Wk 11-25 – Weekly Notes

Notes, highlights, thoughts and other things from the 11th week of 2025.

Morning!
Writing this on the 17th.
While it was a short week for the world (holi and all), I had a long one. I can blame it on work, friends, health and all that! And thus I am late by a day. It is 8 AM right now and I am taking off at 930. If I can publish it before that, great. If I can’t then the post will come towards the end of the day. Have a lot to do.

Nonetheless, let’s go!

🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by? And the next week!

There’s a slight change in this format from the past few weeks. I will now track this as one or two LARGE things that I want to do in a week. And my report on that. And then the next section where I will talk about what did I get done in the week.

A/ 2025 plan.
This remains open. I thought I would take a week off and do it. I did not. I continue to keep this open as a task.

So that.

In the coming week, I will…

1/ Carve out time for the 2025 plan.
I met Ashi, Shubhi and a few more friends from MDI on 16th Mar and my eyes have opened up to my foolishness with money. I need some discipline and that would be a large part of this.

2/ Get to the first draft of book 2.
I am at a place where I have enough material to convert my notes into a working draft. So that.

☑️ What did I get done this week?

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

At this point, the following things are important to me (I know too many but…) and these are IN ORDER.

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

Health – This was bad. I was unwell. I ate kachra. I didn’t sleep well. If I could give myself a -10. I would. In fact, this is the BIGGEST red flag. So, will work on that!
-1

Meru – Regular work. Nothing new. Worked hard. Long. Was fun. Need to hire a lot of people. If you know people, please do reach out.
I will give myself a 0 on it.

C4E – Did maintenance things. And trying to hand over things to C. Putting in place things for other parts of C4E. Nothing large to report. Nothing large done.
So, a 0.

Brand SG – Did nothing, even though this is an important one. I mean I did record a few podcasts but I haven’t done anything large. I didn’t even post things on LinkedIn. I didn’t connect with others.
– 1

People – Did a few things. But nothing large to be honest.
I will give a 0.

Book 2 – Wrote a lot. I am ok with the progress I made. Not happy. Not sad. Ok. most of it was done by Claude. But progress for sure.
I will give a +1

Shauk – Nothing on this.
So, another -1

So the overall score is -2 for this week.
Trends from the pevious weeks: -1

The max I can get is 7 in a week. Let’s see when I get to it.
Added this to my tracker too.

📊 The tracker from the last two weeks

Here’s the tracker.

Look at all that food I am having!

I am killing myself one bite at a time. I will fix this. I have promised Ashima that I will get a functioning kitchen. And thanks to Rohilla, I do have a viable cook. I just need to find the money that I need to spend.

My back-of-the-envelope math says that I will have to spend 48K per month on this. Here’s the calculation: Cook – 5K, Groceries – 10K, Supplements – 10K, Gym – 5K, Coach – 8k, Physio – 10K.

And this does not even include the one-time expense (gadgets, utensils, clothes etc). At this time, I don’t have this kind of money on me. Lemme see what can I cut back from my life and allocate to health.

One large decision that I can potentially take is that I can move to Thane or Vashi or whatever. But I refuse to be not at the epicentres. I even wrote last week about how you need to be in the epicentres of action.

The other decision I can take is to cut on Starbucks (I do spend about 30K on casual coffee and meetups). But then this is where I meet my people and other people. May be not.

Anyhow. This is not the place for taking decisions. I am merely dumping whats on my head. Oh, and I know that I am probably over-indexing on the spends. Most people probably manage it in FAR less. But, like I say, I am not a great money manager. Ok, moving on.

📷 Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos.

Not too many worth sharing. But some inspiring ones nonetheless. Do lemme know which one you thought was the best.

📖 Interesting Reads from the last week

This week was busy. I didn’t get a lot of reading done, tbh. However here are a few that I would love to share.

  • On assisted suicide. By Kahneman. THE Kahneman. Here.
  • On Network Effects. I read a few posts on the website. Start with this Masterclass. In fact, over the next few days, I will go down this Rabbit Hole and explore this as much as I can. If you are reading this, do read this and lets see how we can teach each other this. I would also like to see perspectives against this.
  • Charlie’s Psychology of Human Misjudgement. This one never gets old. I even told all my people to go read it. Thanks to Andrew for this 🙂

💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the week.

