This post might come across as a surprise to few close friends.

I think of myself first as an investor. Even before I had my first job, I thought about investing. I dabbled through several mistakes in real estate and other places before finding a footing in equities and entrepreneurship.

Several people have told me that I “think in numbers”. I won’t deny that.

Some time ago, I sat down and thought hard about my investing and where I was headed in life.

I’ve done fairly well in 12 years and I believe the next 20 will be even better. Yet, do I really enjoy the process of investing? Or is it only the rewards that I enjoy?

I’ve also wondered if my focus on investing keeps me away from something even bigger.

I do enjoy the process a lot. Yet, my honest answer is that I enjoy the rewards more. It took time for me to accept it.

If I actually enjoy the rewards better, why not find people who are better at it and delegate it to them? People who I’ve known for long, like Kenneth Andrade, Rohit Chauhan, etc. And free myself for bigger things in life!

This is a hard decision for me. It’s like throwing away something that is close to my heart. Yet, I know I have to do this if I have to move onto the next leg of my life’s journey. Somewhere I feel that something bigger awaits me and my excessive focus on investing is holding me back.

I have to unlearn and lighten myself to be ready for the next stage.

So, I have decided to give up trying to be an active investor. I have started the process of moving funds to professional investors I’ve identified. To me personally, this is as big a decision as deciding to resign in 2011. I will invest a small part of my money myself, just to stay in touch with the market and friends, but professionals will handle a larger chunk of it.

Why not get into mutual funds instead? One might ask.

I’ve thought about it. I am a fairly knowledgeable investor, having directly invested for more than a decade myself and I want to do better than the layman. Mutual funds have certain restrictions that impede a really good investor. I would like to take few calculated chances. Hence, I’d like to avoid mutual funds and deploy my funds through investors who I think will outperform the indices and mutual funds over a long term, in a risk-controlled manner.