Who are you without your second brain?
I hate to be away from my phone, not necessarily because I’m addicted to some apps (maybe true to an extent), but I feel empowered with it. It’s an extension of my brain. I feel smarter with it. Without the phone, I miss a part of my identity that I think is who I am.…
Keep readingBe your best self by being nobody
The secret to becoming your best self isn’t about striving, improving, or perfecting. It’s about dissolving the idea of ‘becoming’ altogether. Have no fixed identity so you can be anyone. But don’t try to be anyone. The moment you try, you fail. Realization 1: Do it for the Love of Doing Run because you love…
Keep readingDon’t Become an Actor
Sharing enviable moments with others doesn’t just invite resentment – it turns you into an actor. You become enslaved to the idea of constantly projecting your “happy” life, even when it’s not really happy. You start enjoying the fake love and applause from people around you, and it fuels you to outperform your last show,…
Keep readingMake Hard Things Unsexy Again
The self-help industry has done a remarkable job of pushing the masses to do hard things – waking up at 5 AM for yoga, running marathons, trekking mountains, devouring endless non-fiction, and oh, how could I forget – starting a startup. The rationale is simple – doing hard things prepares you to handle regular things…
Keep readingToo much introspection is a disservice.
Frequent introspection interferes with the mind’s natural intelligence, bogging it down. When you observe your thoughts and actions too often, your mind gets cautious – almost defensive. To a point, it paralyzes you from thinking and acting. It feels as if someone is watching over you and judging you constantly. Remember when the invigilator would…
Keep readingLimit your opinions to have stronger ones
It’s quite tempting to form quick opinions on every shiny object and churn out a 200-word post almost instantly. A quick glance at 5-6 posts, a few short videos, and some current news is all it takes to put something together that appears insightful. But here’s the catch – what you’re really doing is not…
Keep readingTopical themes
Topical themes are always exciting because humans crave novelty. Unlike traditional news, they’re decentralized through social media, which makes them even more engaging and authentic. But let’s be real: they consume a lot of time and are emotionally taxing. There’s always at least one trending topic that becomes the flavor of the month, enough to…
Keep readingProbabilistic thinking
When our hunter-gatherer ancestors heard a rustling in the jungle, they instinctively interpreted it as a potential tiger. Most of the time, it was just the wind sweeping through the leaves. When they were wrong, they lost nothing. But, when they were right, they lived another day. They relied on binary thinking — threat or…
Keep readingCut out negative people
Let’s first be clear about the why. No, I don’t hate them. They’re free to do whatever serves them. I believe everyone is a product of the environment they’re part of. Most of the time, they don’t choose to be who they are—it’s just another random occurrence in nature. If you’re positive, you’re equally a…
Keep readingConsume long form
Pick a book. Find an essay you bookmarked months ago. Listen to that 2-hour podcast your peers gave up on after 15 minutes. Long form takes you deep into something. One thing leads to two, and two to four. The cluster is so fascinating that you end up learning an incredible amount about the topic…
Keep readingConscious Reading
This is no wonder that Social media have been doing irreparable damage to our attention span, however, a similar detrimental problem is how it keeps us glued to multiple content pieces back-to-back. So basically every time you open your LinkedIn or Facebook to check your inbox, you simply do not stop there. You come across…
Keep readingWise vs Smart
In the last couple of days, I jumped queues multiple times, be it in the temple or a liquor shop (people visit both to escape btw), and managed to achieve my goal way before my turn — without anyone realizing this. People accompanying me felt I was smart and my mind believed the same. While…
Keep readingNews is not important, but History is
I stopped following the Israel-Hamas war news long ago. This isn’t to turn a blind eye to one of the most horrific atrocities of our times, but because I can’t really do anything about it. It’s unnecessary information (and stress) for my mind, like any other geopolitical news. Lately, I’ve unsubscribed from all forms of…
Keep readingWould healthcare companies want me to be healthy?
If people get healthier, is it good or bad for health insurance companies? While they will have fewer claims to settle, people might actually buy less insurance since the likelihood of hospitalization will reduce. The insurance ecosystem is a paradox — the healthy people pay for the ones who fall sick and claim big bills.…
Keep readingCapitalist by mind, Socialist by heart.
