Many times, we have to choose some options and that option seems to be free of cost. This is an illusion, however. They also come at a price, but the price tag is often hidden and intangible: each decision costs mental energy and eats up precious time for thinking and living.

We want to achieve everything and that ended up with nothing to us. Sometimes we need to learn to say no to the majority of things.

Investment – When we do not have an investment process then we like every stock and feel regret when we missed any. When we prepare a process, we show readiness to say no to the majority of things and accept things that fall under our process.

I have seen many investors who try to capture every opportunity, and when they cannot capture any, then they fall to regret. If we keep saying “yes” to every opportunity then we cannot smell the difference between real and fake opportunities. We cannot buy all listed stocks on the Indian stock exchange. And for that, we have to create a process that is suitable for us.  

Think hard once and then just consult your list forever, instead of having to make up your mind whenever a new door cracks open. Most doors are not worth going through, even when the handle seems to turn so effortlessly.

This entire series will be reviewed with various examples from books which are “Thinking, Fast and Slow” and “The Art of Thinking Clearly“.