Category: Weekly Notes

Wk 08-26 – Weekly Notes

Notes, thoughts, ideas and links from Week #8, 2026

Morning.
I am perched at the community table at my local Starbucks. And I have my headphones on and I am writing this. As always in parts.

Oh, as I write this part (at around 11 AM), I dont have the headphones and and AK is standing behind me.

And as I write this (at around 10 PM), am at the Starbucks and staring at a wall.

This has been one of the most “regular” weeks where I did regular things. For most days, I was up and about between 6 and 8, and then I came to this Starbucks where I am at, and then ate home made lunch, and then slept, and then done some work. And I thought about a lot of things and been thinking about things and avoiding things. And of course, I have a lot to talk about.

So, lets get with it.

Oh, the song of the week is this.

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Ok, let’s go ahead with the review.

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💭 Highlights, reflections, updates, notes and thoughts from Week 8, 2026

As always, these are not in any order.

1/ What did I change you mind on, in the last week?

This one is thanks to Krishna.

For all the differences and frustrations I have with him, he remains one of my closest people. He makes me think, helps me when I need anything and is around, in general all the time. Plus most of my conversations with him are not about mundane life things (you know, school and clothes and all that). Rather about where we could be and all that.

This past week, he and I were talking about certain someone, lets call this person A, and he pointed to me that my opinion about him are biased and I must not give him as much attention.

But then, I have my reasons for being such a fan of him. I’ve seen him grow from being a young boy to a man he is, I’ve seen him hustle thru college, startups, relationships and life. I’ve seen him do things that I can not even dream about.

But Krishna pointed at anecdotes and examples of inconsistency. And then he threw in weight of his experiences and gave me specific data points that made me rethink my perspective. And by the end of it, epiphany dawned onto me and I was able to change my opinion.

I am glad that I continue to have strong opinions loosely held. And no, I am not kaan ka kachcha. So, a win!

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2/ SG’s Performance Mode

I was talking to AD about something and then I said, lets record it so that we’d have notes and all.

And then he said something interesting. He said that moment I have a camera on, I get into the “performance mode”. As if I am talking to an audience and measuring my words. And that doesn’t bring out the real, unfiltered me!

On one side I wanted to deny it and refuse. I know that I dont get into one.

On the other, I dont want to say no to AD’s third-party opinion about me. Even Pradeep mentioned that he felt that I am in performance mode when I speak with him.

And I know that I dont want to ever be into a performance mode. For me, my authenticity and persona are the most critical. I will never ever put a face or a facade. But if AD’s pointing it, and Pradeep is validating it, I want to fix it. More so because in the times to come, I plan to be lot more vocal and visible and all that.

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3/ Burn The Paper

In some cultures, they say that if you want to forget about something, you should write on a piece of paper and burn it. This is a part of our rituals that we get thru to mourn over things that we dont want to lose.

Ofc, despite these elaborate rituals and processes and mournings, people dont get over things.

In my case, I am the opposite. I get over things fast. I tend to not hold grudges. But I ensure that I dont get into a relationship / transaction with people who I feel have wronged me. You know, I tear their page. I panna faaado them. Thank you, Nath Saab for the lesson.

I also forget about and get over things once I write about those on this blog (or on my Roam and lately on my YT live).

For example, last week I talked about Chalta Purza. Till I reviewed the last week’s notes, I had no recollection that I even wrote about it. In fact, when I “wander” on my notes and on my blog, I often discover things that I would’ve liked to remember but I have since forgotten. Another case in point, Riya and another person asked me about who I talked about in the last week’s blog and ISTG I dont recall who I wrote about.

On one side, this is a good thing – I dont fret over things that most people will ruminate over, for days and weeks. Plus, this blog, journaling has become my emotional anchor.

And on the other, its not so good thing – I dont let my emotions process. I dont grieve. I dont celebrate. I dont let my environment shape me as much as I would want it to.

So, maybe, I will try and find a compromise. May be I will use AI and all that to help me remember things and take lessons from and build myself on top of. May be I will double down on my personality and ensure that I become even more immovable.

What do you think?

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4/ Paddling to loved ones

Now that I have chosen to live and communicate without filters, I have started to see things that I otherwise missed.

Last week was epiphany that people use me. This week, I have had a couple of incidents where MY people are paddling things to me.

These are MY people. The ones I would kill for. The ones I respect. The ones I’ve grown up with.

Lemme talk about a story. I remember long ago, one of my friends from MDI had tried to sell a gold coin MLM scheme to me. I walked away from it but it left an indelible impression on me. That attempt to sell to me is probably why I am not comfortable selling to friends and family.

But then when I read about how the world works, I find that most people sell to their loved ones, their connections, their alum. And I find that weird. Supporting your friends, voluntarily, is ok. But using them to build your life? Unacceptable. I’ve always been the kinds to not charge anything from my friends and family. In fact, if anything I’ve tried to go out of my way to help them. And if someone’s tried to sell to me, I’ve been ok to accept their need (and may be greed) and if I could afford, buy from them.

So when this week, when I saw at least two examples where my people tried to sell to me, I could recognise the pattern and realised that may be that’s the way of the world and I am not meant to operate here?

Thoughts?

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5/ SongKran for C4E

I think SongKran is one of THE best experiences that us humans have invented. Each person must experience it at least once in our lives.

I wanted to have as many of my people experience it. And I offered everyone at C4E that I could take them there. I was willing to pay for it. But after a quick poll, I realised that my people weren’t as excited about it as I was.

Which is ok.

So this becomes one more addition to the long list of things that I’ve wanted to do for my people but I havent been able to.

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6/ FOMO with AI

I am falling behind.

That’s it.
That’s the emotion.
I said it.

Before I launch into a rant, lemme get something out of the way. I am not afraid. I am not scared. I am not worried about a “job loss”. I will survive that. I am a cockroach. My worry is my shot at greatness. My ambition of being the richest man in the world. My impact. And no, not cos I want to leave behind some legacy.

So, I have this overwhelming FOMO about the AI revolution transforming the world. And I am being a passive observer as the world rushes past me. I belong to action. I am for doing things. I am built for motion. Movement defines me. I want to move things.

And yet, am twaddling thumbs and merely nodding at other people.

The funny thing is that I can spot patterns from previous tectonic shifts and my inability to participate in those. When the world shifted to crypto (and then to web3), I had zero participation. I am maximalist and HODLer (if I had any coins, I wont sell those) and yet I dont have no money/investments/assets.

And if I were to go back even more, I was unable to capitalize on the social media boom. Before that I was unable to participate in the software boom.

And more recently, I failed at learning how to use Vercel, Cursor, Claude etc. Heck I couldnt even install clawdbot! Plus I am not sure if I can learn coding at this age.

So yeah. Big FOMO. I must do something about it!

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7/ PIMA session for the world

So, Sajith Pai has this concept of PIMA. See this. And ever since I heard about it, I’ve wanted to get a PIMA team for myself. More so in this day and age.

And thanks to Pradeep and Aarya, I have finally found some semblance of structure.

We have a WA group where we share links and lessons with each other. And then we read it at our time. And then each Thursday, we sit together to jam on what we read. And how it applies to our lives. And how can we leverage that.

No, we dont get into any specific instructional workshop or workalongs. We keep it like an edutainment piece and jam on it from a more philosophy lens. For example, on the last week’s call, we talked about…

  • how SAAS is not dying (but distribution is getting harder)
  • how the brain is overloaded (and not lazy)
  • how you can build taste

And it was probably the best 30-45 mins session!

So, encouraged by that, I want to open my PIMA calls to others.

Here’s a place where you can put your name in case you want to participate. And then either Aarya or I will get back to you.

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8/ Misc notes that are worth capturing

Here are some that I want to capture here.

  1. I am thinking a lot about my personal brand. Though I dont have a lot of action. One sub-action is that I need to write more.
  2. I have been thinking about focus and deliberate work. Again, no large thoughts. And while we are on focus as a subject, here’s Dandapani on Focus. Here.
  3. Anu’s recent essay on Stability. Link. For a change, I dont agree with Anu. She’s no doubt one of my favorite internet writers and each time she writes, I read the piece a few times till I internalize it. And then challenge my thinking. However, I dont agree to a lot of things shes said in this one but it’s worth a read for sure. I wish I knew her to be able to debate with her and get clarity in my thinking.
  4. Dan’s video on The Future Of Work (& The New High-Income Skill Stack). Link. In words of Pradeep, “[Dan] is talking about a shift from the creator economy to the meaning economy where people will increasingly pay for perspective, opinion, and curation rather than just labor or output. He talks about skills needed to provide this meaning – Agency, Taste, Perspective, Persuasion, and using AI tools.”
  5. Naval released a new podcast on AI. Link. Yet to consume. But I do love how it calls it “A Motorcycle for the Mind”
  6. Made a spreadsheet of all the LLM accounts, logins and all. Across 6 LLMs, I have like 18 accounts. And a lot of those are paid. I also had decided that I would name my LLMs but I havent had the time to.
  7. Boman sir has announced a contest for his students. I want to send an entry to it. I have an idea. I will work on it as part of my Guru Dakshina to him for teaching me so much about writing in the COVID-19 lockdown.
  8. Saw a play on Rashmirathi. This one by IDEA. Realised how much I love theatre. And I want to see more of it. And no, I dont like grand performances with elaborate sets. I want intimate ones where you can feel the breath of the actors and the texture of what’s happening behind the scenes.
  9. This post by Seth Godin on freelancing is worth it’s weight in gold. Do read.
  10. Saw a very interestingn hardware company – Antimattr. And their first product, a wearable. Do check it out.
  11. Read about Allostatic Load. See this.
  12. Read more about Bayes’ Theorem. This is one of those things that rule the world in plain sight and as someone who wants to be impactful, this is a critical one.
  13. Saw this tool that gives you meta data about how you use WA. See this by Nikunj. I used it and it made the following chart for my use of WA.
Who would have thought that I was more active in the last 45 days of the month when I was on the road!

Needless to say, I love data!

And with that, I will end this week’s notes.

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🈺 Photos from Week 8

Here are some.
Again, not too many.
I must take more photos. Taking a note to self.

And maybe I will stop sharing this section if I am able to write more about photos that I click.

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🈺 Trackers from Week 8

This week on, I started with a weekly tracker.
To be able to see trends.
Before I get to those, here are the highlights…

  1. Screentime on mobile phone is down to 5 hours. Took a lot of effort. I think getting it to 30 minutes is not possible in this day and age. May be I will aim for sub one-hour.
  2. Played lesser pickle. And I see my pickle sessions dropping in the coming weeks. I need to find new players. This means I will have to socalise. And this mean I will have to put in superhuman effort. Sigh.
  3. I need to add some fitness regimen. This has been on my lists forever.
  4. No action on words.

What do you see?

And here’s the tracker (here, no access)…

The tracker for the week of 22 Feb.

The amber ones are where I did bad compared to the previous week. The green ones are where I got better. With time, I will evolve this tracker to present a more solid picture of how I am doing.

Also, I maintain a daily pen and paper tracker. Here…

Please excuse the bad photo.

While I love the pen and paper, at some point in time I will move to a purely digital one. I want to be travelling a LOT more and thus the need for a digital life.

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🈺 Action on LARGE objectives for the year

In this section, I will capture my progress on large objectives for the year. 

In 2026, I plan to do the following three things…

  1. Book2
  2. Human Flag Pole
  3. Save a million dollars

No action in the last week on any of these goals. I had wanted to build a system but I was unable to. This will become my number 1 task over the next few days. Coupled with my use of AI to seek help and save time, I may be able to do. Will keep posted.

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☑️ So, what did I get done last week? And what will I do next week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

This year, I want to track the following…

  1. Health. I will work on sleep, food and movement. Last week the highlight is that I had a green recovery for 7 days on a trot!
  2. C4E / Work. I want to shortlist some idea that I want to work on. I am still not there.
  3. Brand SG / Distribution. No action on this. I remain away from social media. Dying to get back. I think I am missing out a lot on by not being on X.
  4. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc). No action.
  5. Book2. I want to start with this. Lol!
  6. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc). No action.

Made comments in italics. Do read and give inputs.

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🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I added Health as a key section last year. I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

Like the last few weeks, no action. I did play pickle four times this week, if that counts. And my daily health updates WA Channel is live!

Plus like I said, I had 7 ays of Green recovery. See this…

I think this is the first 7-day green streak for me!

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🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

A few things.

  1. Start a podcast with C and AK. This remains open and will probably get shut. I dont see the excitement in the three of us. Closing this. Couldnt make progress.
  2. Update C4E’s Culture Book. This is still WIP.
  3. Storytelling presentation for the session on the 7th March. WIP.

These few come to mind as I speak. I have a suspicion that this will grow and will become unmanageable in a few weeks. I will find a solution when I get to it. For the time being, here’s a sheet where I track my actions.

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🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Regular.

Again.

