Month: June 2025

I was in the middle of a video call, and all of a sudden the internet goes off.

Turns out, my phone which I had put on charging had its switch lose, and it went off during the phone call, thus, my hotspot went away.

It would take 2-3 more minutes for me to get back to the call.

So here’s what I did: I ate peanuts. Got myself energised. Took zero stress.

Of course this error need not be repeated the next time. But for now, there was nothing worth stressing. I could not change it. Even if I could, stress won’t help.

Sometimes eating peanuts is the best destresser. Quite literally.

1. Stick to the point.
2. Meetings are not your therapy sessions. No venting please. When in doubt, read point 1 again.
3. If it could be a voice call, pick that instead of a video call. Wise ones would at least walk and talk.
4. The best meeting is the one that gets cancelled and coordinated over Loom and emails.

A client whom I got on a call with yesterday shared this about their LinkedIn checking schedule.

No wonder they are able to get so much done.

Life lesson: Before you eliminate social media completely, give it a slot and don’t check it rest of the time.

It gives you the slot to check it, yet it is not infinite.

Small steps, massive results.

Ever since I have known life, I have seen my father loving the colour white.

White clothes, white interiors for his shop, even white (vanilla) cake.

So recently, we went around shopping for his Activa. I had decided it was going to be a white colour. When I told him of my choice of colour, he gave his heads up.

Then came the well-meaning voices from the family. “White would get dirty quickly.” “Pick up a darker colour.” “Other than black, what were the colours available?”

My father kept listening. But did not object.

Since I was the one making the decision, I zeroed in on white.

When the Activa came home tonight, my father told me a story: He got his first scooter in 90s after waiting for years. It was a grey Bajaj scooter. Cost him ₹5,000 in the day. Had he gone for a white version, he would have had to add ₹600 more, which he could not afford back then.

That is when he decided he would get a white scooter for him some day. The some day came 17 years after that grey scooter was sold, followed by him driving another blue Activa because back then colours were not available, followed by his new Activa finally a month before turning 71, today 🙂

Lesson: Parents (especially fathers) hardly voice their wishes. You simply have to listen to it even when everyone else is going ahead with logic.

When I was 20, I was a perfect case study of FOMO.

A college classmate used to have at least 4-5 birthday cakes—one in the midnight with family and close friends, one in the morning before leaving for college, then 2-3 in the evening with surprise from friends, and one in the grand party in the evening.

I remember sitting next to my sister and telling her how she had an amazing life. And also secretly wishing I had such treatment given on my birthdays.

Years went by, and now I realise I do not want to be her in the first place.

Not because there was something flawed with the life of that college friend, but I like being quiet all days.

My wiser self also now knows you have to navigate life on your own, be it storm or success.

The best part is I do not feel empty. I feel fuller than ever. Meditating 2X every day. Exercising. Journalling. Reading.

Nothing could be a better birthday gift to yourself than living your days you want to, not from a FOMO version of someone else from more than 10 years agao.

I have to make a confession.

A very good friend of mine is friends with someone whom I am not quite proud of. Not just this one human, but a group of friends of this one person, whose values I am not very proud of.

However, the question is: What can you do?

You cannot (and should not) ask your friend to pick you over them. It’s kiddish. You cannot break up with your friend. That’s again kiddish.

You simply realise that people are allowed to pick their friends. While you must warn them if they are going into wrong company (he is not, he is simply making friends with different values), you cannot do anything else.

It is an unspoken insecurity. But for what it’s worth it.

Also, at the end of the day, you can only control yourself.

And, another unspoken truth is that you really have to learn to love yourself alone with the paths you pick, instead of getting attached towards any friend. That is the only way you truly love them.

It takes one colleague to be so beautifully responsible that someone decides to build a team.

It takes one Gen Z to be on top of things and beautifully organised for someone to wash away their perception of an irresponsible Generation Z.

It just takes one client to be paying on time for every freelancer to believe clients do pay on time.

It just takes one freelancer to deliver quality work on time that clients start trusting freelancers.

It just takes one person to not one-up you but rather listen to you that you believe in the power of friendships.

You could be that one person. You don’t need to go to the Mars to change the world. Starting with the basics could as well do that.

The hot weather when you went to London.
The long flight from JFK to Dubai after your long US vacation.
Or the fact that you had to get an expensive cab from Goa airport to the Taj, because there is no Uber.

Sometimes the things we complain about are the things we once wanted when we were climbing the ladder from rags to riches.

If you are on the receiving end of luxury while dealing with things you cannot control, a wise way of life is to not be on the giving end of complaints.

When a 10 year old starts vlogging, it’s scary.

First things first, I appreciate the infinite convenience this era has given us.

I also understand that there are as many job descriptions as there are human beings in this world, something that did not exist when millennials were kids.

However, the tyranny of growth is it comes at a price.

Running for likes before the kid has come to like themselves enough is the price.

In hindsight, the goal of every growth should be the building, but the foundation should be self esteem and humility.

Enough self esteem to know that no one else defines your worth. Married with humility that you ought to be learning, and that you do not know it all.

I wish more parents taught this to kids before handing them the device. And I wish more adults created this inner world before becoming a creator.

When people are expecting you, what do they expect?

Do they expect someone who is happy with themselves? Do they expect complains about everything? Do they expect gossip? Do they expect you to vent out your frustrations? Do they expect someone who is stable even within difficulties? Do they expect a fun time? Do they expect a mood swing? Do they expect someone who might be either extremely angry or annoyingly blabbering? Do they expect a peaceful conversation? Do they expect to be heard? Do they expect a mature adult conversation?

