Diwali is incomplete without worshipping Goddess Laxmi for abundance and prosperity. In fact the preparations for Diwali start with decluttering and cleaning up of homes, decorating them and lightening them up to welcome the Lotus Lady. She brings in wealth, not only economic wealth, but also the wealth of wisdom, courage, success, health, family, and knowledge.
This year let’s not leave it to worshipping the goddess on Diwali day only, let’s try and invoke her within us. For this to happen we will first need to declutter our minds of some thoughts like “my dad/husband is handling my finance and I trust them” or “I have not taken out time to understand finance” or “I don’t understand numbers” or “I will start tomorrow”. Once you have managed to do that wealth and abundance are not far away.
Luckily for us our gender cliches actually work for us.
1. Household budgeting is primarily a woman’s responsibility along with caregiving of elders and nurturing the next generation. We handle all that while managing work and ensuring smooth functioning of the household. Either we are born planners, or we develop that skill fantastically on the job.
2. We are great at saving too and manage to put away a little something in our ‘jars or containers’ every month either for a rainy day or just to treat ourselves to some indulging purchase. Saving seems to be in our DNA.
3. While donning so many hats at the same time, be it of a daughter, a wife, a mother, a working professional we are constantly having to pick the most important task to complete which has led us to become champions at prioritisation.
4. We are process oriented. Most of us use a research-oriented approach and seek advice before making our decisions. Rarely will we take any steps in over-confidence or a brash decision about important matters. This makes us fantastic decision makers.
5. Most of us under-estimate our own patience. Along the way, be it while studying or working or going through motherhood, we have learnt that everything cannot be achieved overnight. This patience gives us long term orientation.
6. “Safety First” is a moto for most women, but that does not mean that we are risk averse. Our brains comprehend risk differently helping us be calm and take calculated amounts of risk rather than being reckless.
7. We adapt to new technology faster and use these tools to our benefit and make our life simpler. Think how paying salaries, shopping, buying monthly staples, keeping in touch with our friends and submitting children’s school-work has changed and become digital over the course of time. We have been up the curve for all of this and more.
8. We understand discipline and its importance in removing emotions out of tasks that need to be done.
Just like the Ashta laxmi who embodies holistic wealth, you see, we women also have all the skills to bring wealth and abundance to our households. We can move from being savers to being investors using our great planning skills. Our research and process-oriented approach, calculated risk-taking abilities, and prioritization can help us build an appropriate investment portfolio. Our patience and discipline are the game changers which can transform us from being investors to becoming long term wealth builders.
This year start your journey to financial independence.
Labdhi Mehta
( India )