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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!

You don’t get anything meaningful in life by showing up one fine day.

You need to show up every day.

Every single day.

When you are nobody,
When no one sees your progress,
When everyone wonders why you won’t just quit and settle,

And yet you show up every day, not to prove them wrong but to persist despite all odds. THAT is when results eventually show up.

Results show up, when you don’t stop showing up.

You are running, you are lifting, you are cycling.

And it feels like the pain will kill you.

But it doesn’t.
It goes away.
The pain goes away.
The pain goes away.
In a second, a minute, an hour, in a day, in weeks or months.
It goes away.

But the pain of not trying stays.
The pain of not even giving a shot, keeps on giving shots all of the time.