What has Duryodhana got to teach us about money?

In the Mahabharata, when Duryodhana was getting counselled to avoid choosing a war with the Pandavas, he said these sentences –

I know what is right, but I wish not to follow it

I also know what is not right, but I wish to follow it

The essence of these statements from his perspective is as follows – Yes, I know that I’m supposed to give back Pandavas what is due to them, but I will not. I also know that, I shouldn’t be waging a war against my own brothers and should be listening to your counsel, but, I wish not to follow your counsel and go to a war with them. We all know the end result of the Kurukshetra war. It ended in misery for everyone, both the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

So, what has this story got to do with our learnings in money, investing or life decisions – below are a few learnings.

On his first statement –

I know that I need to SAVE more, but I wish not to follow it

I know that I need to INVEST more, but I wish not to follow it

I know that I need to INVEST in MYSELF (personally & professionally), but I wish not to follow it

I know that I need more TIME with my FAMILY, but I wish not to follow it

I know that I need to be PATIENT with my investments, but I wish not to follow it

I know that I need INSURANCE for my family, but I wish not to follow it

I know that I need to prepare a SUCCESSION PLAN in place, but I wish not to follow it

And on the second statement –

I know that I shouldn’t BORROW so much (for any purpose), but I wish to

I know that I shouldn’t TRADE while INVESTING, but I wish to

I know that I shouldn’t WORRY on THINGS BEYOND MY CONTROL, but I wish to

I know that I shouldn’t SPEND so much (for any purpose), but I wish to

I know that I shouldn’t be obsessed with MONEY all the time, but I wish to

A couple of statements to investing in Mutual Funds / Equities etc.

I know that I should KEEP BUYING when the markets go down, but I wish not to (only a few can achieve this)

I know that I should KEEP LIQUIDITY & CASH FLOWS in order, but I wish not to (only a few can achieve this)

I know that I shouldn’t stop my MONTHLY SIPs when the markets go down, but I wish to

I know that I shouldn’t SELL my holdings when the markets go down, but I wish to

I can go on and on with many such statements, but, wish that you can relate and make up your own “to do & not to do”, statements.

The simple actionable in our money, investing and life decisions will be this way –