The other words for this year have been: Regular, Easy, Journey, Downtime.

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Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. Previous editions:

  • 2026: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

PPS: Please do point typos.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 07-26 – Weekly Notes

Morning!
I am at my favorite regular Starbucks.
Perched on a corner table (not on the community table for a change), a buttered coffee in my hand, lingering pain in my back, knee, ankles and I dont know where all and a lot of thoughts.

So, I played pickle yesterday (the third session of the week; yay!) and it was not the best.

I didn’t even get a drop of sweat. The weather was not really cold. It must have been 28. I saw AK and Prak sweating like they were in some furnace.

The game was also not the best. I mean I won all the matches I played (I am better than the ones I play with) and I could see that if I played with the folks on court next to mine, I would not win a single point.

And for some reason I was ticked. I dont know what it was. I cant pinpoint it. And I hate it. And I carried that thru the night. Was pissed. Ate crap. And then as I type this (10:01 am, 14th Feb), I am not in the best of my moods. And I dont know what to do to snap out of the mood.

The only saving grace is that this has happened after many many days (I saw my tracker and at least in the month of Feb, all I have is good days, 1s. Not even 0). So that.

Maybe this free-writing will help? May be I need to find a way to hit some punching bags. Maybe I need to get back to twitter ;P

Anyhow. Lets see where I go from here.

Edit: 6 PM on the 14th. Moods significantly better!

Edit: 8 AM on the 15th. As of editing this, I played on Saturday also. So 4 days in a week.

The track of the week is Prana’s mashup of A Thousand Years and Lag Ja Gale. Here. I love the lines, pass aaiye…

Now, with that out of the way, here’s the weekly review.

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💭 Highlights, reflections, updates, notes and thoughts from Week 7, 2026

As always, these are not in any order.

1/ Chalta Purza

This has to be the highlight of the week!

I met Bhanu for a lunch and among other things he told me that I am a Chalta Purza. This is the second best thing someone has told me about me. The best is Cockroach (thank you, Vanita).

Per Bhanu, a Chalta Purza is like a cog that can fit into any machine and make the machine go like the fastest rocket to space on the shortest path possible. In other words, Jack of all trades. And ofc the need for these Jacks is a lot more in this day and age.

Ok, I dint do a good job explaining this. I used chat GPT and it said (edited for brevity)…

“Chalta purza” in everyday Hindi means:

A smooth operator. Someone street-smart, well-connected, fast-moving, and able to “get things done.”

In management speak, depending on tone, it can translate into different professional archetypes:

1️⃣ The Positive Framing

Operationally agile, network-leveraged executor

Traits:

  • Strong informal influence networks
  • High execution velocity
  • Navigates bureaucracy efficiently
  • Understands power structures
  • Knows who to call and when

In org language:

  • “Cross-functional catalyst”
  • “High-agency operator”
  • “Enterprise connector”
  • “Execution-focused stakeholder manager”

In startup language:

  • “Zero-to-one hustler”
  • “Gets shit done without waiting for permission”

2️⃣ The Neutral/Realistic Framing

Politically intelligent operator

Traits:

  • Reads room dynamics well
  • Builds strategic alliances
  • Influences without formal authority
  • Knows where decisions actually get made

Often high in:

  • Social capital
  • Informal power
  • Tactical persuasion

3️⃣ The Slightly Negative Version

Politically opportunistic fixer

Traits:

  • May bend processes
  • May prioritize access over systems
  • Relationship-heavy, process-light
  • Can bypass governance

Corporate translation:

  • “High politics, low process”
  • “Influence-driven operator”
  • “Outcome-focused, compliance-optional”

The Clean Executive Definition

If you wanted to put it on a performance review:

“An informal power broker who accelerates outcomes through networks, influence, and execution agility.”

In One Line

Chalta purza = High-agency, politically intelligent operator who can move systems.

So that. High-agency, politically intelligent operator. Lol!

And, two things…

a/ my definition and understanding was incorrect.

b/ I love And I think thats like SPOT on!

Brings me to the next point.

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2/ Handwriting Analysis with ChatGPT

Oh some random whim, I decided that I want to use ChatGPT (I use it a lot) to analyse my handwriting.

So, I used this prompt (edited a bit).

You are a world-famous graphologist who has done a lot of work on graphology for a lot of business people, entrepreneurs, political leaders and people in power and you specifically excel in doing it for Indians. And your interpretation is far, far better than others. I'll give you a sample of text written by somebody. I want you to analyze that and give me a very sharp, sharp, sharp thought on how that person is and what are that person's ambitions and life and aims. Remove any biases or perspectives that you may have on that person. Be as objective and as indifferent. Operate from zero empathy.

The outcome was, well, amazing!

It told me about things that I knew already (reinforced things). And I am left thinking that may be graphology is legit. Here’s the analysis it created (you will have to ask for access). Some things are worth highlighting.

a/ I may not be a Chalta Purza per that! Lol!

b/ Am great at being a founder. Lol. And I suck at focus and execution. Lol again.

c/ I need to partner with people who are high on conscientiousness. If you are you one? DM me. If you know someone else, ask them to DM me.

If you want more, you are welcome to read the analysis.

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3/ Gardener in a War vs Warrior in a Garden

I dont know where this thought came into my head while I was writing the things above.

I read somewhere that it’s better to be a warrior in a garden than being a gardener in a battle. And I validate this 100%. In the past week, for work, I’ve had to do many difficult conversations and while I did not enjoy those (or the aftertaste) I realized that I need to have more of those. And since I’ve been a gardener all my life, I couldnt.

I thus want to be the warrior who chooses to live in a garden. I want to be the person who can eat first but doesnt. Right now, I cant.

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C4E/ Culture Book 2.0

I am working on rewriting the Culture Book for the next version of C4E. And its not been easy. For starters, the book by Sans is like THE best ever and so brilliant that I am breaking into sweat merely thinking about bettering it.

Then, there’s so much to talk about and pack in it, in an eloquent language, for a world that loves brevity, to be read by high-agency, high functioning people who choose to call C4E their home, their village.

Then, I havent really written a lot in the last few months and thus words are not flowing easy. Writing is indeed a muscle that atrophies. At least mine has. And I must prevent it from dying.

So, AI or no AI, I must write more.

Coming back to the culture book. I am having a hard time. I want to not deviate too much from who we are, who I am and what my core is. And at the same time, I want to build it to last the next few years (if not decades). And while I do that, I want to reflect all that I want to stand for. You know, high-agency, hardwork, long-term orientation and all that. I have some 100 keywords that I want to own and write and share and all that.

Been seeking help from AI and colleagues and I am still no where close.

Sigh!

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5/ Notes from sgSoloCasts / Daily Live

I realised that since I go live everyday (well, almost), I tend to talk about things at the top of my head.

And that means that I dont save them for the weekend to capture here. So starting this week, I will try to include some notes and highlights from my sgSoloCasts here.

  1. Tried an AI handwriting/personality analysis and found the results surprisingly accurate. See point 6 below.
  2. Using an AI tool as a “sparring partner” for business decisions and planning follow-on experiments.
  3. Preparing a storytelling/communication session for March 7 and working on slowing down speech and improving delivery.
  4. Clear internship philosophy: meaningful work, real exposure/skill development, no busywork.

Ok these are not as insightful as I had imagined these to be!

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6/ Curate People

Naval says that we ought to curate people.

I’ve been doing that since I was like 5 year old. Been a people-connector, low-ego, high-empathy person. Been a Chalta Purza. And yet, when I need people the most, I find myself standing alone.

And the worst part?
The very people that I think I can count on, use me per their convenience and use and throw me. Happened in two cases this past week itself. Sigh!

Also, this use and throw has happened with so much frequency that I am left thinking if its me – I mean if one person had left me, I could have assumed that they did something wrong. But if there are many who’ve used me and left me, there’s something that in me that needs fixing.

So that.

And three things from here on.

a. I dont mean to turn away or offend the rare ones that choose to stay back. There are indeed a few who have my back. You know who you are. I am grateful and I am glad that I have you in my life. I wish I had more cheerleaders and supporters.

And I dont want to discount the role others have played in my life. I am standing on shoulders of many many giants. From my work to money to thinking to life OS to connections to everything else has come to me as a direct and indirect outcome of other people’s generosity.

So, on one side, I want to pay things forward (by helping others selflessly) and on the other, I feel wierd and awkward when I am “used” by others to get ahead.

b. I’ve refrained from writing about this but I think 2026 is the year where I embrace who I am and what I feel. You know, warrior (and not a gardener). I want to accept all the messiness that I am made of. And live that.

c. Despite a and b above, I wish everyone all the best and all the luck that universe has to shower on them. I believe in abundance and net positive games. Each person who grows will hopefully pay things forward and not become a hoarder.

Ok, with that brutal honesty, lets move on.

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7/ Misc things

  1. I am now an early backer of Remster. This will be the 4th or 5th investment I’ve made in a startup.
  2. I use a Macbook Air M1 and I updated to the new Mac OS. And the latpop has had a significant drop in performance. Or may be that I have many tabs and windows and apps open (which is true). And my performance is taking a hit. So, either I need a new laptop or may be build a fast desktop. However, I dont want to be tethered to a location. So I am in that decision making limbo. What would you do?
  3. Saw this tweet. Talks about the Japanese philosophy of breaking the year in 1-6-4. Do see it. For me, the #1 is book2. And then I will marry other large goals into the 6 and 4.
  4. I submitted a screenplay for the SWA Script Lab and Pitchfest! Wrote about something that I think needs to be talked a lot more – the influencer burnout. This is after a while I wrote something. I hope I get thru.

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🈺 Photos from Week 7

Here are some.
Again, not too many.
I am not taking as many pics as I would like to.
The one I want to “feature” here is…

I may have uploaded this last week as well. But I had nothing else ;P

Over the next weeks, I will retire this. Takes a lot of time and gives no ROI. Plus I now include pics in the commentary section. Lets see.

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🈺 Trackers from Week 7

At some point in time, I will have detailed trackers to show. But for the time being the small numbers that I have tracked are…

  • Average Steps -5900. Last week it was about 7800. I want this to be 15K over the next 20 days or so.
  • Pickle Sessions – 4! Also with C going out, I need to find someone as enthu about things as she is.
  • YT Live Sessions – 5. See here.
  • Screentime – Daily average of about 6 hours on my device. Up by 15% compared to last week. I want to bring it to an inhuman 30 minutes. Darn!

What is missing?
Need to get some fitness regimen. Some gym or something. I dont know why am unable to do this :(. May be I will get someone to come to my place and force me to do this? Lets see.

The pen and paper tracker
Here…

I am still trying to find the right things to track.

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🈺 Action on LARGE objectives for the year

In this section, I will capture my progress on large objectives for the year. In 2026, I plan to do the following three things…

  1. Book2
  2. Human Flag Pole
  3. Save a million dollars

No action in the last week on either the book 2 or the flag pole. I did save some in a bank account that I plan to not touch till the rainy day. So a needle moved on that. Yay!

On the other two, I will build a system. Yeah, I know I’ve been saying that I will build one and never got around to. Let’s see when.

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☑️ So, what did I get done last week? And what will I do next week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

This year, I want to track the following…

  1. Health. I will work on sleep, food and movement. Last week the sleep was a tad screwed. I had a coffee post 6 PM and then I couldnt sleep and then I overcompensated. And then it spiraled. But then now I am back on a regular 6-7 hours of sleep.
  2. C4E / Work. I want to shortlist some idea that I want to work on. I am still far from it. Been 45 days since the beginning of the year. Need to work harder.
  3. Brand SG / Distribution. No action on this. I remain away from social media.
  4. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc). No action.
  5. Book2. I want to start with this.
  6. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc). No action.

Made comments in italics. Do read and give inputs.

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🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I added Health as a key section last year. I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

Like the last few weeks, no action. I did play pickle four times this week, if that counts. And my daily health updates WA Channel is live!

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🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

A few things.

  1. Start a podcast with C and AK. This remains open and will probably get shut. I dont see the excitement in the three of us.
  2. Update C4E’s Culture Book. This is WIP and I will hopefully get this done by next week.

These few come to mind as I speak. I have a suspicion that this will grow and will become unmanageable in a few weeks. I will find a solution when I get to it.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Regular.
There is no other word I can think of. Regular day, regular life, regular work. Etc etc.

The other words for this year have been: Easy, Journey, Downtime.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. Previous editions:

  • 2026: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

PPS: Please do point typos.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

PPPPS: This is the first “update” of the year and thus a lot of this is incomplete. Allow me one or two weeks to get settled. And, on this one, do lemme know what you think of the new format.

Wk 06-26 – Weekly Notes

Notes, thoughts, updates and everything else from the 6th week in 2026

Morning!

Started writing this on the 7th. Did some work on the 8th. And finishing it on the morning of the 9th (Monday). I woke up late and I have lost the control of the day already. Must do whatever to preserve my mornings.

