moments

We keep procrastinating and delaying things for the future. We feel we are never ready. The little moments of now have no importance to us. We keep building castles for the future. How much do we know about the future anyway? What does the future hold for us? How much do we know about it?

The little moments we have with our loved ones, we need to live to the fullest. We hardly know if they are alive tomorrow or not.

Epictetus, a stoic philosopher, said thousands of years back:

“Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our actions.”

Another stoic philosopher, Seneca, talks about the shortness of life:

“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.”

Our allocated time on this planet is limited. We have to make the best of all the moments. We cannot delay things we have been waiting for because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow.

apply

We live in a world where many constantly seek for validation. As a result, many go out of the way and incur losses. The sooner we realize that we exist in our thoughts and actions. We start applying it to practice. It will save us from many modern-day pain and misery.

Against

Building something new from scratch requires a new way of thinking and executing. The new age of innovation is happening at a rapid pace with abundant availability of resources.

Many of us fall into the trap of building new in an older way. This rigidity results in no willingness to change.

I am witnessing this struggle when I enter sales to my potential customers that are traditional family offices. The old guards prefer the older way, no modernization with no willingness to pay.

The new breed of Ivy League siblings talk about all things opposite to it. They have a world view and understanding of wealth distribution and monitoring.

A few who will mold themselves and transform will reap benefits from it. The others will fight over accumulated wealth allocation and distribution for better returns.

straight shooters

I like straight shooters. Be it making friends or doing business. They mean no shit. They will act as they are. There is no makeup in their presentation. It ensures that you know what you are getting into.

Some pretentious people will say something and mean somthing else. These people are dangerous. It’s tough to partner with them because of their unpredictability. Be wary of such.

If you want a mental peace: partner, befriend, and do business with straight shooters.

Opportunity

We have become less thankful for what we have got. Most of us growing up in the metro and late 90s would not realize how we have progressed. The everyday luxuries we take for granted: electricity, internet, and mobile phones were luxuries for the rich. As a country, we have progressed.

Our country has limited power centers, and development is limited here. The world never looks beyond these limited cities. As a result, either you mass migrate to these concentrated megacities for work or die hungry.

Chair

People don’t realize they are regarded or respected for their chair/seat or job role. Once they are out, they will be part of the ether. The new person occupying their position will reap the same love, respect, and eye candy.

I have been in this industry for the last seven years. I have seen energetic folks making it to the top with their identity and hard work. They realized early on to be genuinely loved and respected, not because of their chair.

I have also seen many funds closing, and partners leaving and disappearing overnight. Some looking for jobs and not getting them because they forgot to treat others like humans.

media

I started my career with a media company. After 2014 and the BJP government, the definition changed to GODI media. It was all about praising the ruling government.

The current parliamentary election results are out, and we have a formidable opposition.

Will the 3ed pillar of democracy come back to its root instead of sucking to the government? We are a thriving democracy, and the opposition should have been equally treated.

I hope with this mandate, the media comes back to reality.

Commandments of good advertising

I am halfway through “Confessions of an Advertising Man
Book by David Ogilvy”, where the advertising guru talks about his journey, organization, team, and customers. I liked the part where he speaks about his commandments in advertising.

Commandments of good advertising:

  1. What you say is more important than how you say it.
  2. If your campaign is not built around a great idea it will flop.
  3. Give the facts
  4. You cannot bore people into buying.
  5. If you are lucky enough to write a good advertisement, repeat it until it stops pulling,
  6. Never write an advertisement that you would not like your family to read.
  7. Be well mannered and don’t be a clown.
  8. Make your advertisement contemporary.
  9. The committee can criticize advertising but they cannot write it.
  10. The image and the brand
  11. Don’t be a copycat

resource

My 7+ years of startup journey have taught me a few things. Hiring is the core. Finding people to assemble an Avengers team is what will keep things moving. With limited resources and things falling apart, having responsible team members makes things easier.

A well-defined process will be on my list after. But unless we have a team of responsible people with a well-defined process, there is no way of succeeding.

It is not age or number of years of work experience for owning responsibility but a collective vision. For a collective vision, everyone has to believe in the cause.

What has worked for me is aligning incentives for all in the team and pushing everyone to act like a leader, not just a resource.

Karm

Bhagavad Gita, stoicism, and Buddha say the same thing: Live in the moment and don’t worry about the result. Give the best of what you have in it. I have lived by it.

I know many people who waste life dwelling through astrology, sun signs, moon signs, birth charts, numerology, and other various Eastern beliefs. Instead of doing real hard work, they waste time blaming their fate & life.

Be wary of such people. They will do everything to trap you with their dogmas. They are like viruses.

Focus on Dharam and Karm, and leave rest to the almighty.