Who am I talking with??

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to my blog samanyabuddhi.blogspot.com where we try to simplify our life with common sense.

So I was just thinking on thinking, as I see most people are afraid of quiet time for thinking. They constantly want some kind of indulgence, like talking with someone, listening songs, watching TV, eating (yes many people eat just for time pass) and if they don't get something like this then they become restless until they find something.

But I like quiet time, I like thinking a lot. Whenever I get time, my mind starts thinking on various subjects. Encient Hindu scriptures have told the importance of mediation.

So I was just thinking on thinking, how do we think?

Though we don't like thinking, everyone thinks without knowing he or she is thinking. So everyone has experienced what we do which is called thinking is actually we talk in our head. Generally in our mother-tounge.

The question arises is WHO I AM TALKING WITH? Because there is no one talking back.

This, the entity we are talking with, the observer to our talk is actually our subconscious mind. When we think, we are actually feeding our subconscious mind. It is where our true personality lies, it is where most of our decisions are made, it is where 80% of our brain's processing power lies, it is what keeps us alive, it is what controls our bodily functions like heart beats, breathing, it is where our instincts lies, it is where our emotions generate, it is where most of our memories lies including associated sensory perceptions, it is where our self image lies, it is always on, even in sleep, the dreams we see while sleeping are the glimpses of what goes on in our subconscious mind.

Don't you think this silent observer to our thought is so amazing!! So powerful !! It can make wonders happen !!

What if we can use it's amazing power??

Well it is not that inaccessible to us. This silent observer is always in ON state, even while sleeping, so whatever happens around us, whatever we think, how we react to things, all is observed by this observer, it generates emotions depending on what it has observed in the past. It tries to correlate our past with the present. That is why if we burnt our fingers by touching a pan on a stove, we will always be vigilant about a pan or anything on a stove even if the stove is OFF. It is where our instincts generates.

We can't control what the observer has observed in the past but we surely control what the observer observes in the present. Always remember that the observer is watching your every conscious thought, every sensory stimulus, every emotional stimulus, every conversation etc. So do feed in advantageous material to the observer. To feed it we must first think it, feel it. Though first it feels a little different (only different, not hard). But over times the good observations of the observer starts bearing fruits and by the time you also develop the habit of feeding good material to the observer. The good things keep on compounding, good things leads to good things, it becomes a positive feedback loop.

The advantages-

I have trained myself in thinking over problems hard and then when time is over I shut it off, for example, if I encounter a problem in the office, I think over it hard, how to solve the problem? How can I prevent it from arising again? Is there any opportunity for improvement? If I don't get any answer in office hours then I shut it off as soon as I leave the office. Next time when I visit the office again I usually find a solution is already ready in my brain even if I have consciously shut down the thoughts related to the problem. It is where after I consciously stopped dwelling over the problem, the observer took over it without my conscious knowledge, and solved the problem for me.(remember it has 80% of the brain's processing power at it's disposal).

This observer is the subconscious mind can easily solve any problem rather it needs a problem or a task to properly function. That's why the saying-

EMPTY MIND IS DEVIL'S HOME.

So, in a sense I gave you a superpower.

Do remember Peter Parker's (Spiderman's) Uncle Ben have said-

WITH GREAT POWERS, COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.

So do use your superpower responsibly..;-)

See you again,

Till then have a great time..

Sumit,

The POWER is when,
You use ODDS,
To get EVEN.

The power of compounding - Knowledge

The third instalment in The power of compounding series is devoted to knowledge.

I frequently recall some thoughts out of which one is-

'The human brain is the only thing which makes us the dominant species on earth.'

Therefore we must use our super brain to our benefit to get the most.

Ever read the law of 80/20??

The law states that 80% of the work is done by our 20% efforts and to get the remaining 20% work done we have to put the remaining 80% efforts.

This means that to perform efficiently you must have to concentrate on those 20% efforts which gives the 80% results. And in todays world, knowledge is the power. Knowledge is that crucial 20% which gives the 80% result. There is a huge ocean of knowledge which is expanding everyday. To do our day to day activities, we need knowledge to make them easier. For example, you can stand in a queue to pay your bills or you can simply activate auto debit facility. This is the difference the knowledge makes in our life. A lot of time spent is saved which we can use for other important activities.

