body

Last few years, I have become more careful about myself, especially my body. I am getting old like everyone else. Once you cross 30’s, it is better to start giving more attention.

Food:
I figured out that wheat is making me bloated, and coffee post-lunch can screw up my sleep. It took me multiple hit and trial to find our peanut sensitivity. The sugar ailments run in the family’s DNA so, I have given up white powder.

Exercise:
I was running 35-40km at a good pace until 2019. I have slowed down, running much shorter distances now. My knee has started giving me pain once in a while, and I don’t want to get it operated on it in later days.

Mind:
Jiddu says our mind is like a monkey mind; other social scientists talk about type1 and type2 brain. You have to find out what calms you down. Is it listening to some instrumentals? Spending time on gardening? Doing pranayama?

In the end, it is our body and, we have to find out what works best for us. Others will only advise from their past experience or readings.

equal

Are we all equal? Is it even possible to attain equality in we humans? Our civilization has existed for many years, and the progress has resulted in more division.

Then it was rich and poor, now we have added multifold divisions. With the advancement of modernization and a technology-driven world, we are seeking ultra humans. There is no room for mediocre.

When we compare nations, the richer ones are selling arms, medicine, and technology to the poor and developing ones. Where is equality? The underdeveloped are turning into colonies for developed nations, giving up natural resources and human labor.

Can a student from remote India compete with metro kids? Is he/she not lagging in the advancement? How is it equality when they both get thrown at the same treadmill for seeking a future opportunity?

The market has self-help books and inspirational videos. They must be making billions selling us dreams and preaching equality, belief, motivation, etc.

Can a daughter of your maid equal to your daughter?
The laborer working in the coal mine, his kids running around has an equal opportunity like your kids?
How many farmers’ sons are competing with city boys for entrepreneurship or top management jobs?

Our media, politicians sprinkle Koolaid showing how a poor boy qualified an exam against all odds, a boxer winning medal for the country came from rugs. They never mention to you about millions of other broken dreams.

The gospel of equality is spread by a few who have everything; The rest world is still full of pain and suffering. Poors are dying because they have no money to buy medicines. The underage girls are still married because they are considered a burden for their parents. A farmer’s kid has to come to the metro and work like a donkey to save the family from dying hungry. What equality and opportunity do they have?

You are reading this, consider lucky and privileged. Thank your parents and ancestors for getting you a headstart against billion others in the rat race.

no limits

I am halfway reading Mukesh Bansal: No Limits; picked it from Karthik.
The book is about Mukesh’s journey and his learning about the well being of us. I found its collection of content from dozen-odd books on various subjects from physical, mental well being.

So if you would like to know about us humans, how we act, why we behave in a certain way in a particular scenario, and what keeps us healthy. It is a 300 pages good summary.

I wonder if it was a collection of notes from Mukesh’s reading list because the topics cover healthy eating to exercise to becoming super productive.

I have bought a few copies of the book and gave away to some friends.

paranoid

The last time I met Mukund, he recommended Andrew Grove: Only the paranoid survive. The kind of opinionated reader I am, I just thought, why do we have to be paranoid in running a business.

Last week I picked the book finally. It is a short read. I found 10X lingo in many instances.

The book is about disruptive technology and what a leader should do to survive. The author wrote it in 1996. It talks in detail about the early days of Intel challenges within the team and competitors. All around decision making capability, listening to the external world, and changing dynamics.

As a leader, it teaches you a few things like grit, perseverance, self-belief, and team.

doubt

We push ourselves to the unexpected. We are trying to solve the unsolvable mysteries of the universe, science, and technology. Is there any room for doubt?

Why do we doubt ourselves? Is it because we are less confident, is it because we are scared to fail?

Is doubt even an option for researchers, builders, scientists, or medical practitioners?

When all eyes of the civilization are on you, doubt will hinder innovation and progress. It will fail the entire team and delay in producing the desired result be it a medicine or technology.

moderation

We are living in a world where moderation is a thing of the past. A runner wants to compete in ironman, an e-commerce site offers one plus two discounts, and Friday brewery trail comes with happy hours. Netflix has binge-watching over ice cream, alcohol, caffeinated drink, and lots of carbs. Overdoing has become a matter of pride and a badge of honor?

Every single element of modern society guides you towards more is good. None talks about moderation. Is it because the bus of consumerism will come to a halt? Instead of providing service and charging, everyone has become an attention merchant?

We are earning more, spending more, eating more, and getting more sick. We have everything in abundance, including disease, stress, pain.

What happened to the teachings of minimalism and moderation taught by our forefathers? We dumped, burnt them, or erased it?

All men have the capacity of knowing themselves and acting with moderation.
— Heraclitus

focus

Is multitasking the need of the hour? Can’t we focus on one thing and give our best in it? Is multitasking a byproduct of modernization and the connected world we are?

We are running so fast that we are getting injured more often. The precision with which work was done earlier is getting scarce. Deep work and Flow are things of the past. We want to know everything, give an opinion on everything and not an expert in anything.

Is it because we are competing with the human race instead of ourselves? We have lofty goals, like get rich quick or become successful in no time? Everyone want’s to be as successful as Sachin Tendulkar, but very few want to work as him for decades to reach perfection.

Our focus should be the mantra resulting in performance. It has taken a backseat. The world is swimming in shallow knowledge and, mediocracy.

vulnerability

We are all vulnerable one or the other way. I blame it on our monkey mind. We are building our castles, switching to the next thing with the hope of being satisfied. The race to succeed, feel good, or garner appreciation from the loved ones or colleagues at work.

We are in a constant fight within. We value ourselves less than we deserve. We stop trusting ourselves and our capabilities and adversely affect ourselves, our health, and loved ones around.

A leader is also a coach of his league; he/she should ensure that none of their team members are vulnerable. That will happen with open culture, trust, and freedom. It is not easy, but for a rocketship to sail a leader has to do everything.

broken

A founder’s life is lonely. It is always day zero. It circles around uncertainty. Someday the trusted best-performing employee will resign or the other your customer. From cook, negotiator, coder, mentor. Everything comes on a single plate.

I know there are million-odd videos on youtube and a million other podcast guiding how to start a startup. Searching on Amazon will throw a great number of books as well. Social media is full of entrepreneurship Gyan(teachings). The fun part is none of these will fit your creation. We are all different, our journey of building a startup is different.

The journey is full of pain and uncertainty. The thing which works out is self-belief and grit. This world is fucked up place, everything is broken. That gives us more reason to work hard and fix it. As long as you are or your company is not dead, there is the hope of building something incredible.

I remember getting mentored by AB, my boss at minio. He told me the company sails through anything and everything and becomes successful as long as founders have not given up. I truly believe in it.

This journey of entrepreneurship is tough, full of uncertainty and that is why you need believers, coaches, and mentors. Someone you can trust, talk about everything, who have seen your ups and downs. People you look upon, seen them sailing in their life closely.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
— Murakami