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IQ, aka how smart you are, once used to be the biggest determinant of success.

Then came the EQ.
Empathizing with people made us better leaders and effective communicators.

The world evolved and everything around us is now designed to attract our attention.

Thus, making it priceless for the ability to devote our 100% attention without being distracted.

It’s not the IQ; it’s not the EQ; it’s not their combination either.

The ability to focus is the most significant determinant of success.

Have you ever heard an artist say, “I would love to work less.”
“I wish I could get away with doing less.”
“Let me figure out a way to bypass the hard work”

An artist truly in love with their work would never think of their work like that.
Because for them, their work is their identity.

Their work is their liberation.
Their work is their existence.

What if we were also artists when it came to our work?
An artist never gives up when it comes to their work.

The only thing they refuse to give up is their right to create more magical work.

If it made you happy yesterday, don’t put the pressure on it to make you happy today as well.

Humans change.
External things don’t.

A wiser choice is to pick something different that matches your current state of happiness.

One of the happiest definitions of happiness is to know that happiness isn’t rigid. Nothing could be a happier realisation!

Someone is not respecting you for your work.
Someone else took your important project lightly. Someone else made fun of you.

All this keeps you questioning yourself.

“Am I doing things right? Do I deserve to be here? Maybe they all are right!”

When they don’t treat us right, it’s rarely because of us.
They’re themselves dealing with a lot.
Sometimes even without being aware.

Your value is a measure of what you bring to the table, your confidence and cool, and how you have the courage to figure things out when the plan has failed.

It is rarely a function of what others do to you.

Pegging your value to how others treat you is like pegging your health to the health of others. Hardly correlated.

When you’re alone, it is super important to pay attention to your thoughts.

“What am I thinking about? Why am I thinking only what could get worse? What if I expect good things as much as I anticipate bad ones? What else could this mean?”

What we end up doing in the world is largely a product of what we end up thinking in solitude.

In solitude, our attitude builds up.
In lack of it, we’re just a product of succumbing to someone else’s product of solitude.
The last thing we’d signed up for.

Imposter syndrome isn’t reserved for a few.

Almost everyone suffers from it, multiple times during their lifetime.
Thus, coming up with a process is the way to deal with it:

Helpful vs best. You cannot be the best in the world yet whatever you do know, use it to help people.

There will always be someone better than you. That automatically takes off a lot of load.

Try not to be the imposter that you were. Being a little better than yesterday is the best progress. You’re giving yourself time. That’s the best thing!

Compounding is less about mathematics.
It’s more about our temperament.

Do we get anxious when things don’t work out immediately?
Are we patient with life?
Do we believe in small things working out big miracles because of consistency?

The kind of person we are would end up deciding the kind of investor we become.
Money doesn’t change us. It just magnifies who we are.

“I am doing this job only for financial stability. It does not make me happy”.
Our heart lies somewhere else.
Yet, we continue to put a lot of pressure on our job.

We expect it to not only provide us with financial stability but also with work satisfaction.

Ultimately, we would like to achieve that balance.

But while we are on that journey, why not find that satisfaction by working on our passion?

It can be an internship, a part-time job, a side business – anything at all that gives us a sense of fulfilment and makes us happy.

If financial stability is the only reason why we are doing our job, it’s our responsibility to find that happiness by making time for things we truly enjoy.

Each time we say no to someone, we think we are saying no to our capability of helping.
We think we are saying no to our ability to solve problems.

The reality, however, is that we are saying no to someone else because we want to be respectful of what’s important for us.

Each time we say no, we say yes to things that matter.

Remember that people judge because they want to feel good about themselves.

It has nothing to do with you.

It is their insecurity.