Sunday the 28th.
Starbucks, Versova.
The week gone by was hard and long. For starters, I turned 43. And I am sad about it. Many reasons.
- A, I was to be rich and famous and powerful by 42. I am not.
- B, I dont think I’ve done enough to celebrate another year around the sun.
- C, While I am not in the legacy game, I definitely am in the experience game. And with each passing year, my ability to access grand things goes down.
- D, I realize that on a realistic timeline, my ability to do things goes down with each passing day. You know, age. I look like I am 50. I can feel the tiredness in my bones. Most days I wake up with a sore back. I cant seem to see very well. The skin is breaking from more places. Even Dr H mentioned that she’s unable to understand why things aren’t happening. I dont know either.
So that.
Ok, wait.
I dont want to make this into a pity party.
Lemme change the narrative.
So, I love when I am with people. I love how I think that life has great things to offer to us. I know deep inside that life is essentially a mirror – if shows you what you want to see. So, we shall move on. Oh, I am changing the format of this weekly update. Let’s see if you can spot it.
The song of the week is this cover of Aint No Sunshine by CAPTAIN OG and Shotaro Miyamoto.
Ok, let’s go!
๐ญ Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week
PS: As always, these are not in any order.
A/ I met Arun Sir and Hareesh Sir for a Meru review and got a whack on the side of the head about money.
In that, I realised that I need to make friends with people with money. I think I’ve always shunned money as a bastard thing. But I need to start loving it. And not be overwhelmed with it. I’ve always operated like I was the richest person in the world and never got into money conversations. Between time and money, I’ve always picked time. When in conflict, I’ve left money on the table for others to pick up so that I can walk away with some peace.
I think I will change that.
More on this as I think more. #sgtothink
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B/ Take token for everything.
Staying on A, each time someone has come to me for help, I’ve extended my support and help to them at no cost. And in fact, often at my expense (of time, energy, money etc). But I think I will change this from now on. I will ask for a tiny token (or Re 1) before extending any help. I must work on building a “seek help from SG” page where I list these things.
No, I am not taking the decision just yet. This is very intrinsic to me – the want to help the underdog and have more people do more.
My argument has been that if I take ANY money, even if its 1 rupee, it becomes a transaction and then I have a performance pressure. And knowing myself (perpetual underachiever feels), I will not be able to do justice! Plus once someone pays me, it becomes a transaction and it’s never ending!
On the other side, if I dont do a transaction, then I am not obligated. And that relieves me of the responsibility of the outcome. But then I become that consultant breed that I loathe from the bottom of my heart!
Any how. I will think on this and decide it over the next few days. #sgtodo
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C/ The third lesson from the meeting is that I must make check lists. I anyway do this but I want to be able to do this at a GRANULAR level. And then I should be able to get even a machine to execute things.
I’ve lived my life in a freewheeling manner but now as I am older and have lesser time to get things done, I will lean onto this. I will re-read the Checklist Manifesto.
Also, I think, this is a lesson I need to give to folks at C4E. If there’s a checklist structure and a scrum master to run and list priorities I think life would get better. I know C4E is built on top of self accountability but this could be a good driver. Again, not my place to recommend or push things at C4E. I would let them decide. I can only leave a note to them.
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D/ This linkedin note on creative folks, from Prak is fabulous.
She says something that I’ve always known but I never knew how to write. About the creative folks, she says,
What happens when you take this type and put them within the same tiny rooms and dull walls day in and day out?
They lose that perspective. They lose their voice. That freshness and creativity? It dies a slow death, like a plant kept away from the sun.
Touch grass is not just a fad for us, it’s a way of building the things, creating in the best way possible.
We make space for epiphanies, to enter flow zones of brilliant work, to find sparks of magic in the world outside walls, both physical and metaphorical.
Creative folks bring their whole self to office, not just “a skill”.
I knew of this all the time but I could never find the words to articulate it.
Thanks, Prak.
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E/ This piece makes an argument that warmer counties are poorer. If there is one thing that you read today, read this.
I am convinced that once I move to a colder place, I will be better off.
In fact I was thinking today only – what holds me to Mumbai. Some years ago it would have been friends and SO. But the only friend I cared for in life is no longer in India. And SO, well, lol. So, maybe its the trigger to move to a colder place? But then, Indian passport ๐
But, in spirit of action and seeing something that I always knew on paper, why cant I make my way to a colder country?
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F/ This text by the other Vembu is brilliant.
More than the hyper-national conversations, I like how they’ve chosen to play the long-game. Ofc its easy to talk about things after you’ve succeeded. I am a sore old man. I played the long-game all my life and look where it left me. And despite that soreness and my bias, I encourage everyone to play the long game.
Also, the podcast I was gonna do with Riya’s help was gonna be called The Long Game. I will have to find a new name. I dont want to encroach upon someone else’s work even though I am a rounding off error in their scheme of things.
Oh, see this video of Steve introducing about podcasting.
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G/ Mahabharata
Today is the 6th day when I am writing a post on my linkedin where am talking about a lesson from Mahabharata. They are on my linkedin. Do see those.
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H/ Ashutosh Rana and Rashmirathi
You have to see this, unless already.
Ok, this is it.
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I/ Music and mehfils
I am seeing Shotaro Miyamoto on loop and the urge to build mehfils is getting stronger by the day. I really really really need to dig this shit up. See this exasperated note!
There was a time when I was doing this with CSS. We kept it just right – friends, music, camaraderie but I wasn’t able to continue with it. You know, life happened. And then with time it withered away. I so want to get back in those rooms. You know, