Archive for the month May 2019

I remember working on my second book. I was on a tight almost unrealistic timeline. I had to complete the manuscript of a 400-page book in a month in order to meet publishing deadlines. Not finishing it on time would…

I recently came across a startup CEO who is big on PR and making big claims about its product. But she has no appreciation for having good people policies in place to attract the right people and once they are…

Most of us are exposed to the mind gym. Even without making any conscious effort to engage our mind in exercise. How? We read, talk, mingle with people and go through social experiences. All of these put the mind to…

Yesterday I wrote about why most of us should put off making money from our art. But if you are a brave heart and are ready to make your art your main thing then you’ll need to change. This…

Are you the lucky one? Have you found your art? [Art here is an umbrella term for anything that lets you be yourself, and brings you joy and satisfaction? Your art can be anything painting, writing, running a business, speaking, …

My sister and I were in the metro last night. She told me about her discussion with a friend. This friend told her that he hates traveling on the metro after 9 pm because it is depressing for him to…

It is possible to make things up in life. Synthesise stuff. This made up, boosted stuff works fine in the world of wants we live in. Plastic, chips that are all around us and clothes that we wear are there…

David Allen once said, “You can do anything, but not everything.” Once you choose what your ‘anything’ is, then anything is possible. See, there is a gap between reality and dreams, what we have and what we desire. And, we…

No lessons or advice today.
Just a story. A real-life story.
Last week, I got an email.
It was from Dhwani*.
1.5 years into her career, she is working as head of the strategy for a startup in Mangalore. So…

I won’t wish forced downtime on anyone.
Downtime that comes through injury, illness, job loss or any other strange reason is what I call forced downtime because it does not come out of a person’s free will.
But irrespective of…

Whether you realize it or not, you need to pitch all the time, with different asks.
As a business owner, you need to go to customers and ask for the sale. If you decide to raise funds for your startup…

You want to influence a million people.
Sit face to face and influence one person first.
You want to sell to ten thousand people. Sell to one first.
You want to speak to a large audience. Explain your idea to…

Cold outreach is not bad.
It is good to reach out to people and explore if they could use what you offer.
But there are wrong and right ways of doing it.
Most outreach I see is of the first…

First, there was nature.
Then we arrived.
And, we created the world we live in bit by bit.
Everything we see around is our collective creation.
It’s surreal.
So, whenever you feel stuck with your limited knowledge, skills or experience,…

I continue with my self-improvement experiments.
In April I challenged myself to stop eating every day at 8 pm for 21 out of 30 days in the month.
I have shared the details below but first a short note…