Let's come back to our power of compounding, how does it apply to the knowledge?

Simply speaking the power of compounding works with almost any sort of interdependent things. If you have read my previous POST on how to use power of compounding to increase the miles per gallon of a motorbike, you will understand it quickly.

In the above example of auto pay, you are saving time, but if you have knowledge of what to do in the saved time then your efficiency will be much higher. Suppose along with the knowledge of auto debit facility, you have the knowledge of analysing businesses listed on the stock exchanges, then you may use your saved time in finding a good investment opportunity and who knows you may find an investment opportunity for a lifetime, which can further help you retire early from your job, which will further free up a lot of your precious time.

So the amount of time saved is compounded when two ways of saving time are combined.

Here in the same case knowledge also got compounded, now you also have knowledge that these two things when combined can make you financially free much early in your life. Also now you know that you have an investment opportunity and to benefit from it you must save money and the necessity of spending time in researching the stocks, the necessity of saving time etc. So the knowledge also got compounded.

First you knew A & B and from that you derived B, C & E, who knows you might find more things than I did.

This is how knowledge is compounded.

But to compound you first need to start accumulating knowledge.

This is not a difficult thing to do. Start observing things. Stop promoting yourself or proving your greatness to others, (I found most of the people doing it all the time), but I am fortunate enough to understand it in the childhood itself. Actually it was an accident. When I was 10, one day after coming home from school I was so bored and there was nothing to do, the last class of science was lingering in my mind, so I just thought to dig in to it. So I took out the textbook and read the lesson again, I found it interesting, so I read the next one too. The next day, during the science class I was answering all the questions asked by teacher and everyone was impressed by me.

What I learnt from this experience is that learning is fun and good for you, also real hard work or understanding or knowledge doesn't need any promotional efforts. You don't have to prove your greatness. Just become great and everyone will know. You don't need to be great in what others perceive to be great. You just do what you enjoy to do, but do it with full effort and whole heartedly. Others will recognise it automatically once your greatness achieves a critical mass.

Pretty big lesson for a 10 year old kid. But I understood it and started reading first my science book, (science was my favourite subject) then the next years book, then next then next, and in between when bored, some other subjects too.

That's how my knowledge building process started. Because of which I never have to study separately for the exams (pretty amazing, isn't it!!!��). During exams also I never quit my routine of watching Disney hour for 2 hours in the morning, I just loved the Duck tales, Tale spin, Quack pack etc. And later in the college too, though not cartoons, I used to watch a lot of discovery or national geographic channel. They are great source of audio visual knowledge. We can understand better when we see it or hear it or both. Just be selective about what are you reading or watching or hearing, the world is full of noise, so you have to sift the useful knowledge from it.

I just received a joke on WhatsApp related to our topic. Here it is-

During a robbery, the bank robber shouted to everyone in the bank:
"Don't move. The money belongs to the Government. Your life belongs to you."

Everyone in the bank laid down quietly.

This is called "Mind Changing Concept" Changing the conventional way of thinking.

When a lady lay on the table provocatively, the robber shouted at her:
"Please be civilised! This is a robbery and not a rape!"

This is called "Being Professional"
Focus only on what you are trained to do!

When the bank robbers returned home, the younger robber (MBA trained) told the older robber (who has only completed Year 6 in primary school):
"Big brother, let's count how much we got."

The older robber rebutted and said:
"You are very stupid. There is so much money it will take us a long time to count. Tonight, the TV news will tell us how much we robbed from the bank!"

This is called "Experience"
Nowadays, experience is more important than paper qualifications!

After the robbers had left, the bank manager told the bank supervisor to call the police quickly. But the supervisor said to him:
"Wait! Let us take out $10 million from the bank for ourselves and add it to the $70 million that we have previously embezzled from the bank".

This is called "Swim with the tide"
Converting an unfavourable situation to your advantage!

The supervisor says: "It will be good if there is a robbery every month."

This is called "Changing priority"
Personal Happiness is more important than your job".

