10 Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong – Part 8

I told myself some things would never come back. It turned out I was completely wrong...

1

I told myself my writing was a thing of the past. It belonged to my first life which was in India. It belonged to my first career, which was an advertising copywriter.  It didn’t belong to my life in the U.S.  After all, I was a commissions analyst.  I was in a numbers job. The urge to write had vanished from my life. Maybe it was a good thing? Maybe it was meant to be?

Year after year, for 14 years, it looked like that.

And then, in December 2010, wham….everything changed.

The urge to write, the will to write, and the inspiration came back.

I started a blog, this blog.

I wrote my first post and never looked back.

This is post #422.

So I was completely wrong to think my writing would never come back. It did, and in a big way.

What part of your life do you think will never come back?  Could you be wrong about that?

2

I thought my interest in stocks would never come back. I was completely wrong about that.

My friend Ajay, whom you know from several guest posts, such as A Short Stint In Advertising, Oh Bangalore, Parts 1, 2 and 3, and Why You Should Never Abandon Your Pet, introduced me to stocks.

When he left advertising to become a stock broker, several of us, friends and coworkers, bought stocks through him soon after.

I quickly fell in love with the stock market, and started tracking the movements in my stocks on a daily basis.

I was so enamored with stocks in those days, I was known to quip, “First love – stocks, second love – advertising, third love – husband”.

Then came the Harshad Mehta scam. It wiped out my gains, and then some. My enthusiasm dried up. Besides, I left India for America soon after. For the next 7-8 years, I was completely occupied with trying to make a new life in America

I had to learn several new skills in America, including driving, which I had assumed I could never learn, and commissions administration, which I was highly doubtful I would be good at, because I thought I was a words person, not a numbers person.

Plus, I was parenting for the first time in my life – and as every parent knows, parenting is an all-consuming activity.

And then, while I was busy doing other things, due to a combination of reasons…my adjustment to life in America being complete, perhaps, and my career as a commissions analyst being stable, perhaps, and me reading the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, I felt my interest in stocks stirring again.

Interestingly, in Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Kiyosaki advises against stocks, calling them “paper assets”.

His book steers you towards passive real-estate income – recommending you make property investments and become a landlord.

Where I found the book most useful was in its emphasis on how it's not how much you make, but what you do with how much you make.

Kiyosaki stresses the importance of being financially savvy and learning everything there is to learn about money.

He also challenges your thinking about what is an asset and what is a liability - stating that your home is a liability, not an asset.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad illuminated the path to future financial freedom for me.

Soon after reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad (and reading the rest of Kiyosaki’s books), I did several things.

I read up on taxes and started doing my taxes myself, something I never thought I could do.

I started researching bank accounts, so I could get the best yield on cash balances.

I became knowledgeable about debt, and everything related to it, so I could maintain a good FICO score and get the best lending rates.

And, I got back into stocks.

I was amazed (and initially overwhelmed) with the choices available when I decided to start investing in stocks again.

There were many different kinds of opportunities – I could invest in penny stocks, I could invest in stocks in different sectors, I could invest in stocks with different market caps, I could invest in mutual funds, I could invest in ETFs.

And there were many different ways to invest. I could buy stocks through the trading arms of banks or through online brokers. I could do dollar-based investments through companies like Folio and JStock. I could buy stocks directly from publicly traded companies, through companies like Equniti group.

I was soon plugged into CNBC every day.  And I checked the markets on Yahoo Finance multiple times a day.

As soon as I felt confident, I started buying stocks.

My progress was bumpy.  Some bumps were nastier than others, prompted by ridiculous ideas.

And I had to lick my wounds several times.

But once I became comfortable with the idea you win some and you lose some, and that index funds tied to broad indexes like the S&P and Dow were underrated as a means of investing, I started to do better.

By the time the 2008-2009 crash rolled around, I had a philosophy of ultimate optimism. I believed everything would work out in the end. Even the Dow plunging to 6000 couldn’t shake this belief. I had become a Yogi in Investing and yoga is what I practiced in my investments.

And to think I thought my interest in stocks would never come back.  It roared back.

What did you once do you think you will never do again?  Could you be wrong about that?

3

I thought my friendship with my friend Gerri was gone forever and would never come back.  I was wrong about that.

Gerri, who is featured in my United States of Friendship series of posts, was one of the first people I met in America.

We met at Palm Inc and soon started carpooling together.

I used to host Wednesday dinners and Gerri was a regular at them.

But after we changed jobs and changed houses, we went our own ways

I made new friends like Valerie and Kim, Nadya and Julia and others.

Gerri made new friends too.

But a few years ago, we reconnected.

We became friends on Facebook and started talking on the phone.

Soon I was joining Gerri at the Bible Study group she attended on Fridays.

A full 12 years had elapsed before we reconnected, but we were able to pick up where we left off.

I thought my friendship with Gerri was over and would never come back.  Happily, I was wrong about that.

What relationships or friendships do you think you can never get back? Could you be wrong about that?

4

Finally, I never thought I would enjoy the freedom of being my own boss again.

I was my own boss for 3 years at Purple Patch, the creative shop I owned and ran in India.

After moving to America and becoming a commissions analyst, I thought there was no hope of enjoying that kind of freedom again, especially given the fact I was a single mom in a field where there were few freelancers.

