Opinions

Our brain is lazy. It takes shortcuts in decision-making states. That is when past experiences play its role.

We all have had our share of prejudice. Our hairstyle and beard make us a hippie. What we are wearing makes other decide we are modern or traditional.

All auto and taxi drivers are bad.
Apartment security guards are lazy.
Your made is stealing onions and potatoes.
He smokes, drinks so avoid him.
Don’t travel at night alone.
It’s Tuesday, avoid eating meat.

It is so easy to form an opinion. Most of our friends and family members are saying, this must be true.

We have surrendered our consciousness and questioning.

October readings

These are some books I read in October 2018.

1. Jesse: The Man Who Outran Hitler
The book is an autobiography of Jesse Owens. It talks about his struggles, success, and stardom. Jesse Owens was the first American black athlete to win multiple gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Germany.

2. Great Ceos Are Lazy: How Exceptional Ceos Do More in Less Time
In his book, Jim Schleckser writes about how laziness coupled with a focus makes a CEO successful.

3. Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price
Madhavan Ramanujam has been in the industry for long. In this book, he shares his wisdom on pricing products. He talks about various categories and strategies to follow in pricing software product. His piece of advice on pricing before a product is what summarizes the book.

4. A Dozen Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Tren Griffin was part of VC industry. These days he works at Microsoft. The book summarizes learning from 25 investors in Venture Capital ecosystem. Convexity and not following the herd in picking startup was the core wisdom shared by most folks.

Note: Tren Griffin is donating all the earnings from this book to an NGO.

5. Software Project Survival Guide
Steve Mcconnell shares his wisdom on project management in this book. If you are a project manager and worried about product timelines and shipping features, this book is for you.

6. On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
Seneca was a stoic philosopher. He was an advisor to Nero, one of the cruelest emperor of Rome. In this book, he talks about the importance of using our valuable time. According to Seneca, our time is short. We should use our time more wisely. Time should get priority than money or other material wealth.

Avoid

I have read since childhood: The best defense is a good offense.

With age and experience, I have modified this: The best defense avoidance.

Some situations in life are best left and avoided.

Your friend is backbiting, fight or completely avoid him/her.

Your landlord is greedy, avoid getting mad at him. Change your house.

Your founder is lying to you, paying himself more while you are working for peanuts. What can you do, avoid and get another job?

Approval

We are seeking approval from externals. This urge of seeking approval is hindering our creativity.

In every aspect of our life, we are craving it.

Blog posts are a source for channeling individuality, not page-views.

What one wears has more to do with his or her comfort, not what others say.

An entrepreneur should focus on delighting their customers. But some seeks for approval from investors, friends, and media.

This approval-seeking tendency derails us from being real us or what we are building.

Passion

Passion is a buzzword. It comes in most of my conversations with founders and friends in courtship. Passion is a valued currency in capitalism. We are selling it to each other.

I remember being passionate about many things. With experience, I have come to realize that passion and anger go hand in hand. The more passionate we are, the more is our obsession for success. Passion fuels the attitude for: “no room for failures.”

I don’t like being passionate about anything in my life. I am a believer of process and system. It keeps me sane and blood pressure in check.

Lalbagh

I spend sometime on Sunday at Lalbagh botanical garden. It forms part of old Bangalore. In a crowded metro like Bangalore, it is an absolute delight. It has a big walking trail, rose garden, lake, nursery beside many other things.

It is a world on its own. I see people running or walking and various yoga groups or runners clubs training. Parents training their kids, teaching them how to walk, holding their hands. The environment is buzzing, laughter all around. I met a group of retired seniors and they mentioned that this group has been meeting daily for many decades. I see many families carrying food with them, sitting relaxed and having a picnic. There are many others picking flowers or herbs fallen from trees.

I see many people buying fruits and vegetables. Some queued for juice the juice to quench their thirst. Many NGO’s with doctors and machines are conducting free health camps. I saw eye camp and free blood pressure checkups
Lalbagh not limited to senior citizens or families. It is a common hangout for couples, youngsters. I am assuming it is not limited to their social media or selfie postings. Lalbagh is a great venue for a post or pre-wedding shoots.

The lakeside is a delight for bird watchers and photographers. I see There some people feeding ducks and fishes. Lalbagh is abundant with various flora and fauna. I have seen many distinct species of butterflies, plants, and insects. The chirping of birds is a relief to my eardrums, for a change no honks. Sometime in the middle of the day, the loud insect noise makes me feel am in some jungle. Squirrels are the free soul of Lalbagh, I have never seen them so independent anywhere else. The Lotus pond and created waterfall is a spectacular view.
I will continue visiting Lalbagh on my Sunday. Another good feeling I have being here is that the place is free from any divide. I imagine it is Central Park equal for Bangalore.

[envira-gallery id=”3099″]

Appearance

Why is appearance important?
Why does it play such a role in our society?
One has to look good or present him/her well.
Appearance is the first criteria for acceptance and rejection.

Why are we judged on our looks or what we are wearing without uttering a word?

Eat to please thyself, but dress to please others.
— Benjamin Franklin

A smart guy like Benjamin Franklin also advocated for it. 🙁

Is it our laziness or the unlimited availability which resulted in this?

We have multi-billion cosmetics and grooming industry reaping benefits of human vulnerability. Loaded with advertisements and counseling, they are telling us what to wear and apply to our skin.

Why can’t there be a world which recognizes humans as we are? Why do we have to get into the zone of looking or wearing like someone?

Your beard, your shorts, and an unironed T-shirt has no place here.

Diogenes must be laughing from above seeing all this.

Human operating system

What keeps us going? What keeps us sane? What drives us to wake up every morning, live our day to its best? There are many factors which shape us. These factors differentiate us from other humans.

Being a guinea pig myself, spending a lot of time tinkering I have found some clue.

They are:

* Food
* Exercise
* Music
* Reading
* Friends, company of people.
* Individual living philosophy.

I will write on each over coming days. I will relate them with its impact on me.

Help

We all need help. Asking for help is not a sign of fear. Our life is not a self-help book. We should reap most from our circle of competence.

Asking for help is wise, it saves your time. You get expert in that specific domain telling you what and how about it.

Some of us read and fell for 10000 hours ritual, which made the author rich.

Why do we have to fake it and not seek help?
Is our ego so important?
What about the life of people and co-workers we are leading?
Are we not cheating on them?

Seeking help is not about ego depletion or guilt ride. It’s about holding the hand of a perfectionist and getting a job done.

Anonymous

In 2018, being anonymous is a crime. Everyone wants your identity, even the government.

Your tiny little phone keeps track of every single minute of your movement. Then you have applications like Tinder, Uber and others. All whose service depends on location.

I have no clue if it is good or bad. I have nothing to hide.

While most of us like our identity, selfie, and social sharing. Some of us are not comfortable with it. The reason can be the social barometer and glorification of our youth or skin color.

This group is intelligent, smart and open-minded. Still, there is a big division.

Why is such a division?
Are we the ones responsible for it?
Have we made them anonymous?
Why is not using social media uncool?
The constant urge of updating our whereabouts is cool?

Are we more lonely than before by being bolder?

I have no answers.