubling money on a stock while not tracking overall portfolio XIRR is the race equivalent of sprinting 1-km while clocking a DNF.
4. Envy is counterproductive.
So many people, of all shapes and sizes overtook me. It was particularly humbling to see acquaintances that were eating my dust in yesteryear vroom past me. It was tempting to add speed to show them who is the boss. If I had done this, I’d almost certainly have finished slower for the race as my lactate threshold would have been breached. In investing too, attempts to add risk to create super alpha for one-upmanship can lead to significant drawdowns and a long road to recovery.
5. Call out the bad actors.
There was a curious crew that was talking down runners slower than them almost pushing them to the side on a narrow stretch of the course. My zen mode took brief a timeout. I had to tell them that they were being out of line. In a manner that would resonate with them. We often come across bad actors in our investing life. These fellows deal in lies, half-truths, and sometimes outright fraud. They must be dealt with appropriately.
My highlight of today’s run was a chat with an older gentleman – I’d guess his age at 70-75. As I ran alongside, I learned that he had been a fauji and was pacing his daughter to her first 10k finish. I can only hope to be as fit at that age. It underscored that the only trick that works in investing is Time spent in the Markets.