There’s a lot in this department to be honest. I may not be able to capture all of those here but I will try as much. Lessgoo…

A/ Health
I am not at an age where I am thinking a lot about mortality (funny I am writing this from a plane and I am worried if the plane goes down, what would happen to all things that I have thought about and planned in life), spirituality and other such things. And I am also thinking a lot about how do I become that person who is capable and able to lead others. And I thus need to be in the prime of my health, if not in other departments.

This is a classic “why” that I now have and thus I need to act on the how and the what.

Now, within this, I can control a few things (what I eat, when I sleep etc.) and there are a few that I cant control (diseases, acts of God, randomness). So rather than crying over what I cant control, I will try and optimise what I can, indeed control.

B/ Network School
Even since they talked about Network School, I have wanted to be there. Last week, I secured an “admission”.

My suspicion is that anyone and everyone is getting that. I would have loved to go (little steep for me at USD 1500 per month) but at this time, a lot’s happening and I don’t want to digress.

This is the classic case of wrong timing. If not for Meru, I would’ve gone for a month for sure.

C/ C4E Base / C4E House
I want to get C4E Base in various parts of the world where the entire C4E village can co-live and work on things that are important to them (these could be C4E or non C4E things).

Think of Hacker houses. But for folks from C4E. I know the current ownership structures in the country and the emotions attached by people on their houses makes it tough to create these houses. I will have to build some of these. Let’s see when I am able to do so.

These spaces would be co-work, co-live, co-create, co-perform and all that. These spaces would encourage others to drop in, others to feel at home, others to do whatever they wish to!

D/ Design
This continues to be my Achilles Heel and a want and a need since 2007 when Raj and Vikram first made me aware about power of great design in life and all that. And since I pivoted C4E to brand, I have continued to want a great design partner.

E/ Upwork.
Murtaza opened up my eyes to upwork. For some reason, I’ve always remained on the edge with upwork. I have had this bias that only the shit ones get their projects from upwork. But once Murtaza showed us the numbers, I realised how wrong I was!

I would like C to chase this. But from now on, I can only like. The decision is hers.

F/ Using money.
This could be a long one.

Lemme try to make a coherent narrative. I am a big fan of Paras Chopra. Not just cos he’s made a lot of money but also cos he seems to be giving in using it the right manner – building tools of public utility, offering grants to the deserving, building residencies, initiating moments etc etc.

Same for Andrew Wilkinson. He runs Tiny and he uses some of his money to build things. Same for Ray Dalio.

Now all these may be construed as cherry-picking but they are supporting people. And this is where my lesson is. Why cant I support people like that with my money? I mean I already do with SoG Grant (this year I’ve given up some 45K already but these have been to individuals and in most cases the beneficiaries get to work on a project or two). But can I do this in a way that it compounds and builds something AND someones?

No, I am not a philanthropist. I want to see a better world that M & m may get to inherit and I want to build that work. I want to happen to things. And thus I need to make money. Or may be raise some money. Let’s see what path I take. #sgtodo.

G/ A man who knows a man
Chota Anna (I can’t put his real name here) told me the other day that he’s a man who knows a man. I was instantly reminded of myself. I am also the man who’s knows a man. And I know more men who know other men. And ofc I am a people-connector. So, 2 + 2, I am in a great shape ;P

I want all my people to be this. I know I have a lot of introverts in my life. I know I have a lot of private people in my life. And I know that I merely am a platform for opportunity exchange. So, I need to become an even larger connector.

So that.

Oh, and Chota Anna has asked me for help with some films. I was sad for a minute that I no longer have access to TRS or PPP and I won’t be able to help him. But I will do whatever I can to help him. I can’t be too active, cos Meru, but I will do whatever I can.

More on this in the next few days.

H/ Book 2
This is going SURPRISINGLY better than what I had expected. Thanks to Claude. If there are no large surprises, I should be ready to ship the first draft by the end of this month! Yay!

I/ Love
I’ve been thinking about this lately. I realise that I am ready for this. And yet I don’t have the time. Anoush told me something like, I need to carve out time for love. I realized I don’t have it in me to do even that.