Then in 2010, when companies were laying people off left, right, and center, and distributing the work of those they laid off among the remaining employees, I found myself clashing with my boss’ boss over his attempt to get me to take on non-commissions related work. When trying to argue my way out of it, didn’t work, I quit and for multiple reasons, including professional confidence, financial confidence, and most important of all, “psychological” confidence, I made the brave decision to do the Xactly Admin Course.

One thing led to another.

I got called to work for an Xactly software implementation company.

After doing that for a year and a half, I decided to go it alone.

I became a commissions consultant, something I have been doing since 2012.

So once again, I am my own boss.

The only difference is at Purple Patch, I helped companies with their advertising needs.  Today, I help companies with their commission processing and testing needs.

I contract at different companies, meeting new people, experiencing different corporate cultures, learning different comp plans and processes, and contributing in different ways.  This is what I have been able to do as my own boss in the commissions administration field.

It is a thrill to have the freedom of being my own boss again - I never thought I would be able to get that back in my life again.

There – those are 4 things  I was completely wrong in thinking I would never get back again.

Therefore I say, if there are things you think you will never get back again, don’t lose hope. A surprising turn of events may be just around the corner.  When the time is right, they will resurface. Just keep your eyes open for that moment.

Do come back next week for the final part of this series, 10 Things I Told Myself That Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong.

Acknowledgements

Thanks for the feedback, (comments, likes, shares) on Part 1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of this series. I appreciate the kudos from old friends, new friends, and relatives who have become friends. You keep me going.

NEXT, Thanks to all readers, current and future, for sharing my journey to wisdom, meaning and a better life.  Like you, I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life, and I am honored to have you share my journey, as I continue to seek the wisdom hidden in plain sight.

FINALLY, A Happy Birthday shout-out:  to those with July birthdays. Use your birthday month to celebrate all the wonderful things that have happened in your life, some of which are waiting to happen again.

Have a blessed week, and hope to see you next week.

P.S. Not sure if you have time, but if you want to read the other posts in this series, you can do so here.

Take me to Part 1 of 10 Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong (Marriage and Driving) 

Take me to Part 2 of 10 Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong (The I’m a Words Person, Not a Numbers Person Notion)

Take me to Part 3 of 10 Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong (The Invest Like Warren Buffett Fiasco)

Take me to Part 4 of 10 Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong (Health Misinformation)

Take me to Part 5 of 10 Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong (Tax Cluelessness)

Take me to Part 6 of Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong (Rich Woman)

Take me to Part 7 of Things I Told Myself Which Turned Out To Be Completely Wrong (What I Want From a Job)

If you have still more time, featured below is a sprinkling of older posts:

Friendships

The United States of Friendship – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12

Family

Our Cake Boss Family, Family Songs, The Nightdress Brigade, Family Advice I Am Grateful For, The Porki And Bonkers Tradition, No Need for 23 and Me,Letters to Lucas, Flying Lessons

Pets

A Fresh Perspective on Pets, Secrets of The Super Models In Our Family,BowWow, Meoww, Why You Should Not Abandon Your Pet

Nature

Post on Trees, Reprising Joy Kilmer

Hobbies

Cricket, Glorious Cricket, Splendid Post, What!

Managing Your Money

Yoga for Investors, How to Turn Your Girl Scout or Cub Scout Into a Stock Scout, Financial Piece of Mind, Financial Piece of Mind – Part Deux, A Retirement Planning Formula You Won’t Find on Oprah

Simplifying Your Life

You know what Wesabi is, How About Wabi Sabi?  The Simple Life, The Element of Simplicity and Its Hope for Living a More Satisfying Life

Getting Over Your Self-Consciousness

The Element of Release From Inhibition, The Element of Being Less Self-Centered and Its Hope for Seeing Things in The Correct Light, The Element of Getting Out of Our Comfort Zone and Its Hope For Experiencing More of What Life Has to Offer

Learning to Laugh

How To Deal With The Sheldon Coopers in Your Life – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,Part 4, The Nightdress Brigade, You Aced the SAT, How About the LAT?, How To Cause Atmost Confuzen at the Scripps Spelling Bee, How To Go From Madonna to Lilly to Myrtle in The Course of A Single Evening - And Even Have a Sex Change, A Facebook Face-Off, A Short Stint in Advertising

Learning to Relax

How To Become a Low Maintenance Person, Connected Minds, How To Become The Kind of Person People Want to Work with, How Many Times a Day Do You Visit Ireland? The Art of Carrying Things Lightly

Health

Raising the Bar, 4 Healthy Eating Ideas I Learned from My Friend Julia, The Element of Becoming More Focused and Precise In Our Goals and Its Hope for Achieving Powerful Results

Pursuing A Dream

What’s Next For You? The Element of The First Step and Its Hope for Getting Big Things Started In Our Lives, She Victories

Changing in Good Ways

Maybe Its Time To Become More Receptive, Maybe It’s Time To Live More Purposefully, Maybe It’s Time To Bust Some Myths, Maybe It’s Time to Walk In The Direction Of Your Fears, Maybe It’s Time To Understand What Freedom Is, Maybe It’s Time To Turn the Page, Maybe It’s Time To Rock The World, Maybe It’s Time For Freshness