koolhead17
We take most things in our life for granted. The freedom to be independent financially or personally. This is something the maximum population around the globe is missing. We are blessed, but we don’t realize it. Not everyone is born rich or lucky to have all this.
Modern-day self-help keeps selling you an agenda of you can do anything. The reality is far from it. When every ounce of your energy is about preparing for the next meal or not being killed, does this self-help do any help?
Our humanity thrives on convenience. Every single innovation of humanity has driven society towards it. We call ourselves advanced because most of the manual labor we have automated. The era of finding love, counseling, food, and soulmates all started happening over finger tap.
Is there a flip side to it? Some will say our lifestyle has gone towards being a couch potato, time spent on fields is now spent watching Netflix. We are more of a society breeding individualism. The emergence of influencer-led sales says it all.
We are more of a faceless society where one section is at the bottom of the pyramid doing everything for our convenience and another gets sick of the sedentary lifestyle. We are more disconnected in real and more connected virtually. Our emotions are mechanized too. We are paying price of a civilized generation.
In a high-pressure environment where the stakes are high and both risks and rewards are significant, emotions will inevitably run high. As long as everyone’s position is heard and there are no personal attacks, this emotional intensity can be healthy.
When individual, team, and organizational goals are aligned, it creates a win-win situation. In such cases, emotions can lead to a net positive outcome. However, when alignment is lacking, ongoing struggles arise. Anger and animosity may develop on both sides, affecting the entire team. In such scenarios, the better approach is to take a step back, reassess the organization’s goals, and part ways with those who do not align with the broader mission.
I keep hearing that hiring is a challenge. We have had our share, too. One thing that has stood by us is finding people with fire—in crude terms, fire in the butt (gand me dum). Some people think I am offending them by saying this during interviews.
A startup is a roller coaster ride. Apart from the runway, there are many other things to worry about. What works in these situations is having a team with the core virtue of going all in for the kill. We need people with fire and ownership.
With a small team like ours and what we have been building, this approach has worked for us—finding people with “bum me dum.” I believe anyone and everyone can learn things, but the attitude of owning and running the show is what makes a big difference.
The era of a balanced life is over. Our parents were lucky to have stable 9-to-5 jobs and enough time to spend on hobbies. The burden of consumerism and mass migration is upon us. Let me not even remind you about inflation and unaffordable real estate prices.
We used to manufacture things before making China the factory of the world. The peril of that is now everyone wants a cabin job. The service industry will go through a major overhaul as AI is knocking on our door. There won’t be enough jobs to fulfill everyone’s dreams.
The era of higher studies isn’t going anywhere either. Even Ivy League placements have dried up. Our lives are due for a major reshuffle. We have to stop taking things for granted.
I’d say entrepreneurship is the next big thing—if you have the heart for it and the quest to travel uncharted territory. Nothing is easy, nothing is difficult, as long as your ass is on fire and you’re willing to go to any length to make life worth living. And having a balanced life will be the last of it.
It is great to dream of having a good life, a satisfying job, a life partner, and loving friends around. Most humans strive for these things. In reality, very few achieve them. The reason is “missing commitment.”
The lever between success and failure in transforming a dream into reality requires commitment from the self. No one will come and feed you or hand-hold you in making your dreams into reality.
In short, your life is in your hands and requires a lot of commitment from you. A satisfying job comes with equipped tech know-how, a life partner comes when you both are committed together, and friends stay when you are there for them at all times: good or bad.
There is a thin line between confidence and bullshitting. When you are confident, you will be less arrogant, and your actions will speak for you. It is not about what you wear or the phone you carry, but how you value the conversation.
We are living in a world where fakes get more eyeballs than originals. One reason for that is bullshitting. Fakes end up hyping everything and deceiving others. But it is temporary—over time, the world will find out the reality.
If you have done your part and you are confident, you don’t have to worry about bullshitters. Sooner or later, the world will recognise you and your work. They will come to you after getting duped by the bullshitters.
You need to have your heart in the right place to succeed. What I mean by that is: we human mind is a monkey mind and society fueled with consumerism has chained us. We are in some kind of competition like a video game or Farmville or catching Pokemon.
If our incentives are not aligned with the opportunity we are spending most of our time at, we will fail miserably and it will impact everyone. It’s like caught on the wrong job just for financial freedom.
Would Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci, or Van Gogh exist if their heart and work had not been together?
Our society is undergoing a generational shift. From politicians to officials to families, we are witnessing the emergence of new stewards of the future. What held priority in the past may be discarded, and new priorities will take their place. Fresh gateways to opportunity will open, and many careers that previous generations dismissed as trivial will enter the mainstream.
These changing times demand a new worldview—or at least a mental rewire. Without this, generational friction will only grow. Our shifting ideologies, values, priorities, and perspectives can be a double-edged sword.
The older generation may label us as naive or foolish, while we may see them as overly cautious or risk-averse. And so, the drama continues—repeating itself every couple of decades.
As an underdog, I consider myself fortunate to have received the opportunities that have come my way. It takes small, consistent steps, a tremendous amount of hard work, and an almost unimaginable level of self-belief to wake up every day and compete with well-established players.
What has worked for me so far is building a hungry, self-driven team that operates independently.
What works for us may not work for others. But our core learning has been simple: give everyone an opportunity, allow time to make mistakes, and encourage them to learn and improve. Some team members surprise us by taking ownership and performing like founders themselves. Others, unfortunately, take things for granted.
We can afford this approach because we’ve created room for experimentation and are not in a rush to scale.
Truly successful organizations are built by people who share a common vision and whose long-term goals align with both their personal growth and the organization’s incentives.