In fact, I realised that I am stuck in that dichotomy – on one side, I want to be detached from everything. On the other, I want to be around my people. But then it makes me think – what’s the point of this life anyway if you’ve spent it in chasing action and all that.

The spiritual in me has come to the conclusion that life is pointless in large scheme of things. But on a day-to-day basis, you need to be engaged (park it as i) and be useful (part this as ii). And while you are engaged and useful, you need to build.

i, You can choose to be engaged in tiny things (like gardening) or you could be engaged in send rockets to the moon (and trying to catch them back). You know that carrom scene from Munnabhai? The old man chose to be engaged in and invested in his game of carrom. We call this “matar” at C4E. All of us need to be engaged in some game of carrom, some matar. For me, it could be C4E. For someone, it could be their family. For some, it could be religion. But there has to be something that becomes your identity and you engaged, invested in it!

ii, You can choose to be useful to your family (make that your focal point). Or you can be useful to the world at large. If you are useful to the family, in all probability, the family will support you and take care of you in your old age. When you are doing it for “others”, you are left to fend for yourself. So, need to figure this.

So that.

I just realised, all these posts are actually great linkedin posts. And if not that, twitter content. And if not even that, a separate essay. When I write these on my weekly note, it gets lost in all the other brain dump. Will think on this. #sgtodo

J/ Demand more from life.
Demand better things (food, drinks, clothes), better service, better people etc. People may say these things don’t matter. They do. But as you demand these things – you MUST NOT be an asshole.

I have a friend – she seeks the best and she wants the world to bow down to her whims and she gets him way most of the times but she’s often an asshole about it. Funny thing is, this attitude of “world is out there to serve me” allows him to do well in life. I’ve often thought about being a bitch like that but I’ve realised that my values don’t permit me to be that.

But what I can do is, stop being a perpetual people pleaser. Instead of doing things to seek validation, please people, I must do things

In fact just yesterday, I took a hard call of not supporting a lady who needed a lakh or so to get out of domestic abuse. The old me would’ve instantly given her 10-15K. This is the number that I am willing to let go of without any remorse. But the new me (who wants to support only the ones who deserve support) has chosen to not do that.

Thanks, Adam Grant!

K/ Poker.
I will teach all my kids poker. It’s a great tool to help you grow. You learn about risk, arbitrage, people, decision making, emotions, maths, gut, small talk and all that.

I took a session for C the other day. I will do it for others. If you want to be a part of the lessons, DM me these magic words – “pocket me rocket hai”. The session is STRICTLY for the ones that DM me these words.

Oh, I am not good at it. May be I can invest time to become better. But then, does it add to my current life plans? Not really. So, I will merely teach :D.

L/ Other things that I want to capture but I may not spill too many words

  1. Spillpot! I love when people ship projects. However broken they maybe. This is a good case in point.
  2. I am guilty of rotting on insta last few days. To be honest, all of it was with the motivation to get things done and learn more and all that. But I end up wasting time on it. I will limit my insta screen time to 10 mins in a day. I know this may not be enough to see, connect etc. But I will limit myself. Same for chess. Oh, I am not even good with chess!
  3. Super lesson from Hareesh Sir – “sheet banate jaaenge, cheez bhi to banani padegi”.
  4. Fam health scare. I will park it here. Nothing more, nothing less.
  5. Got myself a Gen-Z tee. I want to dress better. I am lazy and unplanned but I will fix it.
  6. I need to get myself sunglasses. I used to love them as an accessory at a point in time. And then I lost a couple of pairs in quick succession. And then I realized that the pairs I wanted were too expensive for me. And then I trained myself into thinking that I need to get Vitamin D. Lol. So, I will buy a pair.
  7. The way the captain speaks in the flight says a lot. Confident. Articulate. Polite. I must learn to be that. Wait. I have the word. Gravitas. That! In fact, I can relate the same to events. The way an event manager handles things when things go wrong, you realise their power!
  8. I am in Delhi for 3-4 days. I may stay longer if need be. This time I don’t plan to meet a lot of people. One of these that I will indeed meet is Farheen.

🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?

Looking up.

