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If we do not consume alcohol, our default response is to believe the ones consuming it are bad people.

If we do not party on weekends, our default response is to believe the ones doing so are bad people.

If we do not believe in relationships before marriage, our default response is to believe the ones who have them are bad people. 

We have these moralistic views of what comprises good or bad in people!
Driven by what we do. 

Actions don’t make people good or bad.
Our beliefs make them so! 

It is easy to feel hurt. when someone gives you harsh feedback.  

However, if you only focused on the feedback and not the tone of it, you would perhaps learn something new.. 

Don’t pay attention to the noise.
Focus on the signal.

There is always something more to know.
Knowing everything is the beginning of stopping to know.

We all want to learn fast.
Maximise our experience in the least possible time.
And be able to tackle the right problems.

Reading helps us do that.

Not fiction.
Instead psychology, human behaviour, history, biographies, self help.

Not only will they help us use our time better, they will also allow us to make our future better.

Not only are they a lifetime of wisdom compressed into several hours, they will also save us from the same mistakes.

The second best way to learn from mistakes is to commit them.
The best way is to read.

You want to explore.
Your parents want you to settle down.

No matter how much you try, things aren’t moving..

However, here’s a fact: 

Our parents want exactly the same thing as we do: our happiness.
Their proposed path may be different; intentions aren’t.

If we try to listen to them and explain our perspectives, things will most likely change directions.

If they don’t despite you showing your happiness, financial freedom, and others’ examples, perhaps you need to move out.

Do either.
But don’t let resentment live in a heart where your parents should.

The world runs on instant gratification today.
The instant like, the instant comment, the instant live. 

However, this quick dopamine boost does more harm than good.

The reality is, all good things take time and effort.

True love, true relationships, true friendship, true meaning and fulfilment in work, true well being – physical, mental, emotional.

The quicker we realise good things don’t come quickly, the more we will enjoy the daily small actions towards the long journey, even if they don’t give instant rewards.

You want to pick designing after engineering.
Maybe go for a self-financed trip for six months.
Perhaps quit graduation and get a full-time job in photography.

All these are not the conventional paths.

But all these are the paths that seek your attention.

Should you take them up?
Or should you “settle-down” first and have a back-up plan?

Steve Jobs said you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect the dots looking backward. 

How will we be able to connect the dots if we do not move away from where we are now?

We picked up a book to read.
Now we don’t quite enjoy it.

However, if we leave it midway, guilt quickly jumps in.
Should we finish it up or read it fully?

The guilt works strangely.
Instead of making us decide, it makes us give up on reading altogether. 

What if we kept down the books if they took away our interest?
Or perhaps we skimmed through it?
Or read between the pages about what piqued our interest?

The best relationships with books are give and take.
We give them our time and they keep us hooked to read them.

Creating content is less about new ideas on a random day.
It’s more of a process.

Showing up each day.
Documenting what we did.
Being ourselves.

Creating content even when we don’t get the muse.
And listening to the audience about what lights them up.

If we keep on doing it consistently without worrying about it to monetise, the power of compounding will take us places even we couldn’t imagine.

But the universal caveat remains unchanged:

Creativity shows up when we do.

You got promoted.
Maybe getting married this year!
And oh, you got a pet too.
Or you got fired from a job.
Went through a tough breakup.
Perhaps the family went through a crisis.

These are extreme emotions. 

People share them all the time on social media.

And there are responses like: “I’m so happy for you”, “So glad to see you like this”, or “Extremely sorry to hear that”.

However, no one feels what we feel.
No one knows what we are going through.
No one is as happy or as sad for us as they say they are.

We have only ourselves to know what we are going through. 

We are still using some things in life.

Old words.
Old thought patterns.
Old behaviours.

Just because we have accustomed ourselves to them.
They’re a habit now.
They don’t serve any purpose.

As we form new habits, it is also important to question which are the old ones that we are leaving behind. 

A good habit to have is to discard habits that do not work.