The next day, the TV news reported that $100 million was taken from the bank. The robbers counted and counted and counted, but they could only count $20 million.

The robbers were very angry and complained:
"We risked our lives and only took $20 million. The bank manager took $80 million with a snap of his fingers. It looks like it is better to be educated than to be a thief!"

This is called "Knowledge is worth as much as gold!"

Well you do not need to do any illegal things to earn money, there are enough legal ways, trust me.

I am sure that you are also on the same journey for knowledge and wisdom like me. The proof is you are reading this post and that too this far.

Well welcome aboard. Our ships journey starts with reading any small informative article of your interest or use, or even watching a show on discovery channel or national geographic channel but not the news channel(I will tell you why not in later posts). But we just have to be sure to check the validity of knowledge by finding rational proofs or trying to disprove it just like we did in the maths theorems in the college. Don't do it by force, just read or learn what you like, slowly you will start liking the process and it will become a habit.

The pieces of information will slowly sink into your subconscious mind and will start interlinking and compounding.

The interlinking is very important to develop wisdom.

Now a days almost everyone has smartphones, so if any questions come to your mind then draw the smartphone and google it. Don't keep any doubt or question unanswered. Challenge your conceptions, get rid of your misconceptions.

You will find limitless possibilities, every barrier in your path will collapse when you start accumulating, compounding and spreading knowledge. Your view of looking towards the world and yourself will change for the good, you will get familiar with the abundance in the world, abundance of what you want.

Knowledge is one of the few things which grows and multiplies when used or shared.

So let our ship catch some wind, read at least one article of your liking, let's be a little wiser every day, let's find out how deep the rabbit hole goes, you are not alone in this journey, there are countless others on different corners of the world going on the same path, And I am here with you too.

Let's be a little wiser every day.

Have a nice day..

Sumit
The POWER is when,
You use ODDS,
To get EVEN.

The power of compounding- 10 ways to improve your bikes mileage -

Using the power of compounding to improve motorbike's fuel economy.

The most popular question in India to ask about an automobile is, what's the mileage of the vehicle? Even if it's a luxury vehicle where the cost of fuel consumption is a tiny fraction of the cost of vehicle itself. We are so obsessed with the mileage figures.

While thinking about the power of compounding a thought came to my mind whether this can be employed to improve my motorbikes fuel economy?

There was very less chance of any breakdown but a high chance of reward. That is, the risk reward ratio was favourable. So I instantly started working on it.

There were 10 areas where I worked, each giving the fuel economy rise of roughly 2 to 5%, Well I  estimated the figures roughly with experiments.
Though the experiments were rough for these small parameters the total outcome was solid.

Starting point-

Commuter motor bike-

Engine specification-
110cc single cylinder,
4 stroke,
natural air cooled,
long stroke,
8.1hp,
4 speed gear box,
Carburetted,
Chain drive

Starting mileage (average fuel economy)-
60kmpl (kilometres per litre of petrol (gasoline))

Mileage improving measures taken along with the reasoning-

1) Reduced braking-

This is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about increasing the mileage of the motorbike because we burn fuel to increase our kinetic energy, but when we apply brakes this kinetic energy is converted to heat energy and wasted to the atmosphere. (Ever touched the brake drums or brake discs after stopping? If not, then try it but cautiously to avoid burn injuries. That is why there ventilated discs, to dissipate waste heat quickly to the atmosphere.)   So to reduce braking is the obvious first thing to do.

How to reduce braking?

Just think that your vehicle does not have any brakes.

Not even the engine braking is possible. No excuses except absolute emergency. You will automatically find the ways to reduce braking.

(Engine braking is when we use engine friction to reduce speed of the vehicle e.g. closing the throttle, or downshifting the gears. This kind of braking also wastes energy.)

Common sense tells to plan the journey in advance and slowly reduce the throttle before the planned stop, so as to automatically reduce the speed to zero without applying brakes.

Reduced braking alone has the most impact on the fuel economy. Simple thing to keep in mind is braking wastes fuel.

2) More use of higher gears-

The sole purpose of gears is to increase the efficiency of the vehicle in different operating conditions and performance requirement.

