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You can lead through your example.

However, everyone has a time by which they will be ready for that awareness.

You can make them aware of that awareness by showing an example of your life. This is as good as putting food in someone’s plate. The effort of eating it still has to be done by you.

Sometimes, making others aware means taking the time that their awareness will take some time. 

I remember I had gone to IIT Kanpur for my interview in Masters. And in front of me was Professor HC Verma, who is literally the God of Physics!

I entered the room, and they offered me a chalk, to get to the board and solve a problem.

Some problems in life you are confused about, so you ask questions.
For others, you are simply clueless!
This one was in the latter category.

So I stare at the board for a couple minutes, say sorry, and walk out!

That’s it! The only one way left to get to IITs was closed now.

It turns out, for things that matter to you, it always helps to prepare the best of you.

I get 200+ emails a day.
I read all of them. Yes, all of them :)

However, in the 30-40% I reply to, 90% of them are no.

Here’s what I say:

“I am completely blocked. Sorry, won’t be able to do this.”
“This is not priority for me right now. Sorry.”
“This will be a no for me. Not something I can add value to.”

Because if I say yes to them, I am saying no to my time with my family, my usual routine, my fixed workout schedule, my sleep schedule, and to all the things that I could have thought of, which my time commitment requires here.

Saying yes isn’t being generous. Saying yes is saying no to everything that is important to you. The last thing you want to sign up for.

Hi! (Please address by name)

I need any opportunity with you. (Be specific)

Are you hiring for? (Why not just pitch?)

I want to work with you for free, anything. (Add value to them, before you expect it out of them.)

Can I apply next time? (Why not, who’s stopping you?)

The questions we ask create the careers (and life) we will live.

People do not want you to be at 1 million before they learn from you.

Curious people learn from everything and everyone.

When you find your tribe, you will be glad you did!

And it breaks my heart to see so many smart people do not share their experiences with the world, because they think it’s too obvious!

20s is a decade of confusion.

However, in reality, it is the best decade of your life, ever!

Here are my 3 suggestions to people in their 20s:

1. Most people in their 20s feel they are too old.
But you are not! Do not feel you are running out of time. You are very, very, very young.
You still have time.

2. The only person you should be competing with, is who you were yesterday.
No. One. Else.

3. Do not put the pressure of making long-term decisions quickly.
The deadline to achieve things by a certain age has been set by society.
And is a trap.
Avoid the trap.
Define your own pace.

The decade that you spend in confusion, is the decade you must start spending in creation. Of yourself.

One of my favourite rituals at nearbuy used to be to send handwritten letters to the parents of top 5% of the crowd.

The parents didn’t expect it!
So didn’t the kids!!

But it was such a joyful moment to have the love and pride of parents pouring in!
The parents writing back, sending the messages through their kids.
Both parents and kids had an unexpected surprise!

It turns out, no one will ever be prouder of you, than your parents.

You don’t need to be a writer by profession in order to write.

But you do need to write on paper in order to ace in any of your professions.

Because slow thoughts, create a thoughtful life.
Impulsive thoughts, create a life without impact.

A sincere apology comprises 3 part

1. I am sorry for my actions
2. I take responsibility
3. Is there anything I can do to make it right?

Saying all these three things is under your control.
However, the response isn’t.
Especially to no.3 above.

It is your duty to ask if there is anything you can do to make it right.
But it is not your right to get an answer.
That is the other’s person’s choice.

If you get it, you may see your apology turn into not just forgiveness but also acceptance.
If you do not get any response, your apology should still come!

The next time you apologize, ask yourself why are you doing it?
And if there is any selfish reason behind it – then it is a fake apology.

The first time nearbuy went to hire from ISB, we had to find a way of creating a buzz on the campus. 

We weren’t a well known brand. And competition for talent was intense.

So during the pre-placement talk, we told students three things.

1. Your resume SHOULD NOT be in the ISB resume template.
2. Add color to your resume.
3. On the resume, name someone else from the batch who you think is better than you, for the role you are applying for.

It was super interesting to see the reactions.

1. While some students were relieved that they did not have to follow the template, some were jittery. Because now there was no standard way of doing the task!
2. Almost everyone was curious as to “what does color mean?” This led to the most joyful submissions: PDFs. Comic books. Highlights.
We sensed liberation!

3. We collated the frequently recurring names, and if they hadn’t applied reached out to them, while the submissions were on.

“7 students who have applied think you will be better than them at this role. Do you wish to consider applying?”
In a batch of 770 people, we had 380 students applying!
It made our job of shortlisting a lot harder, but we weren’t complaining.
This is what we signed up for!

We eventually hired 4 product managers. And all 4 of them stayed with us for 3+ years!

There is a thing about templates.
They are very seductive.
They give an illusion of safety.
They give an illusion of low risk.

So a lot of us fall for them.

Not just in our resumes.
In our lives.

Think about it.
How many of us are living our life like a template?

If Class tenth marks > 90%, then science
If parents = engineers, then engineering
If parents = business, then study commerce
If engineer = yes, then MBA
If age > 25, get married jaldi jaldi
If married > 2 years, sunao khushkhabri to the world

All of these are nothing but templates.

And whenever I think of templates, I am reminded of a powerful thing that Steve Jobs once said during an interview.

“Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.”

But most of us do not change the rules.

We play a game designed and rules laid out by someone else.
And thus the rules laid out by someone else.

The world does not need another template.
The world needs a rebel.