Are we living in a world where being confident is limited to a few? Why is somebody’s confidence taken distinctly in a group? Is being confident is a sign or proud or arrogance? Is the virtue confidence uncommon? Is it because since birth we are told what we cannot do? Is it our conditioning via …
Author Archives: Atul
Ikigai
My friend Vinay asked me to read Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. Ikigai is a way of living, practiced in Japan. These are 10 core principles of Ikigai. Stay Active, don’t be idle Take it slow, things take time Less is more, eat less than your heart says Surround yourself …
Poker and Startup
Halfway through delivering happiness, a book was written by Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos. He talks about how business, a startup is similar to playing poker. I found these pages worth sharing.
change
We humans dislike changes. We like automaticity more. It keeps us sane and drains less of our cognitive energy. You will relate to this in case you are working hard on losing weight or quitting sugar. Gaining new skills is equally tiring. Our sacred text reminds us change is permanent. I find it confusing.
True North
A few find meaning in their life early on. They are lucky. These people devote an entire life to the cause. It can be serving the destitute, nation or ensuring the family gets everything at all cost. A lot many of us die looking for that True North, one thing to cling on for entire …
Moment
This moment is the reality, this minute is the reality. We are dying every minute. Can we celebrate these dying moments? The choice is ours, either celebrate it or stay miserable.
Perfect
We are all sold on the idea of perfection. We want the perfect partner, job, vacation, and other worldly things.” Our urge for this perfectionism has a side effect. We stop caring and celebrating. Our life journey is not a one-legged mammoth. Instead of living life while aspiring to make it perfect while living, enjoying …
wall
Working with a big team scares me. I am working under many silos. The wall of hierarchy and interacting with many personas. It is like many worlds working inside and each being clueless. I like Jeff Bezos philosophy of 6 member team, fitting on a big size Pizza. Does it still hold for Amazon? The …
Burnout
Burnout is real. It can happen to any team size. It is for a leader to keep an eye on the team. Apart from a great working environment, transparency, a leader has to be aware of setting up an honest expectation. A leader has to nudge, encourage and empower every single team member. The radical …
users
The rule of successful product development is simple: listen to your users. But are all users equal? I would strongly say NO. My journey so far has taught me about 3 categories of users. Noisy: They will create all the noise, what features are lacking in the product. They will show a superficial association with …