So make the best use of it, try maintaining that speed where your vehicle is in the top gear and engine is feeling comfortable, that is producing maximum torque. This speed varies as per the characteristics of the vehicle. So you have to use your own judgement.

Keep it in mind, the higher the gear along with comfortable engine RPM, the better is the fuel economy.

3) Slow and steady acceleration coupled with constant speed-

Opening throttle slowly as the vehicle picks up the speed is the right way to use the fuel. Most people do the opposite, that is they open the throttle much more at start and start closing it once the vehicle gains speed quickly. But this is a bad thing if you want better fuel economy. Instead do the opposite. Open the throttle as minimum as possible.

The throttle is the fuel tap at your hand, you will burn fuel as much as you open it. So if you want to burn less fuel then open the tap as minimum as possible.

Maintaining constant speed-

This is a very crucial point. Most people find it very difficult to do in city traffic where constant stream of obstacles like speed breakers, cross roads, traffic signals, pedestrians, rash driving of people, mistakes of drivers etc are there.

On the highways it is easy to maintain a constant speed.

If you want to maintain a constant speed then you will have to use your brains logical thinking a little more.

Do you know, it is possible to avoid traffic signals?
You must be thinking yes, by taking alternate rout. But what if the alternate rout is a very long one? Sometimes a little longer with less obstacles may conserve your fuel.

But there is another way- An information of the traffic signal system.

Do you know that traffic signals are programmed to work in unison? They are programmed by keeping in mind an average speed of the traffic on roads. They are programmed in such a way that they permit the smooth non stop flow of traffic. We just have to know that speed, and the easiest way is to look at the roadside sign boards. The speed they tell us to maintain is the speed you should go. If you start driving with that speed you will see all the signal magically turning green when you arrive.
This phenomenon indeed looks magical to most people, who sit pillion with me. But now you know the secret.

But what if there are no signals or no sign boards? Simply just estimate the average speed of the traffic roughly and drive with that speed. If you do it then there will be minimum vehicles overtaking you, also you will be overtaking the minimum number of vehicles. So you can maintain a constant speed.

Keep the throttle as steady as possible.

4) Maintaining the good quality of engine oil-

Engine oil is a very important part of the fuel economy equation.

A good quality engine oil minimizes friction, dampen vibrations, keeps the engine cooler by spreading the heat and reduced friction also results in the lower heat generation.

All these things increase the life of engine, reduce the breakdowns or the repairs needed and lower the fuel consumption.

Though good quality engine oils are costlier, they are worth the cost. They save much more in the fuel saved and they save a lot when break down headache is concerned.

In my case using a different engine oil was a breach in the insurance contract, so I let the service centre guys fill company recommended fuel, but on taking my bike home I pour some wear resistant engine oil additive.

After filling good quality engine oil or a wear resistant additive to the engine oil you will quickly feel the change in the smoothness of engine in carburetted bikes.

5) Keeping the drive chain clean and lubricated-

The drive chain is the link between engine and rear wheel, through which power is transmitted. The drive chain is made of small links, these are always in the motion, friction and under tension, exposed to atmosphere.

They encounter centrifugal force when motorbike is moving therefore any lubricant applied to them have tendency to get removed because of centrifugal force as the speed of the motorbike increases. On top of that, because of the sticky nature of the lubricant and exposure to atmosphere, dust and dirt easily cling to the chain, increasing the friction, damaging the chain. So if you are a daily user of a motorbike, you should lubricated the drive chain weekly, inspect for any dust or dirt accumulation and clean whenever necessary.

6) Keeping proper air pressure in the tyres-

The tyres bear all the weight of the vehicle plus the rider plus any luggage. The whole weight is spread on only a few square inches of the tyre surface. There has to be enough air pressure in tyre so that only the required amount of area comes in contact of the road.

Lesser this area, lesser will be the friction.

But that does not mean you can put a bicycle tyre on a motorbike to improve fuel economy. The manufacturers have generally estimated the most efficient size of tyres, because the tyre has to sustain the weight of the loaded vehicle plus the power of the engine and braking forces.

