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1. Money is the root cause of all evil.

From an early age, thinking about money was not encouraged.
It was the unsaid rule that money is important, but thinking about it is evil.
After all, money was the reason behind the fights, the wars, and the disagreements.

Now I know it is not money that is the reason.
It is the importance we attach to it in our lives.

Money is simply a medium of transaction.
When it becomes an emotion is when it consumes us.

And that is true for all things in life!

2. Be wary of those who are rich.

It was always assumed that getting rich was possible only through exploitation of others, being cold blooded, and twisting the law in your favour.

Those who are rich are the ones who compromised on their morals.

Now I know that for every immoral rich person, there are countless more examples of people who treat money, people and values with respect.

It’s just that, by design, they are not the ones we hear of or speak of.
News covers the abnormal.
Not the normal.

3. Saving money is important.

Of course, saving is important. But we were never told the complete story.
That investment is more important.

Post demonetization, all the money “saved” by our parents came out.
They were lauded for their saving capabilities.

Most “savings” approaches that we were taught, destroys the value of money.
To make money beat inflation, we were never taught how to invest.

1. Very few find their passion early in life. Most find it much later, if at all.

The world convinces us that we should “pick” a passion as early as possible and then settle.

I think all of your 20s should go towards discovering your passion.
Don’t settle.
Explore.

2. Passion isn’t about money. It is about how you feel.

We are led to believe that if you follow your passion, you will make a lot of money, which will give you a lot of happiness.

The most passionate people I know are simply content.
They are at peace with who they are.

3. “Quit your job to follow your passion” is poor advice.

Financial stability is important.
When we sacrifice that to follow our passion, we put the pressure of making money on our passion, from day 1.

Our passion then becomes our necessity!
And ultimately dies.

4. Passions don’t come in templates.

Stop looking for standard answers to what your passion could be.

Your context, your experiences, your habits, your idiosyncrasies – all of them lend to a passion that is uniquely you.

Don’t make someone else’s passion yours.

5. Our failures direct us towards our passions a lot more than our successes.

Whenever we fail, we seek solace and inspiration.
It is during such moments that our potential passions emerge.

What we gravitate towards.
Where we can truly be ourselves.
And not have to pretend.

There was a time when there were no ranks.
No grades.
No scores.
No positions.

You worked at something until you wanted to, or you got really good at it.
And then, the industrial revolution changed it all.

Tests were introduced.
The outcome of the tests was not to measure knowledge or understanding.
Rather to grade.
To score.
And then to rank.

Someone with a 93% was deemed higher than someone with 92%.
And we all got addicted.
Addicted to this race.

Fast forward to today – all of us live in constant comparison.

“Am I the best student?”
“Am I the best employee?”
“Am I the best leader?”

All of us live in constant fear, as a consequence.
Assessing who else is better?

If only we stopped to realise:

“I can never control if I am the best at anything.”
“I can only control if I am the best version of myself, at it.”

The race is not with the world.
The race is within.

Scared about how ChatGPT will replace your job?
Or how technology is eventually going to make you irrelevant?
Or how fast the world is moving and you feel overwhelmed? 

There are 2 choices you have:
1. Continue to feel scared.
2. Embrace the change.

If you chose #2 above, here are 3 small steps to take towards doing so:

1. Pick up online courses related to the technology you are interested in.
   The Internet allows everyone to be a student and learn from the best teachers available. Do that.
   
2. Join an online community around it.
   Facebook groups, Reddit forums, WhatsApp groups, Discord servers – get yourself immersed in the technology you want to master and hang around people who live it and love it.
   
3. Pick up projects/internships utilising the technology.
   Do it for free, if needed.
   Just learn. Get challenged. Seek feedback.
   There is no better way to learn.

When you make technology your friend, you prevent it from becoming your competitor.

Companies that ask for a minimum experience of 3 years while hiring freshers have a special place reserved for them in hell.

Someone recently asked me this.
I know a lot of you are also going through this. 

