Blog
Words. Wisdom. Winners.
Get rejected
Rejection isn’t a vice.
It is a door to learning more.
Be curious. Know what you don’t know. Let your mind be filled with wisdom instead of emptiness on failing.
And sooner than you know, you will look forward to failing than to running away from it.
Which, is true success :)
Failure is a win, if you choose it to.
Stories
I am useless.
I can’t focus.
I am distracted.
I lack discipline.
I cannot workout.
I matter.
I am supremely focused.
I can do what I want to do.
I am the most disciplined person I know.
I am someone who is always consistent with their workouts.
We are the stories we tell ourselves.
Every single moment.
Don’t share
I am a proponent of documenting your journey.
So that others could be inspired from.
However, you do not have to share every opinion you have.
Balanced.
Thoughtful.
Not disrepectful.
Share authentically, however, with wisdom. And certainly not unfiltered :)
The battle
The battle is not with your boss.
Or with your friends.
Or your colleagues.
Or your family.
Or your relatives who judge you.
The battle is in the mind.
Which is exactly the place you will win it.
Being lost in 20s
At 18 yrs: I went to check the JEE results, with my father, on our scooter. I did not clear it.
At 24 yrs: I dropped out of my PhD program in the US, came back to India, not knowing what to do next.
At 29 yrs: I quit my consulting job to join a startup, and was fired from it after a year.
This is who I was.
A failure.
However, more than a decade later, what I have realised is that over time, everything falls into place.
That insecurity of not making money.
That guilt of probably letting your parents down.
That fear of never being happy in your career.
Over time, every failure passes away.
ONLY if you reflect on it.
ONLY if you ask yourself: Why did it happen?
ONLY if you change the way you do things.
Because we will all fail.
That is inevitable.
But few of us will win in life.
If I could, so can you.
Trust me.
Trust yourself!
Quotes
If you are not having fun while doing it, people will see through it.
Ankur Warikoo
Tweet
We own the screen we own. Not the other way around!
Ankur Warikoo
Tweet
True respect is when you respect someone even after you’ve got to know them.
Ankur Warikoo
Tweet
The best form of content is not you in action, rather you in reflection.
Ankur Warikoo
Fashionable
It has become fashionable to startup today.
In the world of Shark Tank, everyone thinks they should start their own business.
Worse, people think that those in a job are losers.
They have sold their soul.
They have become part of a rat race.
That’s a lie.
A corporate job early in your career can shape you up meaningfully.
- It gives you financial stability. Which sets up a good foundation.
- It teaches you the power of planning, of systems, of processes.
- It shows you the magic of teams and how your individual contribution at a micro level comes together with that of several others, to create impact at a macro level.
What is the one thing you have learnt from your job?
Family and friends
No matter how much you give to your work, your manager would move on to finding a replacement once you move on.
This does not mean they are brutal. This simply means they want to get their work done. And they are right.
This also does not mean that they don’t care about you. They do. More than you could think. However, that does not mean they stop caring about work once you move on.
Work is important. Very important. But no matter how indispensable you are, you will be replaced in your absence.
However, it is not the same with your family and friends. They love you. And they cannot replace you with anyone. Anyone. Ever.
The wisdom of falling in love, then, eventually boils down to spening time with your family and friends more often. They are the places you are truly irreplaceable.
Risk and reward
Whenever we make a big decision in life, we only look at the rewards it would bring.
However, there is a big element most people miss out on:
The risk associated with that reward.
I would want the higher salary this job brings, but am I willing to add two hours of daily commute to my life?
I would want to have that extra beer or slice of pizza because it makes me happy right now, but am I willing to risk my long term health for it?
I would love to invest in this get-rich-quick scheme, but will I be okay if I lose all my money?
Every reward in life comes with an associated risk.
I would never ignore the risk, for a higher reward.
I did something similar in late 2019, when I decided to be a full-time public speaker, after stepping down as the CEO of nearbuy.
The new income source had rewards – of following my passion, sharing my knowledge, choosing when to work and when to take an off.
However, it came with associated risks of saying no to a monthly salary while having a home loan.
It was only when I was okay (physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially) with the risk that came with that reward, that I went ahead with that decision.
Smart people do not eliminate risks.
They manage risks!
Finding someone…
Find the colleague who saw you at your worst and still helped you perform better.
Find the manager who saw you faltering and still chose to listen instead of scolding.
Find the friend who saw your lowest points and still chose to support.
Find the partner who saw you through all this and still chose to love.
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