So, week 6 of 2026 has come to an end. I dont know if its age but this year is flying. While there is little progress on a day to day basis, life is moving with a breakneck speed. From work to personal life to world around us, each thing is changing.

Now change may not be a bad thing. In fact, in the wise words of Steve, its a great thing. I love that things change. Many reasons. Primarily because the new is ushered in when change happens. And I have been a beneficiary of this newness and I know more folks will be beneficiaries.

Look at the SAASpocalypse brought about by AI. See this Reddit conversation. If you are able to go beyond the bloodbath on the stock market, you will start seeing the second and third order effects. I am excited about the opportunity and I believe that folks like me (not particularly talented) must accelerate the efforts to build a personal brand, get into Atoms business (compared to Bits) and learn how to apply these tools fast. I have started to build a thesis. And like I said at the beginning of the year, identify one thing and focus on that.

Ok, lets go ahead and get going with the review of the week.

Oh, the track of the week is Dil Se and this version by Berklee folks.

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💭 Highlights, reflections, updates, notes and thoughts from Week 6, 2026

Note: These are not in any order.

1/ The Zomato Lust

A lot of young people I meet, they want to “intern” at Zomato. Specifically in the marketing space. And I am aghast at their choice.

I have a simple question for these folks. What would you learn at a company like that? Isnt internships about experimenting, learning, doing?

You will become a paper pusher. You will fetch coffee for your boss. You would do data entry. You will become better at corporate politics. You will be a real-life Dilbert. You would be a humble cog in a giant machinery. And I dont know what would you learn there.

I mean I get why people want to be at a Zomato. But as a young person, why would you shoot for safe havens of large companies that are designed in a tightly controlled confines?

I really hope and pray and wish that someday this instagram-chasing generation starts to see life from a long-term lens.

Sigh. I will record a podcast on this.

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2/ Wadhwa, The Address

While going thru my Google Photos, I stumbled onto this photo from Vivek’s house. At a point in time, I was using this house as my primary residence.

Vivek’s house. Truth be told, I miss the luxury it offered.

This is THE most luxurious place I’ve lived at since I moved to Mumbai. And I think I miss it. The house is no longer accessible and even if it were, I wouldn’t be able to afford it. Its my life goal to have access to such places.

Let’s see when.

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3/ The weekly habit tracker

Apart from my digital, Google Sheets tracker, I have started to use a pen and paper one. Here’s a screenshot from 02 Feb to 08 Feb.

You see a lot of empty spaces because I started tracking a few things from different dates and times. I am hoping this will be more full in the next week. Plus I will add more rows (of things that I actually track).

The pen and paper system I am using to track my daily habits.

No, I am not that disciplined that I dont need a tool. Plus I like the idea of quantified life. And to be honest, I like this better. But when I am not at home, this becomes a task to fill in. So maybe I will carry it around? But then I dont want to lift the burden. So maybe digital. Lol!

.

4/ The portfolio

This is how my laptop looks like.

I have one more sticker on my laptop. And as AK says, this is my portfolio. And yes, many are missing.

For the longest time, I was the kinds to not put any stickers on my laptop. But then I put Pooja Ki Chappal on the laptop. And then I put CynLr’s. And then once I had two, I let the floodgates open. And today I have all these.

Oh, yesterday, I put one more. Can you spot which one is the latest?

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5/ Poker

Over the last week, three different people talked to me about poker. All three are from MDI. Two threads emerge from this.

a, I need to expand beyond MDI to get more friends and all. I am unable to make small talk with people at cafes; I dont have a personal brand that excites people and makes them want to speak with me; I have nothing spectacular to offer; I am not rich. In fact, at the event yesterday (on the 8th), I could see that I was unable to get people excited to talk to me.

So I need to fix these.

b, I must get back to poker. I am a believer in signs and if three different conversations are leading me to it, why not? And no, I am not good at it but I do enjoy being on the table.

So that.

.

6/ Screentime

I had mentioned last week that I will bring down my mobile screentime. I wrote,

As of today, my average screentime on the mobile is 6 hours and 50 minutes (and that too is 18% down from last week). I want to work to get my mobile screen time to 30 minutes.

Here’s how it is for this week.

Screenshot

Down 39%. Yay!
It’s at 4 hours, 40 minutes.
Last week it was 6 hours, 50 minutes. So I’ve shaved about 2 hours. I insist that I want to get it to under 30 minutes. Looks tough but we shall try.

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7/ Misc things.

In no order…

  1. I dont like to travel within the city. This week I had to travel to meet people and it was not good.
  2. I’ve made some progress on the mental health / influencer thing. Am still not ready to talk about it but I like that I am spending some time on it each day.
  3. Been reading a lot of pieces from Om Malik. God bless Pradeep for his curation.
  4. Saw this quote, “In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man (with half-baked knowledge) is king, but the two-eyed man (who is a visionary genius) is in for a hell of a ride (suffers a backlash and is called a fool.)”. Loved it.
  5. A person quit working with C4E cos they didnt like the culture here. This is a new. I’ve had people leave us for a lot of reasons (money primarily) but never for culture. I thought the culture was a differentiator.
  6. Met someone who’s gone to NS. I remain on the edge about me being there. But if you are young, you must try, if you can afford.
  7. Took some photos yesterday and edited those on Snapseed. Loved it. Must do more. Here’s one…
This is a shot of Veda. Heavily edited using Snapseed.

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🈺 Photos from Week 6

Here are some.

Over the next weeks, I will retire this. Takes a lot of time and gives no ROI. Plus I now include pics in the commentary section. Lets see.

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🈺 Trackers from Week 6

At some point in time, I will have detailed trackers to show. But for the time being the small numbers that I have tracked are…

  • Average Steps -7046. Last week it was 5186. I want this to be 15K over the next 20 days or so.
  • Pickle Sessions – 2. Want to get to 3. I will see if I can go.
  • YT Live Sessions – 5. See here.

What is missing?
Well a lot. Sleep, workout, yoga sessions, food, emotions, habits, money and more. To be honest, I have not filled in my in2026 tracker this past month. I will get on to it from today.

What did I do new?
I tried to use a pen and paper based tracking system. See above.

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🈺 Action on LARGE objectives for the year

In this section, I will capture my progress on large objectives for the year. In 2026, I plan to do the following three things…

  1. Book2
  2. Human Flag Pole
  3. Save a million dollars

I have started to work on the book. At this time, I am reading and writing some. I am relying heavily on AI.

On the flag pole, no action so far. Apart from better food and some movement. I am using Harada method for it. Here’s what I am told…

Ofc, this is the starting point. I need to do a lot more deep dive into things to be able to. The point is, if you follow a system, things are doable. And I want to do that.

☑️ So, what did I get done last week? And what will I do next week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

This year, I want to track the following…

  1. Health. I will work on sleep, food and movement.
  2. C4E / Work. I want to shortlist some idea that I want to work on.
  3. Brand SG / Distribution
  4. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  5. Book2. I want to start with this.
  6. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Like the large objective bit, there is no update on this as well. I will get to this at some point.

.

🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I added Health as a key section last year. I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

Like the last few weeks, no action.

I restarted my daily health updates WA Channel. Thanks to ladies from Sher.

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🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

A few things.

  1. Start a podcast with C and AK
  2. Update C4E’s Culture Book

These few come to mind as I speak. I have a suspicion that this will grow and will become unmanageable in a few weeks. I will find a solution when I get to it.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Easy.
I didn’t do anything in a hurry. My sense of urgency took a back seat. Took it easy, met friends, ate, chilled.

The other words for this year have been: Journey, Downtime.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. Previous editions:

  • 2026: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

PPS: Please do point typos.

PPPS: I dont like this update. I will try harder next week.

PPPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

PPPPPS: This is the first “update” of the year and thus a lot of this is incomplete. Allow me one or two weeks to get settled. And, on this one, do lemme know what you think of the new format.

Wk 04-26 – Weekly Notes

Notes, thoughts, ideas, links and some photos from week 4, 2026.

7:41 AM, Tiruvannamalai

New Week.
New City.
And I love it!

This week, I was in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and then Chennai. And now here. Loved it. It’s good and bad.

Good – I got so many new experiences, new sights and new smells. You know, something shifts your internal chemistry when you have new experiences touch your soul.

Bad – The routine gets screwed. I sleep on unfamiliar beds, eat things that you dont want to eat, dont have a table to write on (I am writing this lying on the bed) and I am unable to work out. I can only imagine how the traveling salesmen, athletes, celebrities manage their fitness!

Ok, ranting. Lemme get to the weekly notes.

💭 Highlights, reflections, updates, notes and thoughts from Week 4, 2026

These are not in any order. And like last wee, I will try to include as many photos as I can.

1/ Ramana Maharishi

I am at Tiruvannamalai to visit Sri Ramanasramam, the Ashram of Ramana Maharishi.

I am not a religious person. Neither am I spiritual to be honest. I am indifferent. I am probably that Nihilist Penguin in human shape. Lol.

Anyhow, the visit has been worth it.

Especially cos it needed the grind to reach here (a flight to Chennai, a 4-hour road trip that became 8-hours long (thanks to a rally by Modi Ji) and the hunt for a place in the large town. If you get things easy, you dont respect those ;P

The entrance to the Ashram.

And some bouts of clarity that struck me.

No, I am definitely not the illuminated one. Never was. May get to that some day. But now that I’ve spent a day or two here, I did get some thoughts. For starters, I am a LOT more aware of the constant bombardment that we subject ourselves to. That I subject myself to.

While I was in the ashram, I didn’t use the phone and it was painful for the first few minutes. And then the silence engulfed me. And even when it did, there was this revolt from my system. I found myself reaching to my phone more than once, tbh.

I found myself thinking about how you can invest your time enquiring about who you are and what’s the purpose of life and all that. Or you can run the rat race (do see this). Or how you can discharge your duties and while you do that, you are helpful to people, the world and thus, in exchange, to yourself. And maybe that’s there is to life.

Truth be told, I’ve known this for a long time (that I need to be useful and be of help to people and that my salvation is in helping others get to their respective salvation). Each spiritual or inward experience brings that to surface. The only addition that seems to be happening lately is the move towards the oneness. I am far from it, especially because of actions and thoughts of so many people seem so… stupid.

Ok moving on.

One striking thing that I noticed about the Ashram was that there was no conversation about religion at all. While the leaning is clearly towards Hinduism (I could be wrong), there were no overt showcase of religion.

The most important thing I noticed is that simplicity with which he lived his life. They’ve preserved two rooms where Ramana Maharishi seemed to have lived, died and held meetings. And the rooms were tiny and sparse. An astute builder would have sold that much space as a cosy 1 BHK but we are talking about a guy who commandeers thousands (if not lakhs) seekers. And yet he lived in place with no opulence. Room barely large enough to do even yoga, white bedsheets and literally no furnishing. Made me wonder why do people chase opulence of palaces and kingdoms.

Reminded of that couplet by Mehshar Afridi. He says,

“Rehta Hai Sirf Ek Hi Kamre Mai Aadmi, Uska Guroor Rehta Hai Baki Makaan Mai!”

And no, this is not to be confused with Minimalism or hoarding. This is more from the space of needing little. You may or may have large wants. I’ve been there – want a lot, hoarded a lot, reduced those. And now I am an advocate of Optimalism – things that you need to live a good life. This includes, limited number of clothes, comfortable bed, cool bedroom, air purifier (while in india lol) and a Starbucks ;p

Lol!

Only I could have compared Starbucks and Sri Ramanasramam in one note. On the mid-wit curve, I am either the illuminated one. Or I am stupid. You decide. And lemme know.

The midwit curve.

So, to end this part, if I were to talk about who am I, these things come to the top of mind…

  • Medium thru which things happen. In words of Gokul, a medium of opportunity exchange.
  • Cheerleader of action.
  • Enable others to get to their salvation.
  • Be of service to the world around me. In words of Scott Adams, be useful.

And like most lists and things, this is WIP.

Ok. Moving on.

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2/ Sleep

Lets move to worldly things like sleep and all that.

My sleep has been all over the place this month. Many reasons. The big one is of course all the travel. And the minor one is all the distractions. And I want to fix it. I can control the distractions for sure – other things will need some thinking.

I have realised that with age, unless I get my sleep, I am unable to function well. And on top of that, with lesser time at hand, I want to optimize the time that I am up. And thus means that I need to get more from my sleep.

You see how this is a vicious circle?

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3/ Constant Simulation

Marrying 1 and 2 above, I am acutely aware of this constant simulation that I have subjected my mind to. I mean there is not a second in my day when I am not jumping from one thing to another. And that’s NOT cool at all. I can’t be of service to the world (or my loved ones) if I am unable to get deep into things.

So I need to find a solution.

I can start with the modern-day boon and bane. The mobile phone. I will fix my life.

Guess what made Beeple famous?

So, over the next 21 days (habit formation and all that), lemme try to fix this. And while I am at it, I will also try to add some more good habits.

