Acting Now for a Better Tomorrow: Reflections on Water and Wealth

Complacency is a luxury until it is not. Take water. Do we not take water for granted? As long as we have access to water, we are not bothered. However, the issue with water is that the world's biggest manufacturer of water - mother Nature - has become rather erratic. We either have too much of it, creating floods or too little, leading to droughts. According to the Niti Aayog, a governmental agency, as of 2018, about 600 million Indians were facing high to extreme water stress (Niti Aayog, 2018)^[1]. March 22 - World Water Day, declared by the UN in 1992, is a reminder for raising awareness and for inspiring positive action.

Time warp

Step back and think for a moment. It is not just about water. Most of us get caught in day-to-day routines. This leaves us with very little space to think about the future. We often get mesmerized by the immediate gratification of what's available today and fail to consider the long-term consequences that may arise in the future. By focusing solely on the present, we may miss out on opportunities that could positively affect our lives in the years to come. It's crucial to strike a balance between enjoying the present and planning for the future. This will help ensure that we don't sacrifice our long-term future for short-term pleasures.

Hardwired brains - Status quo

Our brains are hardwired to think the way we do. The twin mechanisms of fear and pleasure respond to immediate events. We are not distressed enough today to think about painful consequences that could arise in a couple of years and beyond. Clearly, neither are we long-term greedy enough to practice virtues that are likely to bring significant future benefits. How many of us exercise daily or even weekly? We know that physical exercise has multiple long-term benefits. Yet the complacency we have prevents us from acting today. Our mental architecture is wired for instant pain-gratification outcomes and is incapable of accounting for consequences in the future, no matter how certain they are. This tendency to prioritize immediate pleasure or pain over long-term opportunities gets more complicated given our inclination for not changing what-is - i.e. the status quo. This mental state is also known as the status quo bias.

Financial Planning - Retirement

Besides physical exercise, most of us continue to ignore the inevitable certainties. The first eventuality? Each one of us is going to get older (not younger). The second, as we age, each one of us will have to retire. And with age, our ability to earn enough will be diminished. A recent survey shows that a majority of us miss retirement planning^[2]. Unsurprisingly, retirement is seen as a problem of the future. The question people may be asking: This is in the future. Why worry now? 

Saving habits, whether related to water or finances, require a proactive approach and a willingness to challenge our assumptions. By taking small steps, such as shorter showers, fixing leaks, closing the tap while brushing, investing small for the long term and planning ahead to have enough retirement fund, we can make a significant impact on both our personal futures and the health of the planet. Our hardwired tendencies toward immediate gratification and a bias for the status quo must be overcome to ensure a better tomorrow.

Solving any problem needs concrete actions. For helping mitigate the water crisis, Table 1 lists five easy personal commitments adapted from “UN Water”^[3]. The financial savings commitments listed in Table 1 mirror the water related commitments well. Whether it is water or financial savings, the willingness to carefully think about the future and a commitment to act are enablers for securing future. Why not take the first steps and start with small steps now?

Table 1: Save Water and Financial Savings

	Water	Financial Savings
1	Save Water: Take shorter showers.	Save money, avoid unnecessary expenses.
2	Protect Nature: Plant a tree or create a rain garden.	Invest your money for the long term.
3	Eat Local: Buy local seasonal food made with less water.	Carefully understand the cost and benefits of how you save and invest money.
4	Stop polluting: Don't waste water, if possible, reuse a water-bottle.	Avoid extravagant expenditures.
5	Be curious: Find out where my water comes from.	Read up on savings and investment.