Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy

A Fund Manager's LOHAS

My Shifu always tells us to be happy with everything we do. For example, you may take your work as playing a game. With this point of view, it’s such great happiness that you can get paid to play games. And indeed, my job is a game, a ""money game"".

In my early years of being a fund manager, I got upset easily when the target investment went down. Whenever the market trend was different from what I predicted, the idea of ""I should have done…"" would come up in my mind. For example, I usually thought ""I should have known that asset A will go up. I should have bought more,"" and ""I should have known asset B will drop. I should have sold out more"". Even though I knew it was difficult to predict the market trend, I still hoped I could earn more money for the investors. So, I always regretted for my decisions and put myself in great pressure. Sometimes, I had to steal a short time to relieve my pressure at restrooms or the balcony when I was working.

My Shifu told us to think positively, but it was not that easy. I still thought I didn’t earn enough money until my Shifu told us a story. The story encouraged me to give up the idea of ""I should have…"" and to think ""Fortunately, I…"" For example, I usually modify the investment portfolio based on my prediction of the market trend. I will transfer the investment into other types of asset. Last year, I predicted that the market would be hit by Eurozone debt crisis, so I changed my investment in risky assets to defensive ones in August. Later, the fact proved my prediction was right, but it would be better if I could make a bigger change. In the past, I might be regretful and come up the idea of ""I should have transferred more investment to defensive assets"" or ""I should have chosen the most defensive one."" But this time, I thought much more positively. I thought ""Fortunately, I made some changes of the investment"" and ""Fortunately, the defensive assets I invested have been stable recently."" Seeing it from a different aspect, I thought at least, I reduced the losses for the investors. As a saying goes ""neither money for foreknowledge, nor medicine for regret,"" it’s impossible for me to foresee the future trend, so the only thing I need to do is to care about my clients sincerely, think positively and do my best. I believe everything is the best arrangement.

As a fund manager, I have to communicate with salesmen and clients. When the net value of funds has greater fluctuation or drop, I will receive more phone calls from them, so I will have to repeat the same answer again and again. In fact, they call me not because they doubt my investing strategy. They just want to know better. When I stand in their shoes, I find that providing instant and transparent information will meet their needs. So, whenever I estimate that the net value has a greater drop, I will send them an email to explain the reasons and the possible response strategies. As a result, the salesmen and clients stop worrying because they have the latest information. Moreover, I save a lot of time because I don’t have to repeat them the same answers over and over again. The reasons I applied this wisdom on my job are that my Shifu taught us to serve others with ""empathy"", and that ""the person who manages the time well has the most time available"". Not only as a fund manager, but also a time manager, I can concentrate more on transactions. Thanks to my Shifu’s teaching, I lessen my stress and improve efficiency so that I can play this realistic ""money game"" happily.

More importantly, these years, I have earned a lot of intangible fortune—I boost my energy. In the past, facing the fast-changing world trend made me exhausted whenever it was about time to get off work. If there was a bed beside me, I would definitely lie down and sleep until the next morning. I could even fall asleep when I was holding a strap when taking MRT. I thought I either had a narcolepsy or got possessed by a ghost that absorbed my energy. Moreover, I didn’t feel energetic when I just woke up because I had dreams the whole night as soon as I fell asleep. The dreams made me even more exhausted, such as hurrying, running and walking around. After I joined Tia Ji Men Qigong Academy, I learned to practice qigong calmly and tried to practice with longer time. At first, my laziness made me fail to prolong the practice, but later, I could do it for one hour a day. As the result, I dreamed less and slept better. Good sleep led to more energy in the morning, so I enhanced my efficiency and concentrated better. Although I am in the prime of life, I have to make myself healthier by practicing qigong. It will be too late when I become old, have health problems or have more free time. Being a doer, not only a thinker, is the best way to avoid negative influence and to improve our physical psychological and spiritual health.