So, I will be off SM (unless work), eat only Lal Babu’s food (if I am in Mumbai) and average 15K steps per day. And if I can do these three, without an exception, I will reward myself with a trip to Singapore in March.

Off SM means I will delete apps from phone (use only on laptop and that too ONLY when I am in a Starbucks). I will not actively post (unless someone asks me to open it). I will use my YT lives and these weekly updates as a way to share what I am upto.

Eat Lal Babu’s food means the things that are cooked in my kitchen by Lal Babu. If I am travelling, I will see what I will find to eat.

Steps is easy. Wherever I go.

To be honest, I was unable to stay off social media cos I thought that I will miss out on something important. I mean look at how fast the world is moving! But then, fuck the FOMO. I am sure the Village will keep me abreast with what I need to know. And news important enough for me to know, will reach me!

Oh, and this starts the day I land in Mumbai. Lol!

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4/ Making Health my identity

Marrying the three above, I think I will make health my identity. Lemme explain.

A person like Virat Kohli is paid to play well. The largest ingredient in that is to be fit – physically and mentally. An actor like Ranbir Sing is paid to look good. The largest ingredient is perceived beauty. A corporate leader is paid to make great decisions. A large part of that is low cognitive load and thus they are offered comforts.

I am not an athlete, not an actor and not a corporate leader. In fact, I refuse to let my identity come from the work I do. However if I dont want my body to fail my brain, I need to keep the body well.

If I were to look at my work, I am probably paid to think and connect. Connect people, dots, things. And get things done. And I do all this with a lot of enthusiasm, effort and emotion.

Now, if I could do the same effort with same three Es, for my health, I would get fitter. So that.

Side Note: I saw a reflection of me in a mirror while I am here (in a tee and pants) and I dont like how I look. And this, I want to change.

PS: Credits to this book that I am reading.

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5/ Chennai

I have loved my time in Chennai this trip. There was less traffic (probably because long weekend), great weather (needed AC but I could walk on the roads) and great people (Aashik, Nikhil, Aditya, Shravan etc). And there was enough things to do. There’s something about relaxed, no-agenda meetups

Also reminds me that I must travel more often (lol).

Red hearts pro max!

Oh, this is a photo from a random traffic signal in Chennai. I am told that all these red signals have red hearts. Lol.

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6/ Nagarathna Memorial Grant is now open

The annual Grant is now open.

In Thej’s words, “I am creating a yearly ₹1,00,0001 micro-grant to support something meaningful. Grant is named after my mother – Nagarathna. The reason for grant could be anything as long its meaningful to you and people around. Though I prefer free and open source or creative commons projects, It’s not a must. It’s a no strings attached grant.”

I am a fan of Thej’s work and I support his grant. In fact, I instituted SoG Grant after I learnt about microgrants from NMG. I encourage you to apply and share word.

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7/ Notes from flight to Chennai (AI 2780)

It’s no secret that I take notes when I am in flights, I take notes (this time I saw parts of a a movie as well and I must see more films as well and make more films) and here are some redacted, snippets from the flight.

  1. I need a main quest that gives meaning to life. I think running a business is not a quest. While its creating and keeps me happy and engaged and all that, its not a big one. Think of the quests that Dr Peterson talks about. Think of a “provider” for a family.
  2. I love being in flights. They allow me to think hard and deep about things. Need to make more such caves.
  3. I realised that I dont work harder cos I have it easy. On paper, I have a business that throws enough cash at me to keep happy and maybe this is a problem? I dont talk about this often. Must do.
  4. I am not even an petty thief!
  5. What do I focus on this year – yet to find out. I have options – events, defi, Helio.
  6. Live a life where I work hard, get paid well and I pay people well. Sanket told me this first. So that.

.

8/ Films

Staying on the notes, I think I must make movies!

I dont know why I keep coming back to it. There was a time when I was convinced that I wanted to make movies. I chased that dream. Made some moves. Failed. And now that I am back to thinking of the next steps, I find myself wanting to do movies! And even though I know that AI will screw this business, I am still keen on doing that.

This seems to be the constant itch that I cant seem to get away from. As a child, I had wanted to make ad films, then I wrote a book, then some short films and then I have been all over the place. I must either scratch the itch (make films and get over with it) or I must bury the hatchet!

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9/ WordPress vs Substack

Substack seems to be evolving into a CMS and an ecosystem. It seems to be evolving into a blogger / Medium. Compared to wordpress, I think Substack offers a lot of advantages and I am almost on the fence about moving my words to Substack.

I typically want to own my content and words and all that and while on Substack as well, the words would be mine, I am still on the fence about it. The ones who’ve moved, what do you think?

Any other learned opinions?

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10/ Misc things from this week

Here are some thing that I want to capture but not necessarily talk about in great length.

  1. This speech is kickass. Do see. It talks about The Power of the Powerless. One of the best texts I’ve ever read in a long long time.
  2. This group of musicians, Patiala Mehfil, has my heart. Each time I see a great music act, I want to get into that business.
  3. This campaign by Plum is KICKASS. I wrote about it here. If you are a marketer, please take note.
  4. DD held their Darbar in Chennai. OFC, I didn’t attend it but a win for someone from the village.

Guess this is it.

I dont have a lot of reads, link etc this week (travel, you see). Maybe more next week.

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🈺 Photos from Week 4

Here are some.

Over the next weeks, I will retire this. Takes a lot of time and gives no ROI. Plus I now include pics in the commentary section. Lets see.

.

🈺 Trackers from Week 4

At some point in time, I will have detailed trackers to show. But for the time being the small numbers that I have tracked are…

  • Average Steps -9047. I want this to be 15K over the next 20 days or so.
  • Pickle Sessions – 1. I want this to be 3 over the next few days. I also want to upgrade to Paddle one of these days.
  • YT Live Sessions – 4. Missed for the 22nd, 24th and 25th. Will miss 26th as well unless i do it from the car, en route to Chennai. Let’s see.

What is missing?
Well, sleep, workout, yoga sessions, food, emotions, habits, money and more.

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🈺 Action on LARGE objectives for the year

In this section, I will capture my progress on large objectives for the year. In 2026, I plan to do the following three things…

  1. Book2
  2. Human Flag Pole
  3. Save a million dollars

No action last week either. Jan is almost over and I have not moved an inch on this! Also, last week I mentioned that if I am gonna be moving around this year, how do I keep consistent towards the goals. I dont know the answer. Will think.

.

☑️ So, what did I get done last week? And what will I do next week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

I will get back on this in the next update. This year, I want to track the following…

  1. Health. I will work on sleep, food and movement.
  2. C4E / Work. I want to shortlist some idea that I want to work on.
  3. Brand SG / Distribution
  4. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  5. Book2. I want to start with this.
  6. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

.

🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I added Health as a key section last year. I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

Like the last one, no action. Give me a few weeks.

.

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

Again, need a few weeks

Like the last two, I will get back on this in the next few updates.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Downtime.

The other words for this year have been: Journey.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. Previous editions:

  • 2026: 1, 2, 3,

PPS: Please do point typos.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

PPPPS: This is the first “update” of the year and thus a lot of this is incomplete. Allow me one or two weeks to get settled. And, on this one, do lemme know what you think of the new format.

Wk 03-26 – Weekly Notes

Notes, thoughts, observations and updates from Week 3 of 2026.

Morning!
The first update of 2026 is here!

This one comes from a Starbucks (where else) at Ahmedabad. Am here to meet Krishna and this is my 3rd trip / city in this year already (the other ones were Pune and Delhi (+Gurgaon + Noida)). The 4th trip is to Chennai next week. And I love it. I missed being on the road.

As I look back to 2025, I am wondering, how did I even agree to be bound to one place? Dont get me wrong. I am all for routines and discipline and all that but I know that us humans were not supposed to settle down. If my memory serves me right, it was agriculture that tamed us (I think I read this in one of Harari’s books) and while settling has had its advantages, its the voyagers and scouts and road warriors who’ve show us the way.

In fact, in our life time, there are people who’re showing us that adventurers push the “human race forward“. From the guy who jumped from Stratosphere (for Red Bull) to the ones who’ve taken rockets to space (Hi, Elon!) and lived at ISS to the ones who didn’t make it — each of these people paved the way for us as a race. The ones who are tethered to a place, eating popcorn and paddling convenience in 10 mins must be grateful to these folks.

Listen to this as you read this…

“push the human race forward”

Ok, I can rant for hours on this. But let’s move on.

So, this year on, I plan to be lot more consistent. Lol. However if the 15 days of 2026 are to go by anything, I have an uphill task. And at least as of today, I am committed.

Ok, again. Ranting. Lemme get to the weekly notes.

💭 Highlights, reflections, updates, notes and thoughts from Week 3, 2026

So, this is the first one of the year and I want to try a different format.

I will talk about what I learnt and what I thought and all that. And I will use cues from all the things I’ve consumed and saved (you know, photos, quotes, links, notes). This of this as me talking to myself.

Lets go!

1/ Nirula’s
Here’s a pick from the OG Niruala’s outlet in Delhi. Saw it on this trip.

the OG Nirula’s outlet in Delhi

Growing up, the HCF was such a rage that I would save for it. I was reminded that they used to run an offer where any kid who got about 85 would get a free sunday or an ice-cream and I remember my sis getting those for free all the time (she was the studious kinds and did well at school).

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2/ Habit Stacking Cards
These cards come from Shardul and Good Habits Club. Such a simple idea. And such a powerful one.

In case you wish to order these, ask me!

PS: A lot of work on HelioCoach will happen from the foundations of these stacking cards.

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3/ The console from an event.
Nothing much to say here but I love these messy things like the console. And if you notice, the mess at the back of the screen – the wall that separates the dreamers from the doers.

From an event console

If I had my way, I would only do events. Blame it on Suvi, Anna and Gravity!

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4/ Sacrifice vs Desire
I saw this on instagram probably and I was so moved that I couldnt sit still. All my life I’ve seen so many people want so many things and give so little towards that it hurt my head and heart. I didn’t have the words to tell them how to give more to get more. And then I saw this and I was, WOAH!

What are you sacrificing?

And in fact, I’ve lived all my life with the sacrifice first lens (not that I have a lot to show for that and it has served me well – after all, I live an almost “free” life (this year I plan to be more kind on myself)). I wish I could tell more people that they need to do more to get more.

Oh, and in case you are unable to sacrifice a lot, tame your desire!

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5/ Lesson in Persistence
This comes from Insta as well (I love insta for visual cues) and reinforces another thought that I believe in – stay at it. Keep digging. Find meaning in adventures and pursuits and even in suffering.

How many reps did you do to get to your goal?

No, I am not justifying suffering.

All I am saying is that the journey and the highways and the speedbumps that come along the way make the journey exciting and worth it. When you see the scenery change as you go forth, you start to travel deeper inside. There is a reason that despite all the air travel, roadtrips are alluring.

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6/ Unreasonable People
One of my recurring tropes and inspiration has been this category of people that we call unreasonable people. These are the people who dont settle for an answer. They are the ones who are persistent, sacrifice all they have and like I paraphrased in the beginning, push the human race.

Who’s the most unreasonable person you know?

In fact, one of my goals is to find more unreasonable people and become friends with them.

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7/ “Jo beet gayi so baat gayi”
Harivansh Rai Bachchan wrote this poem – Jo beet gayi so baat gayi. Vipassana taught me the concept of Anicca. Both these loosely teach that what’s happened has happened and you need to move on.

Of course you are human and it’s tough to move on. And my biggest fear of life is that I will die alone. Each person who I care for, supported, took care of will desert me at some point in time. And this is not an unfounded notion. I have had friends, business partners, lovers and people from every other deep relationship walk out on me.

At first, I was angry, confused and sore. I went thru the stages of grief. Luckily, I came out ok on the other side.

But now as I start to age and start to hit the mid-life crisis and all that, I have lot more acceptance. In fact, more than mere acceptance, my first reaction when someone moves on is, “I am so happy for you”.

And thus when I saw this cartoon, I felt seen!

I am indeed so happy for each person who moves on!

So that.

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8/ Dan Koe
I’ve been reading thing from Dan Koe and oh man, WHAT A GUY!

My primary medium of discovery is his X – @TheDanKoe. Some of the pieces I’ve read and been thinking on are articulation (something that I saw Dr Peterson talk about as well), fix life in one day and on multiple interests. Each of these are what I would love to stand for. Each of these are what I want to talk about. Each of these are what I want to find an answer to!

I invite you to read more about him.

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9/ Scott Adams
One of these days, I woke up with the news of Scott Adams passing away. And no, I was not really moved about it but I do remember waking up to a same news about Steve as well (in 2015). Here’s my post after I learnt of Steve’s passing.

Anyhow, the point is, Scott published a final letter on X and he ended it up with two words.

Be Useful.

