As a human race, we are conditioned to do something. Always. Right from the time we were children, we were conditioned to believe that action is good, inaction is bad. The active ant teaches us to constantly work and gather food during spring and summer else we would regret it during the cold winter, like the inactive grasshopper. Therefore the active ant is good; the inactive grasshopper isn’t. The steady tortoise is good; the sleepy hare isn’t. We hear of the spider that inspired the King Bruce to try and try until he succeeded. But we never hear of spiders, hares, tortoises, horses and other animals that succeeded or survived by showing more patience.

Activity is a good idea. Its a very good idea. If we didn’t run, we’d be a prey to a hungry lion. If we didn’t farm, we’d starve to death. If we didn’t fight we’d be without food or a partner. So you see, activity was definitely needed for our survival. But the modern day is a little different from the Savannah and there are several contexts when inactivity can be a good idea too.

Take cricket. Batsman A gets out while going for the big hit. Batsman B defends, doesn’t score a run and doesn’t lose his wicket either. A and B are perceived differently, even though in strict economic sense B was better (same outcome, no loss of wicket). A is selfless, whereas B is selfish. Even commentators pass quick judgments distorting our views. Part of the reason for that is the conditioning.

Take soccer. In a penalty kick, the goalie has the best chance (33%) of saving the goal, if he stays in the center and waits. If he dives to the left, his chances are 14.2% and if he dives to the right 12.6%. Yet he is conditioned to believe in more action rather than less and is likely to commit to action rather than wait. You can read more about it here.

Take long term investing. What is good for you is to identify a few good/ great companies and staying invested in them for the long run. The compounding machines do all the work over time, provided you don’t interfere. The results would be great if you did that. But if you did just that (inactivity), would you need your broker? Or your stock adviser? Or CNBC? Probably not. What is good for them is that you are more active in the market. And thus their advice to you would be on those lines- buy more, sell more, trade more and listen-to-me more.

One way in which I am trying to bring about this change in myself is by avoiding stimulants like stock advisers, newspapers, news channels, social media and Whatsapp. It’s a daily battle- sometimes I win, sometimes they win. But the lesser stimulants I am exposed to, the lesser will be my urge to meddle with compounding machines.

Happy Friday!