I am the Farmer, the Warrior and the Monk (Nun)

There were two very intriguing pieces written by local personal finance bloggers last week.

First and foremost, there was the article by Alvin Chow from Dr Wealth, questioning Are Financial Bloggers Suffering? (which I had also shared in last week’s Friday’s reads.) In that article, Alvin introduced two characters, namely the Warrior and the Monk. And there were some pretty awesome statements he used to describe them:

“Financial bloggers are like monks, who lead a rich life not because he has plenty, but because he needs little. Years of living in a monastery has taught him not to ask for more, but to crave for less. The monk’s prowess lies in being able to resist temptations. He does so in part by isolating himself against the outside world, by creating his own world inside the monastery, and in part by denouncing the secular comforts.

The Monk is strong in mind. He has the strength to Suffer.

The Warrior is the antithesis of the Monk. Instead of isolating himself against the outside world, he sets out to conquer the world. Instead of wanting little, he needs more. Courageous and self-assured, the warrior needs more recognition, more power, more money. To achieve that he has to make bold decisions and go where no one else has gone before.

The Warrior is also strong in mind. He has the strength to do Bold Things.”

Warriors are likened to entrepreneurs. They take bold steps and are not afraid to take risks.

Inspired by the article, My15hourworkweek also wrote a version of the Warrior and the Monk in an alternate universe (also another recommended read). In his article, he introduced another character – the Farmer.

So basically we have:

The Monk – who are likened to financial bloggers, who are “suffering” now, embracing frugality, and playing it safe.

The Warrior – who are likened to entrepreneurs. They take bold steps and are not afraid to take risks.

The Farmer – basically regularly people, who toil on the farm 9-6, serves the warriors who might later turn to become lords.

Which begs the question – which one are you?

For many, it should be relatively easy to identify yourself belonging to one of these categories, but for some, it might not be that straightforward.

Because they might be some form of hybrid.

Or working their way towards another identity.

You might be the Farmer, who has become jaded of toiling on the farm all day long, and see life at the monastery as some form of epiphany that could bring you out of what you are now.

Or you could be the Warrior, who is tired and battered before he could reach the Lord status, and wants to go back to farming.

Or you could also be a monk, who finds that life in the monastery is simply too boring and decides to try to aim to become a Warrior.

Simply put, they might still be at the discovery stages, or trying to figure out who they want to be.

But as for me, I think I have been all 3. 

I started out as a farmer. 

When I graduated from university, I did not have very stellar grades. I was not awarded any honours, so obviously not considered the crème de la crème. On the average, I was just a B student.

Mediocre, in other words.

Never mind that I could speak three languages. Or that I did an internship in India.

Without the grades, I was simply not appealing enough. (Or was it just me who thinks that I have a great personality? Just kidding. Anyway, that probably wasn’t sufficient to get me hired.)

That was a couple of years before the 2008 financial crisis. Jobs were still aplenty then. But it took me a while to secure one.

Unlike some of my peers who secured management trainee programmes where they were rotated around various cities or high paying jobs with the government sector, I was employed in a small scale subsidiary of a Japanese MNC in Singapore.

Well, I had an offer from a government agency. But it still irks me to this day that they were going to pay me according to the “level of my accorded degree”, rather than my work ability. (Correct me if I am wrong, but I think they are starting to do away with this system).

Here’s a bit of a snippet of a conversation that took place more than a decade ago…

HR: “Hi, I am pleased to inform you that we will like to give you a tentative offer.”

Me: “Great, thanks! Can you let me know more about the terms, compensation etc?”

HR: “What is your degree, do you have honours?”

Me: “I graduated from SMU and they use a different term for that. But I graduated with High Merit!” (sounding hopeful)

HR: “oh like that arh… wait huh, let me check against the table.” “If that is the case, your starting pay is $XXXX”.

Me: “OK, thanks, I will get back to you regarding my decision by tomorrow”.

By the end of the day, I had already decided not to take up that job.

Anyways, back to the above. One year into the job with the Japanese company, I was almost on the list for a retrenchment exercise as they were going to sell the business unit that I belonged to. But I had managed to secure another employment by then so was able to escape that exercise.

Those experience further reinforced the mediocrity that I had felt about myself – that I wasn’t part of the elite, that I wasn’t going to rub shoulders with anyone important, and that the organisations that I worked for will not be the big brand names (not that I had any issues with all of that). As such, being a farmer was the way to go. For the next 10, 20, 30 years of my life. If I was lucky enough, I might get a few promotions along the way…. 

I had never thought about becoming a Warrior. I never thought that I was suited for that.

Monkship? I probably did not know much about that option back then.

Having said that, I tried to become a Warrior.

It was not too long after that I met Dave and during then, he was in the midst of entrepreneurship. Without going into details, he had started a business and exited in less than two years. Unfortunately, that business did not work out and he accumulated quite a bit of debt.

But debts aside, you only live once.

And if you do not start or try something, you will never know.

Inspired by his experience, we decided to start our own project, something different from what he had done previously, and set up our own business. It was a joint effort and consumed quite a bit of time and resources on our end. Nevertheless, we found it fulfilling, especially so for me since it was my first crack at entrepreneurship.

We sold the business after two years and made a tidy profit. However, if you considered the hours that we put in etc., we probably just made even, although there were many invaluable lessons learnt.

And I can proudly say that I have entrepreneurship in my resume, although it was not a resounding success. But I have never regretted that move. 

With our  funds dried up from the business ventures, it was time to accumulate and build up reserves again, and nothing could rival a steady stream of income derived from secure employment. Also, having being a farmer for a cumulative number of years, let’s say that my farming skills has improved. From processing the seedlings, I probably had expanded my skillset to harvesting, selling, and marketing the product. With this experience and promotion, I was able to draw higher income.

I turned back to be a full-time Farmer. 

And that status was also something that we were extremely comfortable with at that point in time, especially with the birth of Ally.

With certain pivotal moments in life, you seek constance.

With the arrival of Ally in the family, being a Farmer seemed to be a wiser choice compared to the risks involved in being a Warrior. And also with a higher stream of income with full-time farming, this was the better scenario for us.

Monkship nunship beckons.  

We discovered minimalism and financial independence and saw that this was something that we aspire to achieve. But at the same time, we needed the income from farming.

This is a balance that has worked well for us thus far.

Do I find that we are suffering since we are practising monkship (nunship)? Not really.

As we have also been tracking expenses for a period of time, we have a pretty good idea where our money goes to and that helps provide some perspective.

In addition, we practice a school of minimalism where we are willing to pay for items that we use, although some might come with a higher price tag. We try to be mindful consumers and I do not find that to be a suffering.

If anything, I think it promotes intentional living, mindfulness and eco-friendliness, reduction of carbon footprint.

We enjoy happiness in simple things, and are seldom extravagance.

At different points in our life, we might want to move out of our comfort zone, to seek adventure, moving into other roles, or hybrid roles, as priorities change.

And I would say go for it.

I am not sure whether I might want to put on warrior armor again.

Or perhaps I will quit farming when I achieve financial independence.

But as for now, I am farming in the day, and headed to the monastery nunnery at night.

Until the equilibrium tilts, I might just start thinking a different role.