When a big vehicle collides with a smaller one, we mostly blame the larger one, irrespective of whoever is at fault. When the gigantic, muscular guy fights the weaker one, we somehow want the underdog to win. When the large enterprise sues the small startup, we unknowingly support the startup. People are somehow wired to…
Keep readingCharity isn’t easy
I wanted to volunteer for a non-profit that helps underprivileged children with their education. Surprisingly, I felt a bit shy when calling them. I paused and asked myself why I felt so when I was about to do something good. If I were going to help a for-profit school by charging a fee, would I…
Keep readingThe Guilt of a Marketer
Searching with a branded keyword and clicking on the first result impetuously, only to realize it was a Google search ad by the same brand. I could have saved them a few dollars had I scrolled down a bit and clicked on the organic link instead. Not unsubscribing from a newsletter that I stopped reading…
Keep readingMarketers must learn from the masters of storytelling
As marketers, we undeniably stand on the shoulders of marketing giants and grow ourselves. However, listening to other marketers for a prolonged time can create an echo chamber. We often end up consuming similar books, podcasts, and blogs, drawing our learnings and insights from homogeneous sources. While the knowledge is helpful, it is usually not…
Keep readingDont let AI become your ghostwriter
While I don’t want ChatGPT to write for me, I couldn’t ask for a better companion to refine my writing. Whenever I write a piece of text that requires refinement, I ask ChatGPT for two versions – one that refines the language and one that only fixes grammatical errors. I review both versions closely, and…
Keep readingParadox of clarity
Some people seem to have so much clarity about everyday things. The paradox of clarity is that the clearer you are about something, the more likely you are to be illusioned by it. Being clear about something means nurturing a definite image of it in the mind, whereas the actual thing or idea evolves over…
Keep readingBeyond the narratives
Most so-called successful playbooks are nothing more than imaginary paths, conveniently created by connecting dots in hindsight to fit a desired narrative. We collectively downplay the role of luck and randomness. There’s a tendency to overemphasize personal agency in good outcomes — “I succeeded because I made the right choices.” When outcomes aren’t favorable, we…
Keep readingHave a Charity Strategy
Giving back to society is important for both society and for you. In general, it’s good to have balance in the ecosystem. Many of our accomplishments and wealth are not just due to our talent and hard work but also luck. In that sense, we often receive things we don’t always deserve, so when we…
Keep readingWhy Building an Audience is a Disservice to Creation
There’s not an iota of doubt that I’ve learned so much because I could discover some amazing people on social media. Had they not been on Twitter or LinkedIn, silently publishing their work on their own blogs instead, I would have never found them. They created something awesome and felt the need to share it…
Keep readingMigration of Wealth – The Dark Side of Capitalism
The world we live in today has immense potential to create values for ourselves and live a good life. We generally derive values in different forms of goods and services, such as food, medicine, consumer durables, education, entertainment, and safety, and so on and so forth. We need wealth to avail goods and services. But…
Keep readingQuick success
Whether we realize it or not, we’re constantly exposed to powerful narratives of quick success that permeate our feeds, conversations, and professional aspirations. This relentless focus on rapid wins and overnight milestones—how a brand reached 100 crore revenue in three years or how a “thought leader” amassed 20,000 followers in just eight months—serves as both…
Keep readingThe Art of Connection
In the ever-evolving world, the art of forging genuine connections remains timeless. Whether it’s with colleagues, clients, or partners, establishing a genuine rapport paves the way for collaborative success.
Keep readingBeyond the Obstacle
Challenges in business are a given, but it’s our response to them that defines our trajectory. Looking beyond the immediate obstacle, there lies a realm of opportunity and learning.
Keep readingGrowth Unlocked
Every business has a unique potential waiting to be tapped. Recognizing the keys to unlock this growth can set an enterprise on the path to unprecedented success.
Keep readingCollaboration Magic
The magic that emerges from effective collaboration is undeniable. When diverse minds converge with a shared purpose, the results can be transformative.
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