Here is my response:

It’s likely because you have put the pressure of everyone’s expectations (including that of yourself) on yourself.
AND have added a deadline to meet that expectation.

It’s natural.
We all go through this.
There’s nothing wrong with you.
Or your life.

It’s just likely that you are living someone else’s life.
A life that has been decided by you, by your parents, by your siblings, by your friends, or by the world at large.
A life that has told you that you are a failure if you don’t have a job by 25, if you don’t get married and have kids by 30, if you don’t buy that house, if you don’t drive that car, if you don’t have that bank balance.
And you didn’t question them.
You just started aiming for that life. 

But it wasn’t your life, was it?
So it is not surprising that you lost interest in living that life.
Everyday, you would get up and drag yourself to show up.
Because you had to become someone else to live that life. 

You were running away from yourself. 

Run towards yourself.
No matter how hard it seems.
Because the only way to listen to yourself, is to block the noise from the world.
And you deserve that silence. 

Define your own success.
Or else, another year will go by and you will feel the same way.
Not yourself. 

1. Say no to people.

The more you say no to people, the more you will say yes to things that are important to you.

2. Make your happiness your #1 priority.

Until you are not happy, people will never be happy around you.

3. Remove those who suck energy from you.

They only take, never give.

English is not my first language.

But I grew up at a time where English was considered the only way to be respected, acknowledged, or heard.

Even though my parents worked really hard to send us to a lovely English medium school, it didn’t help me get better at the language.

What helped, as luck would have it, was having neighbours whose daughters became my best friends at a young age.

Their first language was Konkani.
So the only common language for us was English.

Everyday, speaking to them in English gave me the training that I couldn’t have ever afforded.
It set me up foundationally.

Public speaking then honed the skill.

But I still think in and speak Hindi as my first language.
It’s my comfort language.
My mind language.

Today, I see India very differently.

Yes, English still remains the dominant business and administrative language.
But there is acceptance, learning, and growth through your mother tongue.

When I meet people who speak English only to operate with the external world, I remind myself where I have come from.

Your command over English is NOT equal to your strength in communication.

I was 21.
Studying at Hindu College, Delhi University.

Back then, everyone’s favourite drink on campus was Banta (also called nimbu soda or kancha bottle.)

However, the seller’s setup at the time had a few shortcomings:

Dirty hands.
Glasses used again and again.

I thought there had to be a hygienic way of executing the business.

Enter “warikoo Banta!”

Plastic gloves.
Disposable glasses.
Charged at a premium (Rs. 7 instead of Rs. 3 at the time.)

I made a business plan for 300 stalls.
Projected revenue of Rs. 1.2 Cr/year.
Profit of Rs. 30 L/year.

However, it needed an investment of Rs. 15L upfront.

Since I didn’t have the money, I went to the only investor I knew.
My parents.
Turns out, not surprisingly, they didn’t have the money either.
This was more money than we had ever had in our lifetime, haha!

So I dropped the idea.

BECAUSE I couldn’t arrange 15L, back in the year 2001, to start 300 stalls of warikoo Banta.
Not even for a second did I think – should I start with just one and see where it goes?
No!

Because in my head – I had to start BIG.
That was the only way to start.
BIG!

Today, I am wise.
Life taught me a very important life lesson.

DO NOT confuse starting slow as starting small.

I was absolutely wrong about the world, while in school.

I was the diligent, studious, and obedient kid.
But there were kids around me who weren’t.
And I looked down upon them.

I thought those who smoke, drink, do not study and do not obey were evil people.

I felt righteous in my approach.
And felt right to judge them!

But I was wrong.

Most of those kids have gone on to do meaningful things in life.

One of them runs a big chemist shop.

He went out of his way to source medicines for my mom during the 2nd wave of COVID.
When we had lost all hope.

I am not proud of the judgemental person that I was back then.
And I am glad that life taught me to act better and be better, in the best manner possible.

In the end, how you treat people defines who you truly are!