So the only thing which remains in our hands is to keep the tyre pressure recommended so as to keep a minimum area of tyre in contact of the road.

It also prevents the overheating of the tyres.

To check the frictional losses you can spot any slope in your daily rout and ride it with the engine OFF, in neutral, and check out the max speed it gains and the distance it travels without the aid of the engine. You will quickly come to know when there is need for chain lubrication and tyre air pressure checking or if there is anything else wrong.

7) Filling the petrol (gasoline) from best fuel station-

Though the type of fuel is same i.e. petrol (gasoline), the chemical composition of the fuel changes with the refiner. This is because of a number of factors like, different crude oil sources(the composition of crude oil is itself different in different parts of the world), then there is different refining machineries, layouts, parameters used etc. Therefore the vehicle's mileage changes with the manufactures. Then comes the fuel stations, their machinery for fuel dispensing also changes, then the maintenance of that machinery is also different. Therefore the mileage also changes with different fuel stations, even if the refiner is the same. But be careful

8) Keeping the air fuel ratio at optimal i.e. tuning the carburettor for optimal ratio of air and fuel-

Some carburettors  don't have this manual setting, they are tuned in the factory itself but in my case, I had to manually tune it for optimum efficiency.

Tuning the carburettor is very simple and needs only 5 to 10 minutes and a screw driver. You just need to know which screw is for idling adjustment and which one is for the ratio adjustment. You can refer your motorbike's manual or ask a knowledgeable person.

First start the engine, warm it up if starts from the cold, keep it in the idling condition, if it stalls then raise the idling speed by rotating the idling screw of carburettor clockwise. Then start working on the ratio adjustment screw. First start rotating it on the clockwise direction so as to tighten it till engine is just about to stall, then slowly start rotating it anticlockwise, and observe the rpm rising, then it increases to a maximum value and then begins to fall on further loosening. Again tight it a little bit till that maximum RPM. This maximum RPM is where the ratio is optimum. Then go to the next point.

9) Reducing the idle RPM to lowest possible-

After completing the above step again go to the idling screw. Loosen this screw till the engine just remains in the running condition. Any more speed wastes our precious fuel and money.

10) Keeping the spark plug clean-

Spark plug does the job of igniting the air fuel mixture. It gets dirty because of deposition of carbon. As it goes dirty it can not produce the sparks efficiently. As a result the fuel doesn't burn properly. Again as a result more carbon is deposited on the spark plug. And this build up goes on till we get fed up of the starting problem and clean the spark plug.

Now you must be thinking what is the role of the power of compounding in here??

You can observe here that each parameter itself is acting like a simple interest. For example, if good quality engine oil can give you a rise in mileage of 5% then you will get that 5% rise on all the fuel burnt. In the same way, if you only keep the drive chain lubricated and don't do anything else then the same thing will happen. Suppose in both the cases the mileage rise is 5%. But when you combine these 2 things together their effective rise in mileage is not just 10% but it is more than 10%, this happens because-
When the first effort(good quality engine oil) increases the starting mileage say A to increased mileage say B, the second effort(drive chain lubrication) increases the B further to C. Now again the same thing happens in reverse too. That is the first effort also increases the increase in the mileage because of the second effort. This way they help each other increasing their output.

And this my friends is the power of compounding.

Now imagine such 10 interdependent systems in action. Their combined output will do wonders.

In my case friends, these 10 efforts increased my bike's mileage from 60 km per litre to,


Hold your breath,

An astounding figure of 90 km per litre.

That's the magic of power of compounding.

A massive increase of 50% in the mileage.

Do it and check it yourself.


Sumit
The POWER is when,
you use ODDS
to get EVEN..

The Power of Compounding- The four most powerfull words in the field of investment

Compound interest is the Eighth wonder of the world.
-Albert Einstein

The most charismatic scientist ever existed in the world said that. So it must be of some value. Does it really??

Let's do some thinking-

What is compound interest?
If you have ever put fixed deposits (FD) in the banks then the banks give some amount of money at predetermined rates extra at the end of the FD tenure, that extra money is called interest. But when the bank gives interest on interest in certain FDs it is called as compound interest.

