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If I had to give only 3-word money advices to my 18-year old self:

1. Rent until 35.
2. Don’t do FDs.
3. Invest for long.
4. Only buy assets.
5. Rich isn’t wealth.
6. Wealth is freedom.
7. Invest every month.
8. Read Atomic Habits.
9. FOMO isn’t investing.
10. Freedom is privilege.
11. Read about compounding.

Money buys freedom. But the ultimate purpose is to free yourself from chasing it forever.

“People are so clear on what they want in life.
But I don’t know what my passion is, I feel so lost!”

Someone recently shared this with me in an Instagram Live. 

Here’s what I told them:
No one knows early on in life what their passion is.
What they do have, is a desire.
And they mistake their desire for passion. 

I made the exact same mistake.

Much later, when they do realize it was not their passion, they still don’t stop.
They continue lying to themselves that it makes them happy.
Because they have been chasing it for so long!

The truth is, you don’t find your passion.
You grow your passion.
Which means it will take time.

You won’t know what your passion is, immediately.
However, you’re supposed to work on it, consistently.

Hell is a place we create, when we do something we hate.

And do not do anything to change it.

Hell is not a place, it is a choice. 

It’s okay to be okay when it’s not okay.

It’s okay to have a Windows laptop.

It’s okay to walk on your own path, instead of competing with someone else.

It’s okay to know what is okay for you, and be absolutely okay with it.

It baffles me how many true faces of employees emerge during their notice period.
It stuns me how many friends become ashamed of their old friends, as they get new ones.
It shocks me how many people become their worst enemies when they have been defeated.

However, IF you act in a way that people can trust you, YOU ARE GOLD, MY FRIEND!

Show up, when people do not expect you to.
Be there for the friend, when everyone else has left.
Be there for the company, when everybody has moved on.
Be there for your parents, when you are busy in your life.
Be there for your partner, even at their worst.

And last of all, be there for yourself, even when you feel there is no reason to.

It is tragic that rough weather is precisely when most people abandon ship.

Today is my 20th birthday, Ankur. Any advice for me? 

Whenever someone asks this to me, I have just 3 pieces of advice: 

1. Be your best friend
2. Be your worst critic
3. Be your biggest supporter

Cheers to 20s, the best decade of your life!

20s is a decade of confusion.

However, in reality, it is the best decade of your life, ever!

Here are my 3 suggestions to people in their 20s:

1. Most people in their 20s feel they are too old.
   But you are not! Do not feel you are running out of time. You are very, very, very young.
   You still have time. 
2. The only person you should be competing with, is who you were yesterday.
   No. One. Else.
3. Do not put the pressure of making long-term decisions quickly.
   The deadline to achieve things by a certain age has been set by society.
   And is a trap.
   Avoid the trap.
   Define your own pace. 

The decade that you spend in confusion, is the decade you must start spending in creation. Of yourself.

You MUST keep your money in Fixed Deposits. 

You read it right :)

You absolutely must keep your money in Fixed deposits, if:
– It is being kept as an Emergency Fund
– Not as a measure of investment

Here is how your Emergency Fund should ideally look like:

70%: Fixed Deposits
20%: Bank account
10%: Cash (or can be bank, if Debit card has no withdrawal limits)

Don’t invest your money in FDs with the false hope of making it grow.
Rather park your money in FDs with the true assurance of it backing you up when a dark day does show.

You can love, only if you know how to love yourself.
You can teach, only if you know how to learn.
You can build, only if you know how to be patient.
You can be content, only if you do not compare.
You can get rich, only if you buy assets and not status.
You can be trusted, only if you show up when one didn’t expect you to.
You can manage your time, only if you know how to value it.
You can be happy, only if you choose to be.

You can be anybody you wish to be, only if you know who you truly are.

Here is something that bothers me.

The world is increasingly indulging in glorification of entrepreneurship.

Everyday, you hear of fundraising announcements. Founders becoming millionaires and billionaires. Sponsoring tournaments, signing up celebrities, giving crazy discounts, running TV ads.

And an entire generation is being raised with the belief that starting up is the cool thing to do.

I don’t have a problem with that.

I have a problem when the belief becomes that starting up is the ONLY thing smart people do.
To the extent that those in jobs are ridiculed for being unambitious, or for not taking control of their life, or being such losers.

No! You are NOT a loser if you are in a job.

There is nothing wrong with having a job.
As long as you are happy with it. And find meaning in it.
What matters is what you want.

You want the stability and structure of a job – go for it!
You want the rush and excitement of a startup – go for it!
You want a life where you do not want to work – go for it!

Your race is not with the world.
It is not with the one who looks cooler, happier, or is more famous.

Your race is within.
It is with your own self.
The race is who you were yesterday.
And if you win that race everyday, if you are better than who you were yesterday, you are truly at peace!
If you are not winning this race, or worse not even participating in this race with yourself, you will CONSTANTLY fail by falling for what the world thinks you should be doing.