I think this is how I would summarise the last few days.

In the previous weeks, it’s been Survival, Taste, Community, Respect, Money, People.

Ok!
This is it for the week gone by. Late by a day. But it’s here. Yay!
Lemme know what you think.
See you around.

PPS: This series of posts is inspired by Thej and his weekly notes. The previous editions are here: 01020304050607, 08, 09 (missed), 10

210421 – Meditations

A confession that I am experiencing what Adam Grant calls “dulling of delight or the dwindling of drive”

6:30 AM.
Been up for quite some time. Was pottering around.

I now wake up at 6 without an alarm. Even if I sleep at 1ish like the case was yesterday. Of all the days recently that I have felt listless, lonely, confused, scared, yesterday was probably the toughest. I just couldn’t find the peace to sleep. I am not the kind to get fazed by things happening around me but yesterday was bad. I don’t know what triggered me. And yes, I walked 10K steps. I climbed 8 flights. I did 10 Surya Namaskars in the morning. On each leg. I ate clean. No snacks. No Diet Coke. I don’t consume drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. Oh, I did eat a lo-carb chocolate mousse that I am sure uses some alternative to Sugar. And yet I was in this weird zone where nothing seemed to make sense. For a change, I was left questioning the meaning of life. No, I did not find the meaning. Or the answer to the misery shrouding us right now.

I don’t recall a lot of things that I thought about. I think it’s like a bad dream that I want to forget. What I do remember is that I couldn’t sleep. In fact, sleep has been my superpower. Even when I’ve faced my biggest challenges, I’ve slept peacefully. I mean, I am a light sleeper and I sleep fitfully but I am rested more or less. Yesterday I couldn’t get sleep. No, the phone was away. It was not even charged. It was a dark room. Reasonably cold (as much as a tired AC can make the room cold). And yet I could not sleep.

But then I did drift at some point. It was past 1 for sure cos I remember a friend wanted help and it was some 12:30 or something. It was 12:50. I had called her before battery died. I just checked.

So yeah. That.

Apart from that, it was a regular day with a million calls and a billion emails and all that. But the night, last night was tough. I need to find a way out. I don’t know what could help. I read this recent piece by Adam Grant. He puts a word to my (and other’s) misery. Languishing.

I am experiencing, what he says, “dulling of delight or the dwindling of drive” and a possible antidote could be a project that stretches my boundaries and gets me in the flow frequently, and gives me a sense of progress.

Now, the job at hand is to identify that! Let’s see. Will report in the next few days. Some options could be…

  • Killer Boogie ;P
  • Code – build an app from scratch? I used to be good at code and I would often get in the flow when I did that.
  • Write (I consider writing regular work and thus I don’t want to put a separate tag to it).
  • Fitness. It’s been my anathema. I have had some start at it with a two-day streak of Surya Namaskars. Today would be third.

If you know me, do tell me what you think I could pick

Before I end this piece, I am thinking if I am finding it tough to continue, what about other people that are not as indifferent as I am about life and misery and fuckeries? Must help them in some way. #note2self

So that. Here’s the streaks.

  • Morning Pages / Meditations – 129
  • #aPicADay – 110
  • 10K steps a day – 1!
  • OMAD – 0
  • #noCoffee – 42
  • #noCoke – 42
  • 10 mins of meditation – 7
  • #book2 – 0
  • Killer Boogie – 0
  • Original Work (limited time only) – 6
  • Surya Namaskar – 2 (added today. Will track from now on)

This tracker now has 11 things on it. At this rate, I would track more than I would do! Lol!

Fuck, getting the mojo back.
Is it writing?
Is it the hope of a better life?
Or is it this video from the film Dangal that I saw to start the day?
See here…

Chalo, onto original work.

Day 7.

Yesterday, I added a few characters. I tried to find the conflict in Roshan’s life. I added a reluctafcnt love internest. Outside of this page, while walking, I saw a refresher on Hero’s Journey. I felt that my story has nothing so far. Which is true.

So, to push things forward, I think I will think/write about the plot in general. You know, freewriting. It’s 7:32. I will write till 8:15 or so. Need to be working from 9 onward and need 45 mins for yoga, potty, shower, etc.

Here we go.

