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To not have a plan and be okay with it is the best plan. It will take everything to get to that point.

It’s okay to not have a plan.

It’s okay to answer ‘I don’t know, and I’m okay with it’ when you are asked ‘Where do you see yourself five years from now?’ in an interview. It’s okay to not put the pressure of figuring out life today itself.

It’s okay if you are not at a place where you can say ‘It’s okay to not have a plan.’

The plan of not being okay without a plan is the plan that unfolds gradually. And it’s perhaps even okay to have a plan till then :)

Most of us think that if we had an aim or a goal, we would have reached someplace in life by now.

And, thus, would have been happy. One of the biggest lies we believe in.

Reaching goals in life is as tragic as not having goals.

Both of them make us feel empty and useless.

The real way to happiness, as Buddhism believes, is the madhya marg – the path of pursuit, the path of joy en route to your mountain top. The path of enjoying the struggle. The path of falling in love with the process with zero attachment to the results.

The truth about happiness is that if you don’t feel it today, you won’t feel it tomorrow either.

We realize how courageous we are when being courageous is the only option we have.

Once you burn all your boats is when you realize you have to learn to swim. Ex tempore.

I had decided to take up public speaking in early 2020, after stepping down from the position of CEO of nearbuy towards the end of 2019.

Then COVID happened, and bam, all public events got cancelled!

A friend, while on a call, suggested that I teach what I know (entrepreneurship) online.

Because I had already burned the boats, and did not have cash beyond three months, I gave it a shot!

Because I had nothing to lose, the courage helped me to not lose myself.

Because I had no option other than courage, that courage opened up many options for me!

When courage is the only option, it never gives up on us, if we never give up on it!

The greatest illusion we all live in, is that life should be perfect.

Perfection is not a place to go to.

Perfection is finding joy, peace and growth in

the mundane and the boring.

The illusion is that perfect is all the bells ringing and no problems at all.

The reality is that perfection is dancing along with the problems ringing all the bells!

It is in acceptance of now as the perfect moment that our illusions of a better future begin to boil away.

What’s left is life. And perfection.

If you choose to live your own definition of success,
If you choose to let go of what others think of you,
If you cut toxic people from your life,
If you are happy for no reason,
If you are not chasing a goal rather happiness itself,

Then every single day is Children’s Day for you!

Hurry not to grow followers, rather to grow the level of your inputs.

Hurry not to create an impact, rather in a hurry to learn.

Hurry not waiting for your stocks to perform, rather in a to be a disciplined investor.

Hurry not to make money, rather to figure out what you’re good at and what makes you happy.

It turns out, hurry compounds. However, if we hurry in the wrong direction, the right results would rarely have a chance to come out.

What doesn’t build trust: Meeting your expectations

What actually builds trust:

1. Doing what you say, EVERY SINGLE TIME

2. Making sure that what you deliver is error free. Your manager’s role is to enhance what you do, not to rectify what you do.

3. Trust is built when not things are good, rather when things are not good. When people need you and you are there, that is when trust is built. At work. And in life.

Things I failed at:
1. Going to the IIT
2. Being a topper in 12th Boards
3. Applications at Google and Facebook
4. Interview at BCG
5. Finding happiness while pursuing PhD in the US

Things I succeeded at:
1. Being an online teacher, and being happy with it
2. Mentoring startup founders

It is all about putting in the efforts and not attaching your identity to anything. Over time, you will figure out the answers.

We are always understanding ourselves based on our thoughts. Thus, we are advocating for ourselves.

We are always understanding others based on their actions. Thus, we are judging of themselves.

It turns out, nothing matters if your actions don’t support it. Not for us. Not for others.
It is liberating, because now we may stop being too critical of them and

It is through what each one of us does, that creates who we are.
Everything else, is an illusion. Including what we think.

3 things you can’t control:
1. Output of your actions
2. Inflation
3. Log kya kahenge

3 things you can anyway control:
1. Inputs you put into your work
2. Investing in assets that beat inflation
3. Living life on your own terms

It turns out, these factors remain the same for everyone – irrespective of where they were born, which school they went to, or how much privileges they were born into.

The ones that are the happiest are living life on things they can control. And that’s powerful!