For example we book an FD for 10k at 10% interest rate for 2 yrs then at the end of two years as per simple interest rate we will get 1k interest for first year and 1k on second year, that is total 12k. But with compound interest we will get 1k as first years interest, plus 1k as second years interest, plus 0.1k interest on the interest of first year(i.e.1k). So we will get 0.1k more in the case of compound interest.

So this means compound interest is a profitable deal. The compounding magnifies as the time goes by as we get interest on interest on interest on and on...

So indeed it is the Powerfull thing.

In real life how can we benefit from the power of compounding?
Let's think about money first.
Now a days banks does not give meaningfull interest rates. They do not provide interest rates greater than inflation rates by wide margine. Which is necessary for financial freedom.
(For those who do not know what inflation is- inflation is the reduction of value of the currency, that is if you can buy a burger now with 10 bucks, you will definitely need more than 10 bucks to buy the same burger 1 or 2 or 3 years from now. That is the inflation)

So who provides such interest rates and that too laced with the power of compounding?
Possession of real estate is one source. Generally the prices of real estate grow more than the inflation but with a small difference. But let me tell you one thing, a small difference in inflation and compounding rates can do wonders if given sufficient time. One can do the research for purchasing property on local websites, one can also get average real estate price growth rates for their region from local government data or government surveys. Also known as Compounded Annual Growth Rate(CAGR).

Note:- This CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) is a very important term if you are dealing with financial freedom or want to be rich.

There is another way too- Investing in companies which earn decent amount of profit and are able to reinvest it in to their business earning more profit. Some companies can earn incremental returns on reinvested capital.

You must be thinking investing in stocks is like gambling.

Well, I strongly disagree. If done RIGHT, it can compound your money like nothing else.

RIGHT means thinking like an owner while purchasing the shares. Thinking you are buying the company instead of just a piece of paper.

If you do not understand the balance sheets or the cash flows, you can invest in the index funds as a systematic investment plan, that is invest an amount of your monthly income which you do not need for next 5-6 years. You can easily see how much your index fund have given returns in the past for extended amount of time and get an idea about the ups and downs and average returns and what to expect.

To understand how some companies or businesses are able to compound money, let us consider a simple example-
Suppose I have a general store in which I sell soaps, every week I purchase 10 soaps from a soap manufacturer at 10 bucks each that 100 bucks total. I sell those soaps at my store at 11 bucks each. I sell all the 10 soaps in a week and get 110 bucks, profit of 10 bucks.

I keep the profit aside and repeat the same process for 10 weeks. So at the end of 10 weeks I have 100 bucks of my origional capital plus 100 bucks profit (10 bucks profit every week for 10 weeks).

So I go to the soap manufacturer and make a bargain with him that I am your regular customer for 10 weeks buying 10 soaps every week, if you can give me some discount I will buy the double quantity. So the manufacturer does his calculation and considers me a valuable and growing customer and it is also economic for him to make bigger batches of soap doing the same bargaining with his raw material suppliers, as I am doing with him.

So now he agrees a price of 9 bucks per soap.

I purchse 20 soaps now and reduce the price of soaps to 10 bucks per soap in my store. My customers now become happy with the reduced price and quickly they finish up my stock of 20 soaps in a week.

So I first started with 100 bucks of capital earning 10 bucks a week and at the end of 11th week I was employing the capital of 180 bucks and earning the profit of 20 bucks.

For earning 10 bucks initially I have to use capital of 100 bucks but to earn 10 bucks more I have to employ only 80 bucks of incremental capital.

This is how good companies can earn better returns on their incremental capital investments, and the better one get that capital from their own profit.

Such companies are the best money compounding machines.

So I hope you have understood the power of compounding works in the case of money.

Money is not the only thing where the power of compounding works. It works wherever we have multiple interdependent systems. In the above case we only thought about money to make the example easy to understand, that is money interacting with money. But in reality money also interacts with other things. Just keep it in mind. You will understand it after you read the next post.

Stay tuned. Till then have a great time..

Sumit
The POWER is when,
you use ODDS
to get EVEN..