[START]

So Roshan’s normal world is that of a happy-go-lucky, cheerful guy. The film could open on his hosting an event – he’s after all an MC and stand-up as well. I am thinking of Parijat as I create Roshan (the only stand-up I know). The opening scene must make Roshan likable. Right from the start. So when he gets to know that he has 14 days to live, the audience must gasp as well. Need to establish his charm, his mastery over this world. And then showcase the normal life.

The call to adventure could the death sentence. No, wait. That is not the adventure. That’s a crisis that he’s going to face while he works on the adventure. So, I need a part that’s his adventure. Could be a property dispute with his cousins. Could be COVID. Could be Cholera. Could be someone wanting to attack his family’s name. I need to work on this for sure. I don’t have this!

His moral dilemma about his limited time and all that he could do (ensure that his mother is safe and happy after he is gone, put his affairs in order etc) has to take the back seat. This would provide the conflict and will make his choose one over other eventually. This is what would probably divide the audience.

Refusal and the mentor could be the doctor. In fact the adventure could be something that relies on the expertise of a doctor. The mentor could be the mother as well.

The threshold is crossed when he embraces that he is at the point of no return. He is anyway going to die in 14 days. But while he is alive (and fading in faculty – he can’t just pop-off), he has to accept his mortality and jump onto the other side and become the savior. Of course, he has to fail to a point that he realizes that he needs the help of a mentor or something to battle it out.

Team, tests, etc. are simple. Need to develop sidekicks that assist him on the task. And things that stop him from reaching the place with the magic potion.

Innermost cave / apotheosis. This is where he seems to have lost everything in the battle. As a result of his own actions. This is when he would accept that he may die before he resolves the issue at hand. He should almost die. His medical condition must make it impossible for him to continue. But he will prevail.

Wait. I am only listing the steps of the Hero’s Journey. I am not adding anything to the story or pushing it.

Boon. This is where he would get the weapon needed to slay his monsters and

Not sure if I am well-read enough about the refusal to return but once he has mastered t his world, his “refusal” could be the want to live in the new world that he has created. The refusal to die. The grief that he had overcome when he set on this mission. Because he knew he was going to die. Now, he may want to live. Which is literally impossible. By this time, we should be on the 12th day or something.

Master of two worlds. This is when he eventually dies. People celebrate his death. Stories are written about the sacrifice he’s had to make along the way. Becomes a role model. This could be the thing that he wanted to become when he was alive but he gets his after his life. In the beginning, I can add a part where he declares to his mother that one day the entire world would thank him for what he’s done. His entire world is all of Indapur. Like Mohan’s world was limited to Charanpur. Roshan’s actions have to impact Indapur irreversibly. That is what he would be remembered for. In the story. And outside.

So that.

Ok, now I know the gaps (the central conflict, the personal conflict and more).

[END]

[NOTES / THOUGHTS]

  1. I am thinking, if the mother accepts Roshan’s terminal state, it would be too easy for Roshan. I must make it difficult for Roshan to communicate this to his mother. He will prepare her for his death but it has to be gradual. This is where he would need allies. May be Diksha gets to know by accident and Roshan leans on her to get the message across to the mother.
  2. The death sentence is the ticking timebomb.
  3. Can he become a killer or something of the characters in the village that are a pain in the ass? You know, imagine Sholay but only with Jai and Veeru about to die. They know they are gonna be dead. They are fearless. This taking of law in the hand could split the audience.
  4. There could be a mystery that all these problematic people in the village are dying. And they pin the blame on Roshan. And they can’t find evidence. And Roshan is not the one who’s doing it! He in fact is told that if he doesn’t find who’s the one murdering, his mother would get killed. Sounds interesting.
  5. I still need a backdrop. Draught? Drugs? Crime? Dispute? Religion? What else could he want to fix? What else may need fixing?

***

#notetoself – Continuing point 3 from above, if I know that I would die in 14 days, I get fearless and do things that I thought were impossible. I know that I would be dead in about 40 years (I hope I have longer!) and yet I am scared of a lot of things! Need to change this. This is exactly what Steve Jobs said!

So yeah.
That’s it for the day.
Need to find the flow thing.
Over and out.