Just matter of Five Minutes
Raj is hero of our story. Raj had to catch a train and was running just little late to the train station. He arrived just 2-3 minutes late to see the train leaving the platform. He was late—not by much, just 2-3 minutes. But that small delay now meant waiting 24 hours for the next train. The station wasn’t his goal; his destination was. Those lost five minutes wasn’t small anymore.
As it is hard to let the old habits go, he sat on a bench and started recalling old incidents which cost him dear. Once he arrived ten minutes late for a job interview. “It’s just 10 minutes,” He thought. But the job went to someone else, and Raj spent six months struggling before another opportunity came along. Those ten minutes had cost him half a year.
A year back, he had been 15 minutes late to a see a relative during his last breaths. Everyone else was too polite to say much, but Raj confessed later that he would regret missing that moment of closure for the rest of his life. 15 minutes had left a permanent gap in his heart.
Reflecting on these stories, Raj realized how he underestimated the impact of small delays. Five minutes here, ten minutes there—what seemed minor could ripple into months or even a lifetime of consequences. It wasn’t about the minutes themselves; it was about the opportunities and memories lost in those moments.
Similarly in our own life, we are absolutely late in certain life decisions. Early on spending and Late in saving. Early in EMI and Late in SIP. Early in withdrawing and Late in investing. Our saving and investing cycle is erratic. In many cases, a lot of time is taken away in planning but execution remains missing. Every day is missed opportunity. While procrastinating by few months seems harmless, but the lost time mean a significantly smaller corpus.
At Shalibhadra, we encourage start their investment journey with ‘One step at a time’. Investor may have large goals but the first step without delay will get them to their goals.
Nishit Siddharth Shah