People expect from us only what we serve them consistently. 

Expectations are the mirrors of our reality. 

The reality, is always up to us. 

I come across DMs/emails from a lot of young kids, seeking advice on how to grow in their career.

And it is understandable. Experience is usually a product of time and execution. When you are starting out, you have neither.

However, what you do have is gratitude for the things you are blessed with.

If you cannot afford to fly to a conference, you have the time to go by train.
If you cannot afford a gym, you have YouTube + managing your money to get weights at home.
If your parents never took you for a vacation, save from your pocket money and plan for one.

All of these are byproducts of looking for the best in the worst, and not being deluded by what you don’t have. Eventually “I do not have this” becomes a mindset despite of unlimited abundance, something that kills your positive mindset like cancer—slowly, invisibly, but eventually.

When you have nothing, you still have gratitude. It is the secret sauce to having everything. And keeps you grounded even when you have everything.

First is fear of death. Something that we fear when we go for a deep sea diving, paragliding, or even fearing death in its most natural ways.

It makes humans think about their mortality, or sometimes go miles away from it.

Then is the fear of the unknown.

Fear of what would people think.
Stage fear.
Fear of failing.
Fear of missing out.
Fear of letting go of your past.
Fear of letting go of your past success.
Fear of letting go of “likes” on social in lieu of something bigger and more fulfilling.

Beyond this fear is your feast of joy. Beneath this fear is your failure. In front of this fear is a fork, the road you choose. And I hope you always choose the right thing, even if it is the difficult thing.

• The joy of knowing yourself in silence.
• Letting go of people who never let you in.
• Making yourself beautiful from inside.
• Knowing that the more you nurture your soul, the more beautiful your mind and body become.
• Loving yourself without any device

I was getting rid of some of the books in my library. So I shared a picture of the books to my three sisters and two niblings. Asked them to pick as many.

Niblings responded, and one of three sisters who never responds also did. The other two did not. But I had picked out specific books for the two of them.

Nonetheless, I did not bring the books I had picked for them.

“If someone is too busy to type the name of a book, they would be too busy to read it too.” Might seem harsh, but after being a giver for too long, I have now started realising some people just cannot handle love. Your entire goal in life is to embrace true love (especially if it is love of books) with open arms.

I am too late to the party. I just discovered “All too well” by Taylor Swift. And then I watched the 15-minute version as well.

And it made me think, how grief is a universal language.

She sang that song when she was feeling very very sad. It was her Mom who later asked the sound guy if he had recorded it.

And look at the masterpiece she has built. Wikipedia says the song is her magnum opus.

So, my friend, when an urge hits you to create, to write, to sing a song, to dance—anything that is a call from the realm of art, act on it. Even if you have an urge to work on a business presentation or a work project, act on that urge.

We are mortals doing things every day that we must be doing. We do them out of responsibility.

But urge is something that does not happen daily. So when it does happen, it is your responsibility to act on it. The reasoning mind cannot explain the reason for it, but the subconscious mind craves just that right then.

Trust your urge.

First things first, I started writing without waiting for anyone to acknowledge me.

This meant I wrote a book way before I knew ghostwriting books existed as a profession.

I also started my daily blog writing one small blog a day. Just because I wanted to build my muscle of writing.

But then let’s be honest, you cannot just sit around and wait for clients to come to you.

So I looked up “companies in Noida” online, checked their websites, and figured who needed a blog on their website. Then I just reached out to them. I typed “Noida” because a part of me wanted to visit people in person. This is not applicable now, because you can cold email anyone across the globe.

Applied to multiple. Then got a referral to write a blog. Which paid peanuts, but nonetheless, I got a client. That was more important.

Rinse and repeat.
Learn every day.
Learn from others.
Reflect on your journey.
One day at a time.

Others may have different ways. This was mine, and over many attempts of things not working out, they eventually did.

The more you chase it, the more your identity is dependent on someone else.

A good goal is doing things you want to be doing. And then centering your efforts around it. While being an asset the world, not a liability.

If applied with a strategy, first principles have never not won.

I was making a purchase on Amazon via Amazon Pay balance, where Amazon suggested I would get a massive discount if I would use one of the saved CCs.

And boy, I did.

An excellent example of serving customer needs first.

It is so easy to be a sucker of customer money. It takes courage to be the sucker to save their money. One gets you an angry mention, the other gets you abundance of traction.

Instead, build a drain for it.

What I mean is this: When you are in pain, do not let it suppress inside you. It will only compound in terms of non communicable diseases, including but not limited to obesity, low blood pressure and even depression.

One of the most meaningful ways of letting go of pain is journal about it.

Write everything what is troubling you. Do not worry about sounding right. We aren’t going to put your journal in a museum or show it to even one person. Just let it all go.

And then, meditate on your evolved self often. This is the way to truly let go of your pain. Otherwise, you are simply trying to laugh while trying to suppress.

It’s time to stop doing the thing to yourself that you hated someone else for doing to you.

Of the few things in life that are absolutely non-negotiable, being well-mannered is one of them.

To put it simply, being present and kind with the person you are spending your time with—either online or in person.

You may very well choose to not spend time with them.

However, if you choose to, not giving a damn is not a good way to begin with.

Manners maketh a man is an old adage, all the more true in the new world.