On my own

1st June 2017 was when I was free from my last full time job. It also means since then (aka over a year) I have been on my own.

Looking back at these 360+ odd days, I have realized that I have done good for myself. I feel I have become more calm, healthy and confident.

Most of my time in the last one year has been spent on reading, learning new things like doodling, coding and rebuilding  my mental and physical strength. I have also been occasionally writing my “Random Thoughts”.

I have also spent a good amount of money on coffee, not that I’m complaining about it.  I also happened to meet some extremely talented folks and made some great friends, who are always inspiring me to do better.

On the reading front, I mostly focussed on learning more about guts (our microbiome), human brain, running, keto, intermittent fasting, on writing, philosophy (mostly Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Osho and Jiddu Krishnamurti) and product development.

I felt scared and lonely at times. One constant question was : “WTF am I doing?”

I can happily say that I will not  die of hunger, will survive. I have some great friends and mentors who are helping and will always be my side on this journey of life exploration.I have been working on some startup ideas and trying to explore some more.

This constant fight with self and struggle to understand “Who am I? ” seems to have made me gritty and system driven.

I would like to share 10 learnings from these 360+ days of my life:

  • Life is too short, living in the present matters the most.
  • Spending time with like minded people is the key to happiness.
  • Physical and mental health is our only asset and it will define our wealth.
  • What you eat, what you read, whom you spend time with and what you listen to will define you as a person. So choose wisely.
  • Real evaluation is in your daily virtues and  life principles.
  • Money is important but not everything, don’t fall for consumerism.
  • Your focus and consciousness will make or break you.
  • Don’t be an asshole, one less on the planet will do good (even in a small sample size).
  • Learning comes by doing: gurus, books, degrees are worth nothing if you are not implementing it on yourself.
  • Life is like a train journey. At every stop we meet new folks and learn new things and then we move on for our new quest