These two words have been the mantra of life for a long time now. And I think I want to double down on this. I want to be of service to many more people, and at a large scale. And I want to do this while I put myself first, make money, take care of my village and yet build with an abundant mindset.

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10/ WA
I’ve officially lost control of my WA. There are way too many texts and way too many messages. I dont think I will ever be able to get back to people in time. And I apologize for that in advance. I will have to publish this multiple times on the internet.

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Other, misc updates.

These are not in any order.

1/ My eyes are getting weak.
I can feel nausea, headache and blurry vision when I see at the screen for long. I will get some checkup done.

2/ “There is no them”
I am not the spiritual kinds but I do know that all of us are “one”. I am not very articulate about it but I will work on this as we go along. Oh, next week, am visiting Ramana Maharshi’s ashram.

3/ YT Live is on!
I go live each day around 815 and talk about whatever is at the top of my head. I want to do this everyday but I am unable to. Also, I want to do this at 8 but logistics prevent me from that!

You may see it here.

4/ Insta stories are live!
See this where I want to upload a picture each day. So far I’ve missed a few and I will try to not miss many.

5/ Little flunky, small time thief
There was a distinct time when I felt like a small-time paddler. CB would be sad at me. I remember him saying, “I am not much of a petty thief, either I want the entire world or nothing”. So I need to up my ante here.

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🈺 Action on LARGE objectives for the year

In this section, I will capture my progress on large objectives for the year. In 2026, I plan to do the following three things…

  1. Book2
  2. Human Flag Pole
  3. Save a million dollars

I am most confident about book 2. Dr Hitakshi tells me that flag pole will take 2 years of sorts. The million dollars one, I am not sure yet. Lets see.

So, as a status update, I will give myself a zilch. In the last 15 days, I have taken absolutely zero action. The next week will also be a tough one. I am on the road. Maybe the last week is when I will show real traction. I also need to think that if this year is going to be full of travel and all that, how do I plan to stay consistent and focussed. #sgtoThink

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☑️ So, what did I get done last week? And what will I do next week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

I will get back on this in the next update (for the next week) but this year, I want to track the following…

  1. Health
  2. C4E / Work
  3. Brand SG / Distribution
  4. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  5. Book2
  6. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

In the coming week, I want to do the following…

  1. Start with book 2
  2. Start with serious fitness things (lol)
  3. Shortlist some idea that I want to invest time and money on.

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🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I added Health as a key section last year. I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long – sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Let’s see what comes out.

Like the last one, I will get back on this in the next update (for the next week).

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🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

Like the last two, I will get back on this in the next update (for the next week).

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🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Journey.

Triggered by the trips that I’ve taken this year. And more importantly, the inward one.

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes.

PPS: Please do point typos.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

PPPPS: This is the first “update” of the year and thus a lot of this is incomplete. Allow me one or two weeks to get settled. And, on this one, do lemme know what you think of the new format.

Wk 51-25 – Weekly Notes

6 PM, 21 Dec 2025
Starbucks, Versova

I cant believe it. We are in the 51st week of 2025. What started as an experiment is nearing a year. I’ve missed some 10 weeks (week numbers 9, 15, 17, 22, 24, 41, 43, 45, 48, 49) but I showed up the other 40. And I poured my heart and head out on this blog. For the world to see. World in this case is those 2 people who come here each week (I get an average of 23 impressions each 90 days and thus translates into about 2 people per week). The audience is beside the point. The point is that I’ve been able to become that person who does his actions and is detached from the outcomes. This itself is a loaded statement. If I am truly detached from the outcomes, what keeps me going. And I dont know the answer. I guess that’s for me to discover along the way.

Ok, without further ado, let’s get on with the review of the week gone by. I will use the “freewriting” format that I used last time (unlike what I’ve been using thru the year).

Let’s go.

Oh wait, the music for this post is the Lootera Theme.

Music from Lootera

Ok, lets go…

💭 Highlights, reflections, updates and notes

As always, these are not in any order.

A/ Ayesha at Filmfare OTT

Shikha and Nihit’s film, Ayesha got a Filmfare for the best short film.

🙂

By association, I am now a producer of a film that has won the coveted Black Lady. And while on paper, I may have won a Filmfare, truth be told, I didnt do an iota of work on this. Except maybe helping with some money. So the award is Shikha and Nihit and team’s.

Love when my people do well.

I hope they go onto to many more grand things. I am and will remain a cheerleader.

B/ Lal Babu

I now have Lal Babu in my life. He’s a cook on hire and used to work at a friend’s place. And I hired him.

Today was his day 1.

And even though he made some baingan ka bharta and egg curry, I did eat kachra from outside. I will stop it from tomorrow. Ok not tomorrow. I have a team dinner. But I have a cook now. After ALL the mehnat to find someone to cook for me and take care of my diet, I now have someone.

And with that, now I do NOT have a single excuse to not do well on the health department. If now I am unable to get them 6 packs and those marathons and all that, I have no one to blame.

C/ Unseen (the Deepinder Goyal biography)

I finished reading Unseen. And I did a session of sorts where I talked about my reflections from the book. I will also make a blogpost about it. But meanwhile, here are my notes (access only to friends).

Among the things that am taking away are…

  1. Naina‘s website and System’s Thinking. I don’t know shit about either and I will invest time and energy to read more about them.
  2. Focus. Not saying anything else.
  3. A stack of notes where I will write my values and look at them everyday. I do have a tiny notebook where I note these things. I carried it to the Everest Base Camp as well. But I dont see it everyday. I need to make that.
  4. I need to build a space and a place that’s like a sanctuary where I get to spend time with myself. At this point, I am unable to afford one but I need to build this. Like a base. Where I come back to even when I am on the road a lot. So, in 2026, after I’ve paid back the loan and secured the life and money for my people, I will build this. I dont know. May or may not be Mumbai. Let’s see.

D/ Hareesh Tibrewala

I met Hareesh Sir after a while.

Each time I meet him, I am more inspired to do more with my life. And operate from more equanimity. And do more things from an impact lens. Impact not as in social service. But from the space of doing meaningful things.

Oh, among other things, he’s putting up Manabu Labs. If you need help and inputs on implementing AI for your teams, he’s your man.

E/ Pickle Ball

I played Pickle Ball the other day with O-A-C. And I must admit it was good to be in a sporting arena. Lol, sporting arena!

Pickle probably is that thing that I had a VERY strong opinion about but was loosely held. I now think there is merit in all the hype about it. I should’ve spotted it early on. Could’ve built a business around it. Anyhow.

Vivek has been raving about it for months. I ignored it as an elitist phenomenon (which it is – each session is like 1500 bucks). But now that I have seen that it probably works for me, I will invest more time and energy in it. I see myself going back to court many times. In fact I was telling C that she should earmark days and dates in calendar for pickle sessions.

Oh, I played it a few nights ago. My legs are hurting till date. So, if nothing else, its good movement and cardio. Let’s see how many times can I go in the coming week. I am setting myself a target of 3 outings to the court. I know I am not going on Monday for sure. So, maybe will block Tuesday already?

F/ Misc things

In no order…

  1. Photos from the week gone by are here.
  2. Met Shweta and talked about reviving Party of 9
  3. Met Karishma and talked about how I want to network with people who can give me a crore and forget about it.
  4. While talking to AK, I talked about how much I loved Apollo Tyres’s Road is a Friend. See it here. I wish we had more advertising writers like this. And more brands like Apollo Tyres.
  5. My daily morning solocasts series has now reached a number of 17. Tiny win for the month.
  6. Spoke to Vanita after a while. And as always, it was the most human conversation I’ve had in a while. The questions were deeply personal and I dont really talk about those to a lot of people. No more comments apart from that. So that’s that.
  7. Thinking about a podcast about storytelling. I am just worried that I dont load myself a lot with random things, in a year when I want to focus.
  8. This tweet and the related thread about how one must always create even if you are old. Charlie was working till a few days before he died.
  9. I am traveling to Chennai in Jan 2026 #jan2026. The primary agenda is to visit Sri Ramana Ashram. I will have lot of time and if you are there or know someone there that I must meet, please do let me know.
  10. I am taking my time with Year Compass. I am halfway thru it. And I am yet to start the review of 2025 and plan for 2026.

Guess this is it for the week.

See you next week. Till then, peace!

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes.

The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47

I’ve missed the following weeks: 9, 15, 17, 22, 24, 41, 43, 45, 48, 49

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working with WordPress and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 50-25 – Weekly Notes

Notes from Week 50 of 2025

14 Dec 2025.
15 Dec 2025.
Sunday.
Starbucks, Versova.

I’ve not written this more than 2 weeks now. Last post was this on Nov 24 or something.

Since then, a couple of things happened.

A, I had to travel on two consecutive weekends.

And b, I was not in the zone to write. I mean I could write but I was shrouded in darkness. I mean it. I am not sure if I am still out of it. But I know I will be. This is a recurring pattern where I go on a roller coaster and come out alive on the other side. And no, writing today doesnt mean that I am out of the woods. Just that I need to prevail.

Also, I think this is the time of the year when I get extra sad. For the simple reason that this is when I take a deeper stock of my life (you know, end of the year). And at the end of each year I realise that I am not worth a lot.

This “worth a lot” is subjective.

At least in my case, I attach a lot of value to my “accomplishments” (in terms of money, reach, impact etc). And on none of these pieces, I have done a lot. And thus the seasonal depression sadness. Plus, may be the Vitamin D levels are wrecking havoc. And that may be compounded by winters?

This reminds me, I need to start taking Vit D.

Funnily, with others, I am tad less harsh. When they tell me that they havent had a lot to show for their work, I am more kind and I offer encouragement. But when it comes to me, I am FAR more harsh. To a point that I overlook all the things that I worked on, shipped, enabled. Etc.

So that.

Anyhow. Moving on. The music of the moment is Mack Vocals, Rashmeet Kaur, Zombie. I have way too many links to individual tracks to drop. So I will do the next best thing – not drop any. You have to do yourself the service of listening to Mack Vocals. Please.

And with that, we come to the review!

PS: I will use a different format to write this.

💭 Highlights, reflections, updates and notes

As always, these are not in any order.

1/ #in2026

I have decided that in 2026, I will try to cut on my social media usage. I have outlined some reasons here. At some point, I will write a longer post. But for the time being, I am prepping to go fishing.

I will use my main phone as a dumb phone (AKA, assistive access mode on an iphone). Or I will get a basic Android phone that I can use for calls, notes, OTP, banking, navigation, payments, podcasts etc.

I am flipflopping between what to do and how to do. On one side, the challenge is HUGE and I would love to get thru the grind of not having social media on my phone. This will test me in all manners. But on the other side, I will have to disconnect from any opportunities that may come my way. So that.

Oh, in 2026, the themes would be fitness and book2.

These two were to be the themes for #in2025 as well. And for many more years prior to that. Lol.

Apart from these two major ones, there are many smaller things that I would like to chase. Here is a list (and I will try to elaborate on these). And for a change, this list is in order….

  1. Health and Book2. Reiterating, lest I forget.
  2. Network. More in the subsequent lines.
  3. Learning. Something. Deep. You know, like an absolute expert. Top 1% in the world kinds. Vibe Coding. Poker. Nutrition. Music. I dont know.
  4. Writing (apart from book2). This must become my primary way of communicating with the world. I will also use YT Lives.
  5. Move to another country. Each year I try to make the move. Each year I fail. I will try again in 2026.
  6. Teach. I want to restart SoG or something. A place where I can surround myself with younger, more curious people. I know it will be incredibly tough without me being on the internet. But I will try.
  7. Wealth. I’ve made some milestones. A. I want to pay back all the loan I have on my head (about 40 lakhs). B. Once I’ve done A, I want to earn about 3.5 crores (to be able to pay my team well). And then, after A and B, I want to chase financial freedom.
  8. Travel. One trip at least with Vivek. At least a couple with my parents. Maybe one with Poo. So that’s 4 already. Let’s see how many of these happen.

Oh, and no, this is not the goalsheet for the year. That’s a separate post and conversation. Watch out for that. Last year I missed it. This year, I dont want to.

On Network, while at C4E and then at Meru, I learnt that I know a lot of people. And some of those people know me back. And yet when I need help or inputs from those people, I am unable to move them. I get, what they call blank shots. I get a lot of gyaan and advice and all that but the real thing that matters – money, network, access – I dont get any of that.

So, I will be deliberate about finding people who are open with their wallet, phone book and other things.

In terms of tangibles, I want to know 100 people who can give me a crore each. And then start a VC fund in the next 5 years. #in2030.

I will place more tangibles around it.

2/ Unseen (the Deepinder Goyal biography)

I am reading Unseen these days.

And OMG, what writing! I am sure the story is a bit of exaggeration and some bit of corporate corrections but the writing is top notch. I am a fan of the author, Megha Vishwanath.

I’ve written a few biographies in life and I would love to write more. And I want to now “compete” with Megha for the quality of writing. May be I need to first put riyaaz in and write better.

