1. Taking notes while reading is an excellent way to grasp (and re-read) important information.

2. Don’t worry about the next 8 years, think about the next 8 days and executing super hard on them.

3. “Don’t charge for how much time it takes you. Charge for the value you provide.” – Ankur Warikoo

4. Hanging around with the right people is priceless. Even if you’re paid less, figuring out how to earn money from other sources would be easier.

5. What you think about, you being about. Never the other way round.

6. Spending less time on Twitter and Instagram is a phenomenal saving of your time. Time = money. Period.

7. Feeling sad is a habit more than circumstances. So is feeling happy no matter what.

Some random life truths

1. Checking your email just three times a day is a sign of maturity.

2. You are loved. Let no social media tell you otherwise.

3. You may forgive people yet not allow them into your life ever again.

4. You don’t need love. You ARE love. Now go, give. Starting with yourself.

5. The best thing you could do to yourself is be You. Everyone else is already taken, as Oscar Wilde said.

Do you want to change the world?

To shout is not power. It is lack of power.

To demean people isn’t truthful. It’s lack of self-control.

To check phone every three minutes is not being there for your team. They want you to be easy before anything else.

As we get caught up in this endless wave of doing what the world says is right, we forget that the world needs more people who are aware, not a photocopy of the world we need to change.

When you don’t like someone…

When you don’t like someone, going about not liking them forever is a tough job.

What if you asked yourself instead: “Why do I not like them?”

It may be possible that their values aren’t aligned with yours.

It may also be possible that they just don’t know better.

And when you make time to think deep with yourself, you’ll be able to make an informed choice, not the one that is out of rage and impulse.

You get the life basis the people you allow. The first person to allow is you, not the byproduct of someone else’s actions.

The respect

My bro and bhabhi have been married for almost 4 years now.

After having a bit of knowledge and research into psychology, it is a great thing to see a relationship like this.

It isn’t about couples, rather every relationship. The way they respect each other, the way they have fun with each other, and most importantly, the way neither of them loses on their individual personality despite being together – are rare things to be found in relationships these days.

If you have managed to protect at least 2 or 3 relationships like this, you’re a rich human.

Money is an effort

For weeks I was struggling with making a new habit. I wanted to set a traffic control of my thoughts, and take one-minute breaks after each hour.

Tried downloading a few apps, none of which functioned.

So I set the alarm in my phone after every hour.

“What’s new with this?” you may ask!

I wanted the sound to be the one I loved and not the usual alarm stuff. However, iPhone doesn’t allow the desi jugad to add external sounds.

So I purchased a sound from the iTunes store and set that as an alarm.

Result? Those one-minute alarms are working wonders!

Here’s the psychological hack: Even though I spent a minuscule amount of Rs. 15 for a tailor-made service, it would make me use it to the fullest.

The magic is not of the amount of money, rather the effort of paying it will make me use it fully. Daily. Every hour.

Make it quick

Just four minutes before the work hours were about to get over, I got a call.

It was a concall, and we discussed on the topic we were supposed to.

Then the third party, who was from outside the team, just said “Bye bye” and hung down the phone.

Nothing like, “Okay, let’s go!” or “Cool, let’s experiment and see” et al, just coming to the point and finishing it off.

Wow!

Just wow!

Though we just cannot do this in all the calls, we may definitely do this in 50-70% of the calls.

Imagine what would happen to all the decisions of the day like that!

Are people dissatisfied with you?

People are going to be dissatisfied with you.

At home.

At work.

Friends maybe.

There’re two things to reflect:

a. Is it a reflection of their own dissatisfaction?

Or

b. Is there something you really need to change.

In either cases, you have the power. You just need to let go of your first-emotion crisis. You just need to decide.