When I started out on my entrepreneurial journey right out of college, I had set ambitious goals for myself. Well, they had seemed ambitious at the time, but in some years, after I had achieved the monetary targets, the money looked insufficient. In his book 'Maverick', Ricardo Semler mentions what he calls the Leonardo Da Vinci Constant of Personal Wealth. He has hypothesized that once you have accumulated a certain quantum of wealth, you could comfortably live off the earnings off that amount - unless of course you had celebrity requirements like a $300,000 bash every month and a new Prada handbag every day. I re-calibrated the Da-Vinci Constant for life in India and set newer goals and set about them in earnest.
A business school education plus some years later, after the house and car and children's education is paid for, one would figure that one would be able to live peacefully. Work for the joy of work, not for the money. Not easy. The goal post moves itself again. I am beginning to wonder if the human mind needs problems to solve and if the world does not provide them, it learns to make up some on its own. The human mind is creative. If it cannot make wealth the reason for insecurity, it finds something else. Will my children turn out okay? Why is there so much pollution in my city? My favourite problem for the last few days? Too much noise on the streets and around my once quiet neighbourhood.
I have to go now, to figure out how much it will cost to install sound proof windows in my home.
No comments:
Post a Comment