One goal. A better life.
🎁 Special discount until January 5, 2026
“This is a masterpiece.”
—Morgan Housel, author, Psychology of Money
“Discover the extraordinary within yourself.”
—Manish Chokhani, Director, Enam Possess
It’s January 5. The “New Year, New Me” LinkedIn posts are already starting to feel old, and the reality of 2026 is only… here. Just a few hours ago I was staring at a blank screen and thinking about how we always try to start a new year with a clean slate, when the truth is that the slate is never clean.
I’ve been thinking about this idea lately, though I don’t have a polished name for it. Maybe we call it the ‘long echo’.
In physics we know that if you shout into a deep canyon, there will be a slowdown. Nothing mysterious happens. It’s just that the canyon wall is far away. The sound needs time to travel that distance, and that causes a delay.
In investing we call this a ‘lagging indicator’.
But in life we have a very poor understanding that almost nothing we are experiencing now is actually about today. Today is just the old hitting the wall sound. In other words, 2026 is just an echo of 2025 and previous years.
Honestly, it’s a strange realization. Even though we live in this culture of ‘instant’ everything, when you look at the big things in life, they operate with a huge time lag.
If you feel ‘rich’ today – and I don’t just mean your bank balance or the size of your investment portfolio, I mean that feeling of free– it’s because of a decision you made a few years ago. If you’re feeling burned out, it’s probably because of seeds you planted months or years ago.
This messes around in our heads because we want the ‘why’ and the ‘result’ to happen in the same frame. But the frame is too big for our eyes.
When investing, people always ask, “What should I buy today to make money in 2026?” In fact, as an annual ritual, the corporate media is filled with “experts” shouting out their guesses. But I think that’s the wrong question.
The real gains of 2026, if you earn them at all, will be earned by your earlier version that remained disciplined in 2023 or 2024. And the ‘boring’ decisions you make today – like setting up an automated SIP, or refusing to chase big stocks – will determine your outcomes in, say, 2030.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that we have to be comfortable with the period where you’re acting but not seeing the results. Most people quit because they don’t have enough patience to deal with this delay. They think the effort is wasted because nothing is happening right now. But the echo only travels. It still has to be against the wall.
So as I look at this year, I’m trying to stop worrying about the “harvest” of 2026. The harvest of 2026 is already largely ingrained by who I have been these past few years. Instead, I look at what I’m planning today for the 2030 and 2035 version of me. I focus on the boring input.
It’s a relief, honestly. It takes the pressure off the ‘now’.
If it is difficult today, it is just an old echo and not a permanent condition. And when all goes well, it’s a reminder to keep shouting, because the echo eventually fades away when you stop working.
Anyway, I don’t have a “top ten list for 2026” for you today. Just this: Be kind to the you that is here now, but work for the you that will come later.
Eat well, invest in what’s boring and read the long book.
The universe has a very long memory, even if our investment accounts and mirrors feel like they only care about today.
Happy 2026. Let’s just keep walking.
One goal. A better life.
🎁 Special discount until January 5, 2026
“This is a masterpiece.”
—Morgan Housel, author, Psychology of Money
“Discover the extraordinary within yourself.”
—Manish Chokhani, Director, Enam Possess
#Long #Echo #Safal #Niveshak