Morning!
At this time, its 9:05 AM and I am waiting for AK to finish reading highagency.com. And then she and I will record the next episode of Adulting Podcast. And then I have a bunch of things to do and then I have a lunch with Paras. And then I have some work. And I will find time in between all these to write this piece.
So, with that, let’s go!
🈺 The LARGE objective from the week gone by? And the next week!
I was to work on the 2025 plan and Book 2.
Like last week, I didnt make any progress on either. I do have a few reasons and excuses on why I couldnt. I will not get into those. I will acknowledge that I didnt work. And I will try and do better in the coming week. So that.
Moving on…
☑️ 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.
- Health
- Meru
- C4E
- Brand SG
- People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
- Book2
- Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)
Health. I want to do 4 things here – eat better, sleep better, work on my muscles and generally by happy. In the week gone by, I did nothing. So -1 there.
Meru. A lot of action here. I cant talk about a lot of this. I even wore shoes 2 days in the week gone by! So yeah! But despite the action, am far from getting to the ideal state. So, I will give myself a 0.
C4E. Again, like Meru, I did a lot but nothing to show for. Luckily, Chandni is doing the heavy lifting on the revenue and everyone else is supporting her. On Labs, AK (and increasingly KP) are keeping the movement. I will give myself a 0.
Brand SG. I got a few emails as a result of work I had done in the previous weeks. So that was good. However I didnt take any action on it. So, a -1.
People. Did a few things. Got Bri some gifts. She knows about one. Doesnt know about the other. Plus, like last week, met a few people. Nothing large of consequence. So, a 0.
Book 2. No action. -1.
Shauk. No large action. Did catch the sunset. And thus, a 0.
So the overall score is -3 for this week. Same as last week.
Trends from the previous weeks: -3, -2, -1
The max I can get is 7 in a week. Let’s see when I get to it.
📊 The tracker from the last week
What do you notice?
For me, the highlights are…
- I’ve missed my daily twitter review. I need to try harder.
- I didn’t track money for a few days. This is largely because I had relatives over and with them I was loose with money.
- Sleep and recovery has largely been ok. I need to get more consistent though.
- I added a few rows (journals, OMAD etc). I plan to track those.
That’s it I think.
📷 Some Photos from the week gone by
Here are some photos from the week gone by.
Absolutely love some of these.
Do you want to guess which one?
Ping me on X.
📖 Interesting Reads from the last week
I bookmarked a lot. But I havent read a lot.
Nonetheless, I will capture those here.
At some time, I will have someone post these on larger platforms as well.
- What to do. By Paul Graham.
- This mile long essay on High Agency by George Mack. This is one of the most important pieces you will ever read.
- This essay from Anand never goes old. Do read it.
- Companionship Content by Anu Atluru. I love each thing she writes.
- Assorted links on how to get rich (thanks to AK for the prompt)
- How to get rich. By Naval
- Wealth by Paul Graham – https://paulgraham.com/wealth.html
- Getting Rich Now by PAul Graham – https://paulgraham.com/richnow.html
- Video summary of Rich Dad Poor Dad
- Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill. Not the article. Read the book.
- Recurse Manual – This could actually be the future of SoG. And while you are at it, do read Late Checkout Story, Values at Bending Spoons, the Tiny Story, Lossfunk and other venture studios #currentThings
- Pradeep’s Note Taking Dilemma – here
- Made this list of tools I use – here
- Finshots on Ozempic in India – here
- Had to read about Frank Slootman but I did not.
- The Turner Diaries. Here.
- Gautam on how to capitalise a services compnay and reward people.
💭 Highlights, reflections and notes from the week.
Here are some from this week.
A/ AI
Faceless channel, content, code, design, creative services and dunno what all. A lot is on my mind, especially that one of my children is directly impacted by this. I will probably write a longer note some day. For the time being, AI remains at the top of my head. So that.
A.1/ Studio Ghibli
I hve to talk about this. I may not have an eloquent answer but for the first time in my life, since the AI revolution happened about us, I am feeling cheated. Enough said. May be I will do a solocast on this.
I also wrote this on my daily note on the 27th March…
The entire internet has gone bonkers over it. And I think it’s not a good thing. No, I am not resisting change. I am in-fact all for change. But I felt sad that the insane effort that all these artists at Ghibli put in to build art is now a commodity. On the internet, it will be a passing fad – people will make photos, try to look “cute”, make films and I dont know what all. But in the process, we will forget the hardwork that the artists would have put in.
Of course you can compare that to the work of writers and painters and coders. And surprisingly, I was ok when those were “displaced”. So little conflicted on that.
Nothing has changed since I wrote that.
B/ Bhiwandi
On Tuesday, I went to Bhiwandi to see some warehouses. While I went to a few only, the visit was eye opening. The suprising efficiency with whch things were moving around was jaw-dropping. I have heard about those at CynLr, I’ve seen documentaries, I’ve experienced it (QC) but I saw the engine like a living and breathing thing for the first time.
