Purim and The World Turned Upside Down

“Purim and the world turned upside down” is the subject of this special podcast episode, partly for the upcoming Jewish holiday of Purim in the weekly “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday” podcast.

The world turned upside down story

I received a lot of great wisdom from my parents when growing up.  One of the classics was when I explained why I did something that in hindsight was not really the best idea.

I would say something like “Well, my friend also did it,” and they would reply “And if your friend jumped out the window of a building would you do that too?” 

Now I did have a close friend named Kevin who did jump out of the window in our school once (he was fine as it was only the second floor) but I never wanted to follow him, so I didn’t. The point? This advice didn’t resonate with me until I was older. I saw people get into all sorts of messes, mostly because they didn’t think for themselves and just followed someone else.  

Quite often the person they were following was also following someone else who did not think for themselves and so on, and so on.

Perhaps the best business advice for a world turned upside down came from Warren Buffet, who provided as good a teaching example as any. Warren suggests that we should watch what everyone else is doing and then if it makes sense to you, do the exact opposite. 

This advice is for investing in the stock market, and specifically, if the market is going down and everyone else is selling, that usually is not the time to sell. Instead, it is the time to buy even more of a stock that you had previously researched and that is what you believe to be a good value.

Purim and the world turned upside down

One of the themes of the Purim holiday is the Hebrew word v’nahafoch hu. The underlying meaning of v’nahafoch hu is that what initially is perceived as a cause is really an effect, and what seems to be an effect is really the cause.  In the Purim story, every twist and turn that seems to be leading in an obvious direction ends up leading the opposite way. For example, in the story, the second most powerful person in all of Persia was Haman and he wanted to destroy the entire Jewish people, especially their leader Mordechai who refused to bow down to him.  The plot the evil Haman hatched to get rid of his nemesis Mordechai ended up having Mordechai become the King’s favorite in his place and Haman falling to the exact fate he planned for Mordechai. It turned out the cause was not Haman’s plotting all along and the effect was Haman’s world turned upside down for bad and Mordechai’s for good.

The world turned upside down in your business

Many times those I coach are in a business that they believe in fully, but they are not accomplishing their goals.  They work long hours doing everything they were told would lead to success, but it doesn’t.  When I suggest that perhaps they should think about trying a different business, they quite often get upset at the thought of being disloyal to their company, their friends, etc. I get this, it feels like they’re being asked to turn their world upside down.

So I learned to lead with a story.  Let’s say they invested 10 million dollars in a business.  At the end of a year, they reevaluated their investment and saw they had lost half their money.  Would they sink another 10 million in without analyzing if the business still makes sense?  I sure hope not.  And if the business did not seem to be working would they lose another 10 million just because their world would turn upside down? We all make mistakes and it is not disloyal to cut your losses and try something else!  Your time is worth more than money, it is even more important not to spend your time over and over again if you are not getting the results you want!

The world turned upside down on purpose

Quite often when I can’t figure out the solution to a problem, I turn the problem upside down to look for the solution.  Sometimes this is as simple as starting from the goal and working backwards.  Sometimes it is assuming the opposite of your goal and seeing where that leads you.  The important thing is to always explore all the angles and never assume because the world says so, or the gurus say so, or the masses say so, or even the mighty internet says so, that it is actually so!

Quite often, the rest of the world is turned upside down, but you don’t have to be.  And if you can keep your head on straight, it can be great for your life and your business.

Have a happy Purim, and if you are not Jewish, I hope the lesson of turning the problem upside down helps you with future challenges!

Purim Recap and The Podcast Challenge

I hope you enjoyed this special episode in the podcast “The Rabbi Who Got Rich on Sunday.” This week’s challenge is to think about times you were absolutely sure you were right and the world turned upside down.  Did you ever try going against the flow and see success? Share your best stories with me and I will be glad to give you advice and feedback if you want.

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