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What’s a surprising long term investment to career success?
Being likeable.

It doesn’t mean you agree with everyone on everything.
It doesn’t mean you go after currying favour.

It means you:

1. Act with respect
Whether it’s a senior, junior, office peon, security guard, or your colleagues. Acting with respect irrespective of how they look, speak, dress, the college they went to or how much they earn, speaks a lot about who you are.

2. Don’t complain. Ever.
People who are constantly complaining suck the energy out of you. You wouldn’t be doing the same to others.

3. Embrace feedback.
You may or may not agree with every feedback you receive, however, if you listen to the objectivity of the message, it will only work out for you.

If people like you, life will be easier.

I absolutely unapologetically judge people who send “Good morning” messages on WhatsApp.

Until I became one of them :)

Last month, my team and I went for an offsite to Puducherry.
Offsites help us know each other, for not just the work we do, rather also for who we are.

Once I got back home, it felt weird to not have a meal together, after having all meals together for 5 continuous days!
So I sent a “good morning” text to our group.

My wife was surprised, because I would be the last person ever to do that!

It turns out, sometimes it is okay to surpass your own beliefs.
Especially when you’re missing your team :))

Scared of public speaking?
Speak in public.

Scared of approaching strangers?
Approach strangers.

Scared of cold emailing?
Send cold emails.

Scared of losing someone?
Love yourself.

Fear is beautiful.
I love fear.
Because behind every fear is a person you want to be.

Everyday, I interact with people in their 20s, who feel “old”.
They feel lost, because they are not yet “settled”.
They do not know what their purpose is!

Let me share with you my perspective.

I am 41, and I cannot even begin to tell you how young 41 feels!
In my 20 years of professional life, I have changed 5 careers.

I studied to become a space scientist, then dropped out.
I became a consultant, then quit to startup.
Started up and quit to join a large startup.
Quit the large startup to startup on my own again.
Quit the startup to create content.
Today, I am FAR AWAY from the 20 year old Ankur who wanted to become a space scientist.

And I am still not settled!

I don’t know what will happen next.
So you my friend, who are MUCH younger – the possibilities are endless!
Your future is yours.
Only when you chose not to settle.
Instead, keep exploring.

I felt like a loser that day.

But later on, I made sure that I grew faster than anyone around me.

Indeed, it happened. Here’s how:

This is about day 1 of my PhD class in the US.
22 students.
Our professor asks us this question:

Why do you think the planet earth has seasons?

Guess what?
EVERYBODY in the class knew the answer, apart from me!

I felt like a loser!

However, over the next two years, I decided to work so hard, that I ended up topping the class throughout my stint in the US.

It turns out, sometimes it is okay to feel like a loser, because you end up doing things that you yourself hadn’t expected!

PS: BTW, do you know why Earth has seasons? :)

3 things I wish I could tell younger Ankur Warikoo:

1. It’s not necessary that the work you’re good at, is the work that also brings you happiness.

2. We do not find our passion. We grow our passion.
By spending time on things that nudge for our attention.

3. If you have been doing something for a long time, but now you know that it’s not right for you, it’s perhaps time to change it.
Instead of thinking of the time gone by, look at the time lying ahead – which is your entire life!.

What would your last day on earth look like?

Would you want to party more?
Would you want to do more gossips about people?
Would you want to work more and earn more money?

None, right?

You would rather call your parents. Spend time with your family. Spend time reflecting about life!

What’s stopping you from doing that now?

What we ought to do on the last day on earth, is what we ought to do today. Because we’ll never get to know which one is our last day :)

We work really hard in our company.
We are proud of that.

But, we also party hard.
An offsite every quarter.
B’day gift up to Rs. 5K home delivered.
Free access to Spotify or a meditation service of their choice.
Unlimited budget for any online course.

For that though, goodness, dedication to work, and getting better each day, are the inputs we put in. Every single day. 
Just like with every good thing we get, goes a bigger amount of input, and even bigger joy. And that is the best company policy ever :)

Is it even possible to create your luck?

I believe yes.

Let’s say two friends go to a trip to Goa.
For the next seven days, they both eat the same things, enjoy their desserts, even eat a bit more than usual
Friend 1 has a habit of working out daily, eating right, sleeping on time, etc. Friend 2, on the other hand, lives a sedentary lifestyle.

Once they are back from the trip, Friend 1 is quickly able to rebound, if they gained weight.
While for Friend 2, losing weight is going to be a huge struggle.

Friend 1 created their luck. Friend 2 created their luck.
Both did the same things, but their inputs and lifestyles were different.

It turns out, we create our luck through our habits. What could be more powerful than that?

If you as a designer take 3 hours to create a picture, you might take 13 to create a video.

It doesn’t mean you are a bad designer, it simply means you didn’t play on your strengths.

To win does not mean winning in all directions.
To win means to excel in the path you have chosen for yourself