3/ Free man…

One of the quotes that I use a LOT is this…

I find I’m so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

– Red, The Shawshank Redemption

While thinking about it in some context, I spotted this one from Kerouac…

Source: Unknown.

And then while chatting with Arti about life and all, she said something incredible. She said,”thats a good start..unlimited possibilities :)”

And I realised, what a great place I am in life! To have so much going for me!

4/ Ananta Quest

Over the weekend I attended Ananta Quest, an event by Sanjay Mehta, Aditya Save and their team.

It was one of those moments where I saw many mentors find their next step. And in my own tiny, insignificant way, I was responsible for getting them together. And no, I am not taking any undue credit for anything that happened there. But I love the fact that many people I love got together to do things that they find joy and salvation in.

I really want to do more of this.

Oh, I also learnt a lot of things about myself while I was there. The primary one, I would love to be a part of the events business in some way. And then the secondary one, I dont want to do events business ;p

5/ Docu on theatre

I have another itch that I want to scratch. Make a documentary on the lives and times of theatre professionals. You know, what excites them, what moves them. Why do they do what they do.

I’ve fired some shots. So far, no outcomes. I need to find a way to move this forward. But then I also need to find a way to focus. Let’s see when or how I do so. Ofc, there is a large chance that I dont do anything on this – you know, time, focus, priority etc.

N/ Misc things that am wondering on…

In no order.

1/ How can people work without a mouse?
I know people know a lot of shortcuts on the keyboard but I am too old to do so. I’ve even seen those Excel competitions and World Cups where people type faster than I can thing and make castles on excel!

2/ Studying / Learning.
I dont know how people learn after they are old. I enrolled in a nutrition course and I am unable to learn anything from there. To a point that I have stopped attending classes! And no, I’ve not given up. I will be back in action from the next month.

3/ Anti FOMO.
I forgot what I wanted to write here.

4/ House of Cards.
I’ve been itching to see House of Cards all over again. To me, it’s way too long (I estimate it to be about 70 hours of total runtime across episodes and seasons) and even if I were to give it one hour per day (which is a lot in the first place), the “project” would take me more than 2 months. I dont know if I want to commit to this long a project.

I can download and see on transits or flights. No, not flights. I want to write on flights. Lets see.

5/ Driving License.
I need to renew my driving license and I am lost in the maze between the RTO websites and non-helpful call centres. I am thinking I will apply for a fresh license (assuming I can do so!)

6/ This tweet. I am copy pasting text.

Early startups don’t fail because people don’t work hard. They fail because momentum leaks through hesitation, politeness, and unspoken assumptions. People hesitate to interrupt. They soften asks. They work around blockers instead of confronting them. They wait, assuming someone else will respond, decide, or notice. Each instance feels reasonable. None feel like failure. But together they create drag. Speed is not hours worked or how fast code is written. Speed is how quickly a team surfaces friction and resolves it. Speed is whether blockers are confronted immediately or politely avoided. Speed is whether decisions are made explicitly or left implicit. That’s why speed is a cultural property, not a process. You cannot add it with meetings, tools, or policies. It emerges when a team shares the same internal bar for urgency, ownership, and “all-in.” Early teams that win are not nicer or more organized. They are less ambiguous.

Made me think.

I am guilty for being way too polite (I think) and I am often way too soft. I need to be able to help people differentiate between politeness, kindness and “reasonable action”. More on this over the next few days.

This is about it.
No other large sections.
Like I said, I’ve been weirded out for the last few weeks.
Should be back in action soon.

PS: I am not happy how this has turned out. But I want to ship at this time. And then think about other things.

PPS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes.

The previous editions: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47

I’ve missed the following weeks: 9, 15, 17, 22, 24, 41, 43, 45, 48, 49

Wk 47-25 – Weekly Notes

Nov 23-24, 2025
Various times, various places.

I had a busy week. Not busy but hectic. I was about town and had some work. Here’s notes and thoughts from the week gone by.

PS: I was half in the mind to not do this (because I am already on Monday night) but then I thought, jaisa bhi hai, karte hai.

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💭 Highlights, reflections, updates and notes from the past two weeks

And no, these are not in any order.

1/ Year Compass

It’s that time of the year where I will take print-outs of Year Compass and fill it in.

I’ve been using it for a while to figure how the year went by and what I plan to do in the next. If you are also the productivity kinds and like to reflect, this could be an interesting tool. At least I have benefitted from this. You may want to check this out.

I find the tool very very useful. It makes me go thru my calendar, photos, conversations, notes, thoughts etc and allows me to spot my mistakes. This also keeps me on track in terms of what I want to do and how far I am.

Most years, I make elaborate plans and from whatever I plan, I only get to do a fraction of things and that’s ok. I am hard on myself and unless I have goals that are larger than myself and my aukaat, no point putting those goals in place.

Even if this this is not for you, I urge you to see it once.

Pro Tip: Download the Digital-A4 version, take two sets of printouts and work with a pen and paper (not iPad / Comp). And on the first, write everything. And on the second refine. And use the second one as your report card for 2025 and then the roadmap for 2026. And if you do take this advice and work on it, please share your plan with me. May be we can help each other get to those goals?

2/ No Coffee

See this tweet.

I am glad to report that I didnt have coffee this week. And, as I write this, today’s monday evening and I am yet to have coffee!

And I went to Starbucks only twice. I did goto other coffee shops (but did not order coffee).

To be honest, I dont miss coffee as much as I miss the feeling of sitting at a table and working on things. I am trying to make my home the place where I sit and work but I like to see some chaos around me. I think co-working spaces are the best bet for me. I need to find a good one around me. And around wherever I go.

So, do I want to continue not having coffee? I am not sure.

I want to not be a leech and I want Starbucks to survive their India journey. The other day I read that even though they’ve been here 12 years, they are still in the investment mode! Wow! If they were backed by a VC, I am not sure they’d survive this long. They would already be on the death bed!

3/ Death bed

See this tweet.

I said, When I am on my death bed, who would I want to be next to me? And who are the people who would drop everything and come see me on my death bed?

This means that while I will have friends and acquaintances and all that, going forward I would allow a very small number of people to get thru the defences.

Also, the point is moot. I dont think I would want to have anyone next to me when my time comes. I would rather be with strangers and all that and not have any of my loved ones see me.

So that.

4/ Warikoo’s Team’s Salary

Warikoo made his team’s salaries public. Many things came from there on. Here’s a list.

  • I pay more than Warikoo! And yet I am unable to find great talent.
  • I love the radical transparency with which he runs the business. I run mine with a lot of transparency as well but he takes the cake.
  • Great people (I know at least one person who works for Warikoo and I made an offer to pay her 2X of what she makes) choose to work with people who have great personal brands. I dont have it. I need to work on it.
  • As much as people are important, performance is important as well. This has been a problem for me. I need to index higher on performance. I will do that going forward. It will be tough – primarily because I dont know how to go about it – I’ve never known how to do this. Plus its not something that I can read from book. Its about people and thats messy and all.

There was more but I forgot. I may come back to this.

5/ Magic of IRL meetings and Power of Handshakes

I bumped into a former client the other day. And it was a fantastic meeting. From getting to see his scars to seeing the human side of him to getting a new opportunity, I saw all of those happen in one one-hour interaction!

This is one of those things that COVID-19 has taken away from us – the magic of in-person conversations. While its more efficient I wish we can bring back these IRL meetings, handshakes and texture of people!

In fact, I had started to say no to IRL meetups (cos why travel) but I will get back to these IRL meetings. I will still figure the time and travel and all that.

6/ Nath Saab

For context on him, read this.

Another lesson I learnt from him is the idea of panna faadna. I wrote about it here (section B). I think it needs a page on this blog but for the time being, I will replicate here.

Imagine our life is a notebook. Each person in our life is a page. And you can add as many pages in that notebook (once you meet new people). And then the page can extend to any length (depending on your relationship with them). And like any well-used journal or notepad, it can extend in all directions.

However, once you sort of break your relationship with someone (say, someone moves away from your life, someone does something uncool etc etc) you tear their page from your notebook. And then that’s that. You stop bothering about them. They become a stranger. You operate from a place of indifference. You are kind to the world, you are kind to them. You wish them success but you shall not partake in that. If they need help, you are not proactive. You let them come to you. So on and so forth.

He of course has a far deeper reason and philosophy. What I wrote is mine.

And yesterday, I tore one more page off my book. I wish the individual all the luck. I continue to love but I am no longer invested.

So, that.

This week, I tore two more pages from my life’s book. Both pages are relatively fresh and yet I cared deeply for them. One I’ve known for 2-3 years. The about 18 months. Both seemed to have outgrown me and took my patronage for granted. I dont expect that people I support put me on a pedestal but I expect them to be polite and respectful towards me.

Not worth ruminating. Made a note in my Roam. There are now 4 people there. I should re-read Meditations.

7/ Inevitable future

The world is changing fast and I dont know how to navigate. I am thinking, do I create a group of people I trust and talk about things there?

Some themes I see emerging…

  • Network
  • Atoms vs Bits
  • Personal Brand
  • Personalized Health
  • Hard Skills and Soft Skills
  • Interdisciplinary intelligence

I am sure there are many that I am missing.

So, I am thinking I will add people who I trust and who I was to be on my death bed. The idea will be to spot where we are (as individuals, as a group and as society) and what we could do as a collective to be a part of this inevitable future. I am not sure what shape would it take and who would I include in it. But this has been simmering in my head.

Give me thoughts?
Ask me questions?

8/ Urban Poverty of Time

I was talking to C about something and I happened to mention Urban Poor. In one line, its the people who don’t have the resources and yet take on debt to appear of a certain strata to appease people around them.

Lately I’ve started to spot people who are poor with their time. You know, young people who are perpetually short of time and yet are travelling for concerts, going to meetups, joining board game groups, attending festivals that they have no clue about.

I see so many young people waste so much of their time on doing things that would seemingly get them acceptance and approval from the world around them. And then after they come back from these social dos, they are left scrambling to get things done and all that.

PS: I want to develop this idea a little more. Lets see where I get.

9/ On saying yes!

See this tweet.

I have lived a life of “always yes” till I was 40. And my excuse was lack of focus. And undiagnosed ADHD. This served me ok – I learnt a lot. But in societal measures, this didnt serve me well.

And despite that, I continue to believe that one must say yes to everything. And I know a lot of people who are sharply focussed even at the age of 20.

So, you do what serves you (yes or no) and what has served your people. But this is worth reading and thinking.

10/ Harada Method

See this tweet. I have been a fan of Ohtani and how he’s built a deliberate life. I did not know that he was following Harada all this while.

Since then multiple tools and apps have popped up that help you visualise this Harada method. I have used goalpillars.com to visualise quiet a few. Here’s one.

The point?

You must try the method to build a map for your success.

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Ok enough!

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📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Some photos that I took and save over the last week are here.

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🈺 LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that I’ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldn’t). And I just added health a few weeks ago.

No update from the last week. Plus now that we are close to the end of this year and I am working on Year Compass, I will probably make updates to this as we go along.

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☑️ So, what did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

On this as well, I dont have an update for the last weeks.

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📊 The tracker from the last week

Here’s the tracker. Publishing this after a while. Took a lot of effort 😀

What do you see?

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🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

I am not publishing this at this time.

The food log, my daily health log channel continue to be active.

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📖 Interesting Reads / Views

Not too many. And whatever I had, I have covered those in the note above. You are welcome to join this WA group where I post updates often.

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🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

I’ve been skipping this for a while now.
Lets see when I get back to this.

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🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Blur.

I dont even know where this week went. And there is no better word than this to capture that emotion.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Sad, Getting Back, Unsettling, Regular, Grind, Sad, Tough, Routine, Routine, Busy, Grind, Blur, Stress, Numb, Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

This week was not

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes.

The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46

I’ve missed the following weeks: 9, 15, 17, 22, 24, 41, 43, 45

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working with WordPress and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 46-25 – Weekly Notes

Updates from the weeks 45 and 46.

10:30 AM
Nov 15, 2025
Starbucks, Versova
Completing this on morning of the Nov 17th

Its been two weeks since I’ve written this.

Life happened; which I will come to shortly. But if I look at the trend, I have been pushing these posts to alternate weeks for the last three weeks. Maybe I need to change the cadence to that?

So, a large part of why I’ve not been able to publish is that I no longer have free weekends. I don’t get the time to reflect on things and thus I don’t get time to write.

I don’t like this, to be honest and I would like to change. Lets see when and how.

The other thing is, this update takes well over 4 hours for me to write (over 2-3 sittings). Which I am ok to be honest. I think of this as my weekly journal that keeps me sane. Plus this gives me an illusion of control.

The messy part is to update the trackers. And I know that tracking is as important as the commentary. And I want to do a decent (not perfect, not great) job at it. The days when I feel I am unable to even do the decent, I tend to procrastinate. And then things spiral.

Ok, enough. Lets get started.