I am not sure I am big fan of how that’s working but it’s incredible. Has to be a highlight of my week.
C/ Meri.health
I got this message on my WA group where a gent from the first batch of IIT Delhi (Ramesh Ji) wants to do a public health startup. And I am unable to help him (I have a lot going for me). I tried to find someone who can help them but I was unable to. My heart goes out. I wish I could help them.
In fact, if you are someone who can help these folks, I would love to connect and even volunteer for a bit with you.
D/ Attention Span
Multiple people have told me multiple conversations that I have ADHD and I need to do something about it. I will start with meditation.
On the beach today, I will not use my phone at all. And I will fix this. #currentThings
E/ Eco Mode
I am gonna live in the Eco Mode from 1 April. The only expenses I would make would be towards work and health. Nothing else. No more gifts, no more “quality of life” improvements, nothing else. The idea is to extend the runway for as long as I can.
F/ Rejection
A candidate rejected me at Meru.
Here’s some backstory. When I interview someone, my approach is to dissuade them from joining me. Some people try to show you the rosy picture and good things and all that. I try to show you the worst things and then, despite that, you are keen on working with me, I am all heart.
This person rejected me. And that was not cool. I felt bad. Need to not feel bad when such conversations happen. Oh, the funny thing is that I’ve been rejected by people in the past and each time that happened, I didnt really feed bad. This one felt personal and hurt more. Dunno why.
G/ Nails
My nails havent been clipped in a while. And I need to find a way to do that. I dont like them dirty and there isnt any time to do that. I may do it today.
H/ Travel
I had decided that this year I will travel less. That is already not happening. I am staring at an upcoming trip to Bangalore (for health) and a trip to Bangkok (to meet Vivek and kids). I want to not do either. But I will have to. So that.
I/ This tweet. And People.
I wrote this in fit of rage. I absolutely hate when my people dont trust me. I want to write more but I will leave at it. I will write on my Roam and in my ecochamber but its important to capture that my heart has been broken so bad that I dont know what to do about it. No, I am not ok. But dont ask me about it. I just want to pour things here and someday when (and if) I write a biopgraphy, purely to leave lessons for people, I will talk more on it.
J/ The Order
More about it is here. Saw this last night. Loved it. Oh, and the writer of The Order (Zach Baylin) is also the writer for King Richard!
I saw a film after a while and I totally loved it. I must find more films and see those.
K/ Started Journaling.
After I saw a tweet (it was by Namya Khan and I cant find the link (thanks to Pradeep for sharing the link)). And this has been inspired by Marcus Aurelius.
L/ Lucky Ali
He’s been dropping bangers one after another on his YT channel. See some here. so many emotions. Lemme make a list.
- Why am I not producing this? Why am I not after Rabbi Shergill to make documentary on his life?
- He’s aged and clearly unable to sing well. It’s not good to see him in pain. On the other side, its incredible to see him try so hard!
- Things like music never go old. One must create art, even in the day and age of AI
On, and staying on music, I cant stop seeing this by Maithali Thakur. May be have a dekho.
M/ Purpose
On C4E Village, the other day we were taling about purpose and while talking, happened to say something increbile (at least I think so). That the world is a mirror. If you are unhappy, the world would look unhappy to you. If you are happy, the world would look happy. I further said…
“…am 42, failure, but instead of that making me sore – it inspires me to do more. more than a 24 year old. and not to any end. but to burn. on both sides. in a way that meri aag ka tez, mera prakash at least mere aas paas ke logo ki duniya ko roshan kar de and unki raah me ek streetlight ban jaaye. raah pe chalna unka kaam hai, mera hai raah ko roshan karna”
And I said…
“we make meaning in life when we make meaning in other people’s lives. the most content, happy, people are the ones that are either reading Naval or doing charas or helping others.”
And finally, my advice was…
“bina apne matlab ki duniya ki madad karo, kaafi swad aaega”
N/ Naman hit a personal money milestone.
Super happy about it!
More on it on my echochamber
M/ Other things that I want to capture but I may not spill too many words…
Not too many things to be honest. I have actually covered most of those in the text above!
Phew that was a lot for the week.
🧠 Reminders from last week
I am adding this section. To capture things that I want to not forget. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.
Here are things from the past weeks that I want to remember. And no, this may not be a comprehensive list. In categories.
- Health
- Kitchen setup
- Gym membership
- C4E
- C4E Base
- Design
- Borderless agency / Upwork
- Shauk / Personal
- Poker
- Better dressed SG
- Use of money / time
- Love
- Demand more from life
In case you know me, lemme know if I have missed something.
🥡 So, one thing that defines the past week?
Action.
In the previous weeks, it’s been Survive, Looking Up, 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.
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, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12
PPS: This week, thankfully, I maintained a note where I would keep dumping things that I want to capture in my weekly note. I loved being mindful about this habit. I will continue with it.