Bisy Backson, or how not to achieve a goal...

Most of us are busy all the time, setting our goals, making our resolutions, and acting on them all the time to achieve our goals and meet our resolutions. We feel frustrated when we are not doing anything.

As this story illustrates, sometimes we can achieve our goals by simply doing nothing.

There was a man who disliked seeing his footprints and his shadow. He decided to escape from them,

and began to run. But as he ran along, more footprints appeared, while his shadow easily kept up with him. Thinking he was going too slowly, he ran faster and faster without stopping, until he finally collapsed from exhaustion and died.

If he had stood still, there would have been no footprints. If he had rested in the shade, his shadow would have disappeared.

Sometimes, no action is the best action.

You always see this phenomenon play out in stock market investing. There are people who cannot sit idle if they have cash on hand. They have to trade or they have to invest. Other than making their brokers rich by frequent trading, or missing out on potential multibaggers, they achieve nothing. Then there are others who have to take medicines even for common cold. They have not heard of the statement, 'If you take medicines for common cold, you will be cured in a week. If you do not take any medicines, it will be cured in seven days'. Most of us are like ants, always doing something, always moving aimlessly, hitting into someone, missing directions....

Action, action, action....That is the buzzword.

I had a chance to work in Dalal Street in Mumbai. If there is one place in India, where the maxim of aimless action is most prevalent, it is in this financial nerve centre of India. People are always moving, hither and thither, mumbling to themselves, talking excitedly on their mobile phones, bumping on to passers by, navigate thru the honking vehicles who compete for the tiny space...

Boy, it is chaos....with a capital C....

But constant action do not help you. As the story of 'Sleeping point' shows, you have to act to the point that you can sleep well at night. Action is worthless beyond that point.

Sometimes no action is the best action....