Oh, the tracks of the post are Rolling in the deep and Believer. The second link is to a playlist. Enjoy while you read this post.

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💭 Highlights, reflections, updates and notes from the past two weeks

And no, these are not in any order.

1/ Mahabharata

For context, I had taken a challenge to write 100 posts in 100 days, each inspired by a story from Mahabharata. And a lesson from thereon.

I could only write 43 of those. Here’s a list.

So, I failed. I have a lot of thoughts about that. While you can read the long post, the summary is – I tried and I failed. And unlike the time when I would get sad and beat myself over it, this time, I am giving myself a break. I acknowledge that I tried. And failed. And I need to move on.

Also this has made me realize thats I need to work harder to find 1000 true fans. In fact, EACH of us must do whatever we can do find 1000 true fans. Krishna was here over the last few days and while talking to him, I realized that instead of you chasing money or learning, you MUST chase a 1000 true fans and once you get to that, life can be better.

As we speak, I have 3 true fans. In case you want to know more about it, here.

Apart from this, while I am on this, I must write about Paul’s Pathless Path. I’ve been reading the book and it’s very very interesting. And refreshing. Especially the stage of life I am at.

Inspired by this I am considering building a coaching practise. This is far cry from how I operate. In life I have not wanted to charge for my patronage – if anything, I give out a lot. Plus I believe that seekers need not be left behind because they cant pay. May be I will make it so expensive that only the ones with resources are able to buy? And ofc, I continue to offer my time for free to the ones that need it.

Like most things, I’ve made public posts. See this post on linkedin and this on x. Lets see where it lands.

2/ Kindness and Politeness

One of my largest values in life is that of kindness and politeness.

To a point that if you talk to me in a rude, condescending, undermining tone, you can expect me to walk out from even the grandest prizes on offer. I have done that in the past – one time I even put my entire company’s very survival at stake.

However, over the last few weeks, I have found myself being rude and unkind and impolite and short-fused and all that. Not just to strangers but also to folks I love.

Case in point, Riya.

I’ve known her for a while and she’s one of the smartest young people I know. Lately, she’s been working to help me build distribution for my work on the internet. She put together a podcast, a newsletter, an entire social media profile and more. A few days ago, on a tiny thing, I lost it and I spoke to her curtly. And I shouldn’t have.

I don’t have an excuse. If I was frustrated, I should’ve kept that to my self. If I were angry, I should’ve chosen better words. If I was not well, I should’ve pushed the call and not bring a bad self to that.

I will do better.

And Riya, if you are reading this, I am sorry.

3/ Health

Despite all the efforts by Dr H (via FOXO) and all the people around me, I cant seem to find a way to eat better. I cant seem to find a way to workout. And I cant seem to get any better.

I can see my energy levels go down. On Friday, I was with some friends and I was unable to even sit up. On Saturday, I had a splitting headache and I didn’t know what to do about it. I have this lingering pain in my back for so many days and I know I need to fix my posture but I havent moved my ass on it. So that.

I know that the answers are simple. I am also sure that things needed to be in the top decile of health for your age group are not tough at all. And yet, I am unable to do shit about it. And since I am a rationalizing human and a smart one at that, I blame the lack of focus on health to lack of money.

Lemme make my case here.

So, if you’ve been a reader of this blog, you’d know my fandom for Kuldeep. I read that he’s on GLP-1 and he lifts like 140 KGs and he’s got a weighing scale that costs 40000.

While his dedication is remarkable and the hard work he’s putting in great, I want to believe that a large part of his ability to be so focused is because of the resources he’s got – you know, afford a doctor to prescribe meds, buy things etc etc.

And yes, I do know that for every Kuldeep, there’s a, say, Fooldeep who doesnt have any money at all and YET does more than Kuldeep and is better than Kuldeep. For fucks sake, I could be this Fooldeep!

I mean, I do have some money. And instead of investing that in my personal brand, I can use that to build better health. I have been wanting to buy an air purifier. I want to join a fancy gym. I want to get a domestic help to cook. How tough is it for me to invest this?

NOT AT ALL!

I will have to cut EACH of my wants (you know, fancy devices, trips, dinners, gifts etc) and I should be ok. If I cut Starbucks from life, the money saved there would be enough to fund like three SG fitness projects.

Wait.
May be that.
What if I abstain from Sbux for a week?
Will try and report.

Ok, moving on.

BRB, ordering a pizza for myself.

4/ Naval on Curating People

Naval dropped a new podcast. It’s titled, Curate People.

Like most things from Naval, this too is worth its weight in gold. I’ve heard is twice and I have made LOT of notes. He’s made the following chapters from the conversation…

On each, I found myself nodding vigorously.

I could relate to my experience. And I realised that I’ve been on the right path. Just that I’ve not been able to curate enough. In fact, the secret of my failure is hidden in plain sight. That I am not a genius and thus I am unable to find others to work with me. I could’ve attracted them with money but my ability to do so is limited as well.

Also, I relate this to what HT told me a few weeks ago (about not being apologetic and leading with confidence). May be this has been my anathema all this while? May be I continue to be a scatterbrain and yet offer confidence and clarity to folks I get to work with.

What say?

Oh and this brings me to the next point. Smartness and poverty.

5/ Smart and yet poor

I saw this quote and I felt a sucker punch to my gut.

“If you are so smart why are you still poor?”

I’ve of course believed all my life that I am among the smarter lot. And this gets reinforced most times I meet people (this also means I need to find better circles to hang around in). And yet I am poor. And I havent been able to spot the reason for poverty.

Lemme try to decode.

One thought is that my relationship with money is not the best one.

I often give it out more than I must. I also tend to not value my time and my energy enough to seek the commensurate monetary value. And I seem to run a leaky bucket – to a point that I piss off a lot of money in life – you know, Starbucks, Eating out etc. For context, last year, I spent about 5 lakhs on eating out, another 3 lakhs on Starbucks. And btw, just 21000 on clothes. Lol.

This year, these numbers are 3.5 lakhs on eating out, 1.7 lakhs on Starbucks and 19K on clothes.

Point?
I can totally save these 5 lakhs if I get better habits.

Second thought is that I need to not leave so much on the table.

I suffer from the want of being likeable. By all. I want to be polite and nice and Mr Please Everybody Else. And because of this, I leave a lot of money on the table. And I dont ask others to do more. And I dont give candid feedback to people who dont.

Thing is, I need to find a way to stretch my money to do more. I want to demand value from the investment I’ve made. I have tried to pivot to being a demand person but I havent been able to change. This likeability is a core part of my identity and each time I have tried to change this, I have failed. So that.

Third thought is using money to please others.

Thankfully, I dont suffer from this affliction. I do things that please me and no one else. So that’s cool.

Fourth thought is Survival. And not growth.

This is a deep one. Some people are designed to take large risks and do more with their lives. I havent taken any large risks to be honest. I’ve only taken small ones. And with small risks come small results. So, I am mildly successful at best. And I am a “never was” (not a “has been”). And I can attribute this to my thing of finding a way to not die. Each time I am in a soup, I come out alive. I am not really on the edge. I am not that atomic explosion that blinds everyone for a ten second window and then the clouds of dust tell the story of that blinding genius. I am rather that candle that flickers and flickers and flickers till it runs out. There is no large announcements. There is no aftermath. Just a candle that was.

Fifth is my chase of freedom and relaxed life of today.

You have only two resources you balance – time and money. And you can do only two tradeoffs – live a tough life today (put in time, save money) and enjoy in the future or use money today to buy convenience (and time) so that your head is free to work on tasks that you need to apply your head to.

I’ve chosen the later.

And in fact, even on the later, I pay a lot of money to avoid mental fuckery. For example, a large part of my spends on Starbucks is to find an AC, comfortable seats, clean rest rooms et al. And not for coffee! I dont even like coffee that much! I am totally opposite of Marshmallow folks.

So may be I dont have enough that allows me to compound?

Sixth is my philosophizing.

Lemme start with a quote by SRK.

My father told me very early on in my life, he said, ‘If you are poor and you are crazy, you are called a lunatic. But if you are rich and you are crazy, you are called eccentric.‘

I cant find the source of this. But I hope you get the message. And I hope you can spot the lunatic in me.

Ok enough about money. I am bored. Need to move on.

6/ Punit Pania and Vishwas Sharma

One of the highlights of the last two weeks Punit’s live show.

I’ve been a fan of the guy and he really made me think so much. Of course he’s funny as well. You must check out his work. He narrated the story of Akbar and Tansen’s guru and left such an indelible impression on me. I wish I had it in me to be an artist and not a content creator.

The other highlight was Vishwas Sharma’s book – Berozgaar Engineer aur Gungi Gun ka Insaaf. Read it here. I’ve not read a good pulp fiction in a while and this one served everything you could ask for!

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📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Some photos that I took and save over the last two weeks are here.

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🈺 LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that I’ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldn’t). And I just added health a few weeks ago.

I dont have an update for the last two weeks.

.

☑️ So, what did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

On this as well, I dont have an update for the last two weeks.

.

📊 The tracker from the last week

I am not publishing this. I hardly took note. I will get back next week.

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🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

Like the tracker, I am not publishing this either. The food log, my daily health log channel continue to be active.

.

📖 Interesting Reads / Views

Not too many. Not publishing this. However you are welcome to join this WA group where I post updates often. The last few updates are…

1/ This year’s Year Compass is here.

https://yearcompass.com

I’ve been using it for a while to figure how the year went by and what I plan to do in the next. If you are also the productivity kinds and like to reflect, this could be an interesting tool. At least I have benefitted from this. You may want to check this out.

In case this is not for you, I urge you to see it once.

Pro Tip: Download the Digital-A4 version, take two sets of printouts and work with a pen and paper (not iPad / Comp). And on the first, write everything. And on the second refine. And use the second one as your report card for 2025 and then the roadmap for 2026.

Good luck!

2/ On saying yes!

See this tweet.

I have lived a life of “always yes” till I was 40. And my excuse was lack of focus. And undiagnosed ADHD. This served me ok – I learnt a lot. But in societal measures, this didnt serve me well.

I continue to believe that one must say yes to everything. And I know a lot of people who are sharply focussed even at the age of 20.

So, you do what serves you (yes or no) and what has served your people. But this is worth reading and thinking.

3/ Harada Method

See this tweet.

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🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

I’ve been skipping this for a while now.
Lets see when I get back to this.

.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past two weeks?

Sad.

Yeah, thats the word. Cant think of anything else.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Getting Back, Unsettling, Regular, Grind, Sad, Tough, Routine, Routine, Busy, Grind, Blur, Stress, Numb, Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

This week was not

—
Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes.

The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 44

I’ve missed the following weeks: 9, 15, 17, 22, 24, 41, 43, 45

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working with WordPress and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.

Wk 44-25 – Weekly Notes

Updates from Weeks 43 and 44 of 2025.

5:41 PM, Nov 2, 2025
Silk Road Cafe, Versova

I am here cos the Starbucks I hang out at, their AC is not working. And I literally melt when I am at a place without AC. And thus. And tbh, this is not a bad place. I dont see a lot of people who’d make the place creepy (like at Starbucks) and thus I like it. Lets see if I come here more often.

So, before I start the review, today’s SRK’s birthday. There was a time when I was a big fan (still am but I am wiser to not attach emotions to my fandom) and I would some day like to work with him. But for today, I am content with merely wishing him birthday from afar.

Thank you, SRK, for telling me what love could be. And what power of dreams could be. And what ambition could be.

And thus, the track of the week has to be this…

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Brings me to the next part of this post.

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

And no, these are not in any order.

a/ So this last two weeks, I wrote two posts.
One about 25 questions. And the other about Piyush Pandey. He passed away a week or so ago and while the entire country was shocked, nothing seems to have stopped. Sobering lesson in Pale Blue Dot. And ego.

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b/ I need to fix my home situation.
I have a 1 bedroom hall house. And I have AC in just one of the rooms. That means I work in that room and sleep in that room and host people in that room. And this means I have chairs, working table, my mattress and everything else in this room. And this means that it’s cluttered all the time and anything thats cluttered is dirty for me. And I dont like it.

I know only I can fix it. Either I need to find a solution or I need to stop crying. I was to do this over this weekend but I couldnt. May be next weekend.

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c/ Money mindedness
Thanks to this post, I want to be a money minded man.

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d/ Saw a Tim Cook interview onboard AI1736
This one. I realised that he cant talk about Apple till date without talking about Steve. Even though it’s been like 15 years!

Also, I realised that each time I see a film, I want to be a film maker. I dont know in what shape!

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e/ A superquote on Spartans (from 300).
“Spartans true strength is the warrior next to him. So give respect and honor to him and it will be returned.”

This is what I want to build as culture at each place where I am at. Strength thru others.

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f/ sgMahabharata is at 39 posts!
w00t!

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Yeah, just these. I do have a lot of notes and commentary. Do read.

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📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Some photos that I took and save over the last two weeks are here.

