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Words. Wisdom. Winners.
Call in sick
There are 2 occasions when people call in sick
When they really are
And when they are not, but wish they were
Look around you
All the successful people
The ones whom you want to be
As rich, as famous, as inspirational, as enigmatic
And then ask them – how many times did you call in sick?
Tendulkar took care of himself all these years
So does Nadal
And SRK
And all the successful people around you
They don’t call in sick
Definitely not when they are not
They don’t ever have to
Never work for something where you have to run away from it every now and then.
You will be fine
13 years ago, in the fall of 2002, I captured a shot through my nikon. It was that of wooden fences. About a km from spartan village, where I was staying as a graduate student of MSU.
I was far away from home, lonely, staying with a housemate that hardly spoke.
I didn’t have any money and the stipend was meant to be saved as much as I could. Even if it meant being stingy.
I wasn’t enjoying my studies. I was acing the exams but not enjoying.
And I didn’t know what would happen of me. All I knew was I had to go back to India. To what, I wasn’t sure
Ruchi and I went to the exact same spot this weekend.
The fence is still there
Nothing seemed to have changed
I wish I could tell my self from 13 years back
You will be fine!
Just because
Whenever I go to the U.S. I am always amazed by the number of “thank you”, “what’s up”, “you find everything ok” and “sorry” that hit me on an hourly basis.
They don’t mean it half of the time. Just as “depends” and “maybe” doesn’t mean anything from Indians.
Classic case of not owning the outcome!
Just because you do something a lot doesn’t mean you are good at it.
Just because you said something doesn’t mean someone heard it.
Just because someone heard it doesn’t mean they felt it.
Just because someone didn’t respond doesn’t mean they didn’t hear anything.
I’ll come back to you on this later
This single statement has killed more companies than
“I dont know the exact answer, but here is a 50% guess”
ever will!
Tomorrow can never be won, if what you have to do isnt decided today.
What fails you as an entrepreneur?
Irrespective of the stage you are at, if more than 90% of your colleagues come to work excited/happy at what lies ahead of them in the day, every single day, then you have succeeded in building the right institution.
Else you have simply started a company
And have failed
You have failed
You have failed
Some startups are so poor, they only have funding.
Don’t use machines
Become one!
Not to
the easiest thing in the world is not to
Not to do it
Not to go the extra mile
Not to call that person
Not to work beyond hours
Not to show concern
Not to work out
Not to save
Not to help
Not to own it
It’s the path of least resistance. The path of minimal effort.
Here is a little thought experiment
Each time you chose not to, someone else choses to do it. And moves ahead in life.
Each time you give up, someone is still at it. Saying I won’t give up.
It’s the same person all the time. So by the time you count all your “not to” that person is way ahead in life.
It’s the person you could have become. But to chose not to!
How much does your money earn for you?
A bank interest rate?
A fixed deposit rate?
A stock market rate?
An extremely risky investment rate?
It shocks me how casual people are towards their money. Considering the percentage of people unhappy with their jobs, it’s amazing how many disrespect perhaps the only thing they are working for.
Be brutal with your money. Make it work for you.
My driver earns 12k a month. 8 months back he got up and bought himself a second hand auto.
In cash
For 100k
He paid an advance of 40k. And then came to me for a loan for the rest.
I was blown away! In awe of his audacity. And gladly gave him the money. But not before I asked – what if I hadn’t. You didn’t even ask me before buying.
I knew you would. And if you didn’t, I would have lost just 5k.
Awesome!
That auto earns him 8k a month now in rental.
Start planning your taxes
Take risks with your money
Be prepared to lose all
Make money your slave
Now go on and buy YOUR auto!
On your marks
Circa 1998
Class 12th Results
Got a 57 in English
An 84% overall
Much lesser than what I wanted
Much lesser than what I had worked for
I cried
And I cried
Life has changed me over the years
But for all those going through the same thing at this precise moment, you dont have to wait as much as I did.
You have this video
What can bring about a change?
Think of all the times you have forced a change into yourself.
And then think of what prompted it.
And then think of the likelihood of that prompt happening again. To the same effect of brining about a positive change.
If it’s highly improbable, you clearly are riding on destiny!
My health journey started because of my disease 3 years back. I shudder to think what if the disease hadn’t happened. And I definitely don’t want another disease to bring about another positive change.
Allow anything and everything to generate a reason to change
A book
A movie
A TED talk
A conversation
A kid playing in the park
The decision to make the change is still yours
The source shouldn’t be your decision. Let it flow
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