What is our purpose in life? Some people would like to make millions, but miss out on precious family time. Others would like to work 9 to 5 and spend lots of time with their families, but do not plan for a financially secured retirement. My life story is much different than the above two broad categories. It involves lot of adventures during last 40 years. As a young man, I had decided to
explore the world, but had no money to travel. Very soon, I realized that in order to have money for travel abroad, I should have good
education base in India. So after obtaining a master’s degree, I decided to go to
Canada in 1967, where I obtained a
scholarship to do my graduate work. Within a few months of my arrival in Canada, I took a summer job which involved travelling up north to
sub arctic regions of Canada. What an
adventure it was! First, there was the
extreme climate change from hot and dry weather in India, to the extremely cold climate in Northern Canada. There was also the novelty factor -- in order to do geological exploration, we frequently used helicopters and two-seater single engine aircraft which could land on water. Imagine how different my life was from my very humble beginnings in an Indian village.
During these four months my
curiosity grew even more for travelling. Having saved some money, I decided to
travel across Canada, whose land area is three times the size of India, but with only twenty million people. What a
beautiful country it is. From the Rocky Mountains in the west, through the arctic regions in the North, to the metropolitan, heavily populated cities in the East. This reminded me of my experiences of trekking and hiking in the Himalayas during my student years in India. One of the most important aspects of life I learned in Canada was to have a
practical approach to life. For example, if you don’t know about something, don’t hesitate to ask. Most people are willing to help. Second, lots of opportunities are available in all fields of life if one decides to explore. During my early years in India, I was indoctrinated with the idea that hard work and persistence pays off. I found these
convictions to be very useful in Canada also. Third, one should not hesitate to communicate at all levels. It is very interesting, for example, to discuss with people their experiences in life. Fourth,
knowledge is a powerful tool. It gives you the confidence to take the initiatives in initiating conversation with people.
After my degree in
mining in 1970, I worked for an international mining company for 18 years. During this period, I was
promoted 7 times, starting as a junior engineer and ending up as Director of Mine
Planning at the corporate headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.
My next adventure was to be an
entrepreneur. Me and my wife (Veena) started a gold
jewelry business, involving import and
wholesale distribution throughout USA. I am enjoying being an entrepreneur more than as an executive, mainly because there are many opportunities available for business owners in areas of
finance, marketing and communication. For an
individual like me, who had never done any business before, I had to learn several aspects of establishing and running a business of my own.
During the last 20 years of our
business life, I pursued my desire to travel even more. So far, I have traveled to over 35
countries spread over 6
continents, and have also traveled extensively across the USA with my wife and 3 children.
Based on my adventures and experiences, I have developed some basic life philosophies:
- Learning is a lifelong process and one can learn from anybody at anytime.
- Use time wisely through better planning and avoiding common time-wasting activities.
- If one wants to enjoy an adventurous life, one has to be a risk taker.
- The importance of getting along with people.
- The benefit of positive thinking.
- The importance of good decision-making.
- The importance of minimizing the impact of jetlag.
- Must make time to organize personal finances.
- Balancing health, family and money.
My business success has been based on the following basic principles:
- The importance of leverage in building a business.
- Customer satisfaction is key.
- Advantages and disadvantages of doing business in India.
- Benefits of investing in real estate.
- The importance of motivating co-workers.
- Cost reduction and productivity improvements ideas.
- How to efficiently set up a small business.
Money is only part of my wealth. My real wealth includes:
a)
Health - At age 64, I am reasonably in good health, and walk and swim everyday.
b)
Travel - Wonderful memories of worldwide travel – On average, I have traveled 100,000 miles each year, some years logging upto 400,0000 miles per year. This includes a round-trip from Cleveland to Los Angeles every week for 5 years, totaling about 250 round-trips between these two cities. Each of these trips was completed within a 24 hour period.
c)
Family – My wife Veena and I have three wonderful children. Our older daughter, Priyanka, is a graduate of the Wharton School and Stanford University. She worked for 10 years with Goldman Sachs in New York until 2006 when she moved to a hedge fund to work in their real estate group. Our younger daughter, Nalini, is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and is a Senior Purchasing Manager at one of the largest Consumer Products Company. Our son, Amit, is a graduate of the University of Illinois in Electrical Engineering / Computer and he is working in the Automative Division of a major international company based in Chicago. Our family has undertaken many trips together both in the US and abroad and have wonderful memories from such trips.
d)
Finance – I have always believed that one cannot achieve financial independence just from a normal salary and meager savings. Therefore, I have always planned to have a long-term income producing asset like commercial real estate. This type of investment provides the benefit of both a) equity investment with a potential for appreciation and b) fixed income which provides much-needed cash flow on an ongoing basis. In addition to making reasonable profits from our business during the last 20 years, my wife and I have enjoyed meeting a number of nice people including customers. Most of them were a valuable source of education and advice for us.
e)
Social Activities – During these 40 years, we are proud to have assisted over 50 families and friends with some helpful suggestions to resolve some of their personal and financial problems.
Happiness to me means getting satisfaction from the work we enjoy doing every single day. Being an optimist I don’t worry about the past because we cannot do anything about what has already happened, nor worry about what lies in future. I believe in advance planning based on all the facts available today, and being mentally prepared to face disappointments.
I would welcome comments and suggestions related to above topics.
My name is Om P. Garg. My story began 65 years ago when I was born on June 25, 1943 in Narnaul, Haryana, India. I graduated from high school in the small town of Narnaul and then earned a Bachelor's an d Master’s Degree in Geology from Punjab University in Chandigarh, India in 1966.