The photo that I would like to highlight is this..

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🈺 LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that I’ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldn’t). And I just added health a few weeks ago.

Book 2 – There was no movement.
Nothing to report. The trigger by NanoWrimo makes me want to start on it again. But I dont really have the time at this time : (

Yearly Plan – I dropped it long ago.
Now its time to think about the plan for the next year. Lol.

Health – No large updates except the fact while I was in delhi, I actually lost a couple of KGs since I ate in discipline! Since I’ve come back, it’s been tough to manage eating well and I think am back to 93. Lets see how the next week is. PS: I track my health updates here, in case.

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☑️ So, what did I get done last week?

This is a one-line report on progress I made on various things that are important to me. I will only talk about things that I got done. Shipped. Not WIP.

  1. Health
  2. Meru
  3. C4E
  4. Brand SG
  5. People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
  6. Book2
  7. Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)

Health. Was ok. I am encouraged to give myself a 0.

Meru. Great progress. But nothing to report per se. And still no consumer launch. And thus a 0.

C4E. No action from my side. No comments. A 0.

Brand SG. Last two weeks was slow. So 0.

People. Some action on this. Met many friends, alums and others. Loved it. +1.

Book 2. Nothing. -1.

Shauk. Saw a play. Must watch more. A 0.

So the overall score for the week is 0!

Few weeks ago, I had decided that I want to get a positive score each week. I had to organise my life to be able to get to a 0. I think I’ve made the tracker. I need to run it now. Let’s see how it pans out in the next few weeks.

Brings me to the tracker of the week…

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📊 The tracker from the last week

I am not publishing this. I hardly took note. I will get back to this from next week on.

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🏃🏻‍♂️‍➡️ Health

Like the tracker, I am not publishing this. I hardly took note. I will get back to this from next week on.

The food log, my daily health log channel continue to be active.

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📖 Interesting Reads / Views

Quite a few. Here we go.

Also, I am publishing these on Substack as well. Here is the substack. And here’s the permalink to the post.

1/ From Collabfund

From this piece on Collabfund, https://collabfund.com/blog/if-you-get-the-chance/, I have taken these notes…

“I found in my career that if you take pride in the little jobs, people will think you worthy of the bigger jobs.”

This is important cos I see so many people wanting to do large things but they are not willing to put in the reps required. And here’s the interesting thing – reps typically look like little jobs, done many times over!

Unfortunately, I didn’t appreciate this lesson enough early in my career. As an example, after graduating from business school, I thought I could come right in and impart my newly found wisdom, when I should have been a better listener and executed the mundane tasks with as much vigor as the more interesting ones.

This – if I could give this advice to young people, I would ask them to first listen and then act.

“Just focus on doing the best you can with those two reps. Make them as perfect as you possibly can. Then focus on the next two, and the next two, and the next two.”

And people are at it, I would want them to do one thing well. Little ironical since I am not the kinds to be able to focus on one thing!

2/ From the markers of Hey

I read this post from the makers of Hey. The biggest takeaway for me was this line,

But the most interesting designs to me are when design changes your behavior. Even the smallest details can change how someone interacts with something.

Thing is, as custodians and builders of taste, we must take each opportunity to change behaviour. Even if you are not a designer, the opportunity to impact change is always there!

3/ From the founder of Replit

From Amjad (founder of replit), on his recent post, he talks about how to win.

While I am not as competitive as him, I am in agreement with 4 of the 6 things that he mentioned – dont die, never quit, do hard things and put something back.

The one that I cant seem to wrap my head around is “locking in”. And I am not sure where I am on the “playing by the rules”. I am from India and to make things work, we often have to be flexible on rules and ethics.

4/ Alex’s three-month marketing plan

This post by Alex is INCREDIBLE!

My takeaways are…

  1. Personality Driven Content – I need to find a way to be louder with my personality. I am 43. If not now, when?
  2. Each person on the team HAS to be a brand on the internet. Period.
  3. Need to operate the business as a content company. Each week I read something like this and I nod alongside and yet this remains a challenge.
  4. Need to have LARGE distribution. Need to find people with large following who are willing to support.
  5. Build a distribution engine where each piece you create is repurposed 100 times.

Also listed these here. Ask for access.

5/ Julian Cole on Strategy

This post talks about how to write a strategy presentation. As someone who worked on brand strategy for like 15 years, I can validate, this is spot on!

A flowchart diagram divided into five vertical sections labeled Reflection on the left showing Where we are today, Ambition in the center-left showing The tomorrow we could have Where we are today could have, Challenge in the center showing The challenge we need action change for, Jeopardy in the center-right showing The insight that unlocks this, and Hope on the right showing Gives us a way through that unlocks this idea Where we are today could have. Arrows connect the sections horizontally from left to right indicating progression.
Source: https://x.com/juliancole/status/1980870485287338262

6/ Rahul Mathur’s breakdown of Meesho

Rahul is one of my fav writers these days. Other are Kuldeep, Ankush, Harnidh.

In this thread, he breaksdown Meesho’s IPO. For me, the highlights and lessons are…

  1. The AOV is going down by design! And they are a 75% CoD business.
  2. They have an in-house logistics arm that does 20-30 lakh order PER DAY! On their website, they say they pick 40 lakh orders PER DAY!
  3. People are discovering products via creators. This segment is opaque to me (because I live and think in a different TG)
  4. The business has seen few large pivots. Again, I dont track it as much and thus I dont know the specifics. But intriguing for sure.

May be I will read more about it. Looks unlikely because the segment Meesho serves is not something that excites me.

And +1 to Rahul for all the hardwork he does.

7/ “This is new to me”

On this tweet, saw this line…

Instead of “I’m bad at this”. Say “This is new for me”. This gives your brain the space to learn instead of shut down. This is neuroplasticity in real time.

Interesting idea. Especially for me since at this age, I am finding very very hard to change how I have lived and operated.

8/ How to engineer luck

This post talks about how to engineer luck.

Now, luck is one of the favorite topics and while I didnt learn anything new from the post, it was interesting to read from somoene else’s lens. Some lines that I’ve highlighted are…

A/ Unscheduled calls. I’ve started to make these lately. Not sure

Super-agent Ari Emmanuel makes dozens of unscheduled calls every day. His opening line: “Can I help you with anything right now?

B/ Luck Razor…

If stuck with 2 equal options, pick the one that feels like it will produce the most luck later down the line. I used this razor to go for drinks with a stranger rather than watch Netflix.

C/ Proactively make intros. On this, my only note is that I want to make intros once I realise that both the parties want to be introed. Ofc, I trust both parties, I know it would be of value and all that.

Networks are unique because they don’t divide when you share them — they multiply. There’s no higher ROI on any other 30-second activity. (Note — do not confuse this with making introductions where only one side gets value from it)

D/ Give!

Give aggressively, give early, give without permission.

E/ Permissionless entry into the rooms. I have been a GREAT beneficiary of this and I cant stop recommending this enough.

Find the most talented people you know and help them as much as you can, permissionlessly. Share their projects, give feedback, and make introductions. Successful people have a special place in their hearts for the people who helped them before anyone else did.

9/ Lessons on life, from a 22-year old

This is a feel-good post for Sunday.

A young person discovering life. I wish each young person here gets to live such a life and pick lessons along the way. So many lessons packed into that one!

I found myself nodding and smiling at the words. Must read.

10/ Chat GPT on Longevity

This post on insta has some thoughts on longevity.

Not sure if this is correct (afterall, AI is known to hallucinate). Here are a commentary on the post…

  • Stress shortens your life more than sugar. I think I dont take stress but I am told that my Cortisol levels are not good. So need work on that.
  • Live now. I’ve lived my life with this principle. So am ok.
  • Don’t force yourself to stay in draining situations and do things that you are internally not opposed to. This means bad marriages, bad jobs, energy drains etc etc. Mostly I am ok to get out of those. But when I can’t I need to be faster to get out of those.
  • Deep connection matters more than any supplement. I need to double down my efforts on building more communities and being more immersed in those.
  • Find purpose larger than self. I need to work on this one. At this time, I dont have a large enough purpose apart from the chase of freedom.

While on longevity, do read this piece from Lenny San’s newsletter.

11/ Ever wondered why do people touch their ears when they are talking about their teachers?

I knew this intuitively but then I got reading.

In one line, it’s usually a gesture of respect, apology, or humility. A more nuanced and detailed answer is that when you talk about a teacher, touching of ear is a symbolic acknowledgement that you are saying sorry even before you start talking because you may misspeak.

A deeper nuance is that even if you not misspeak, whatever you may say will always be a fraction of what your teacher already know. So, by touching your ears and apologizing, you are admitting that you are nothing compared to your teachers.

While I am not for any such subservient behaviour, this one, I quite like. Make what you will of this.

12/ India against India

In this post, the writer makes some very compelling arguments about India. shared this with a few friends.

On one side, some folks said this is a very biased view against india. And they were quick to dismiss.

On the others, mostly folks who love india deeply and are settled abroad, said that this was an objective piece.

You could be on either side but there is no denying that this is a compelling piece of writing and the author has a way with words. If nothing else, think of this as a satirical piece and enjoy for the sheer joy of reading.

13/ Creative Slop

In this thread, the writer argues that large cultural revolutions often start as slop. And in the world that we live in, we are often tend to dismiss the new!

A lot of groups that I am a part of are dissing work done by folks on AI as slop are not even acknowledging the effort!

14/ Conceptual stories vs Perceptual Stories

In this piece, the large takeaway is that brain remembers conceptual stories more than perceptual stories. There are different ways you could fill in the details of that story. You could give perceptual descriptions of how your food looked and tasted. Or you could focus more on conceptual experiences, such as what that food made you think and feel.

15/ Notes on India

In this piece, Jason talks about what he saw while he was in India.

I thought it was a very accurate understanding of India (and unbiased one at that). Do read to understand us. Made many highlights. Listing a couple points…

It seems that most Indians operate in a fundamentally open-ended and uncertain environment

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In India, cooperating with the rules almost always lands you in the sucker’s quadrant of the prisoner’s dilemma, whereas creative defection is generally net positive (perhaps in a macro sense, society operates less efficiently because of it, but in a personal sense, defecting wisely pays off).

16/ Jack and Jane of trades

In this tweet, the writer claims,

“Specialize or die” made sense in 1995. In 2025, it’s a death sentence. The future belongs to generalists, and the proof is in Systems Theory.”

Do read the thread.

17/ Naval on working for self. And work-life balance.

In this podcast, Naval talks about how when you work for yourself, the concept of work-life balance ceases to exist. He talks baout how the taste of freedom makes you “unemployable”.

Once you are “free” you are unable to find yourself fitting into any structures and you find ways to get back the call of the wild.

I can 100% resonate to this 🙂

18/ This post by Ankit Sawant on Cleartrip

I’ve always loved Cleartrip for their design and CX. This is a great post about the business in general and how design can play the central role in building business. Ofc, cleartrip is nowhere close to the top but still!

19/ On people

Saw this tweet and I was blown apart. Such a simple chart. Such a difficult lesson.

20/ On running

This piece on running is among the best you will ever read. Here are a couple of quotes that I am taking home…

I didn’t want my id to overcome my superego

One lesson I learned about running that also applies to writing: The best time to do something important is usually right now. And when you have to get something done in a short amount of time, it’s wise not to spend that time complaining about how little time you have.

21/ Andrej talks about how agency will be more important than intelligence

See this link.

Andrej talks about how agency is going to be more important than intelligence. And I agree. I’ve long believed that once AI commodities intelligence, we will need people to get things done! The question to ask – are you the kinds to “I’ll figure it out”

Also, I love how he talks about internal locus of control. A great way to explain agency.

22/ Social Capital Balance Sheet

Saw this tweet and I was blown apart. Such a simple chart. Such a difficult lesson.

Two large takeaways for me

  • 1/ “Your ability to affect the world, to bring things into being, to convince people to work with you, work for you, and for investors to invest with you is based deeply in your reputation. And if you don’t care what people think about you, you will necessarily accomplish less, work with fewer people, raise less money.”
  • 2/ “Humility is the delta between performance and ego”

🧠 Reminders from last week

This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SG’s Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.

I’ve been skipping this for a while now.
Lets see when I get back to this.

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🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Getting back in action.

Slow and steady but after a two week break, I am now trying to get back to churning the wheels. I am hopeful that the coming week will see solid action.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have been… Unsettling, Regular, Grind, Sad, Tough, Routine, Routine, Busy, Grind, Blur, Stress, Numb, Blur, Fast, Uncool, Disappeared, Experience, Grind, Busy for Nothing, Regular, Getting back to action, Slack, Busyness, Action, Survive, Looking Up, Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

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Phew!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

Oh, and this too shall pass!

PS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes.

The previous editions are here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42

I’ve missed the following weeks: 9, 15, 17, 22, 24, 41, 43

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working with WordPress and I don’t have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.

PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything – work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.