The Two Virtues

Amar Pandit , CFA , CFP

Amar Pandit

A respected entrepreneur with 25+ years of Experience, Amar Pandit is the Founder of several companies that are making a Happy difference in the lives of people. He is currently the Founder of Happyness Factory, a world-class online investment & goal-based financial planning platform through which he aims to help every Indian family save and invest wisely. He is very passionate about spreading financial literacy and is the author of 4 bestselling books (+ 2 more to release in 2020), 8 Sketch Books, Board Game and 700 + columns.

October 13, 2023 | 2 Minute Read

David Brooks in his book “The Road to Character” wrote about the distinction between resume virtues and eulogy virtues.

Resume virtues are things such as income, net worth, your designation at work, the size of your house, the car you drive and so on. In our industry it is about the AUM you have, your SIP book, your rank in the industry (or your state, city, and town), the size of your company, the number of team members you have, how many awards you have won and so on.

Eulogy virtues on the other hand are things such as helping others, making a difference in the lives of others, being kind, being honest, loving, giving and so on.

What do you think happens at the prayer ceremony/meeting of a person?

Would people say – he graduated from Harvard or was worth several million dollars or he had several thousand crores worth of stocks?

Or

Would they say, “He was a very nice guy, super helpful, and kind?”

Another example…

Would people say – She/He had a Rs.1000 Crore AUM or that She/He built the fastest Rs.1000 Crore?

Or

Would they say, “She/He was a very helpful person…She/He changed the way people invest…She/He was a visionary who made a difference in the lives of people?”

Well, you know the answer to these questions…

But the irony is that while we aspire for the eulogy virtues, we focus and put our effort on the resume virtues.

Don’t you think so?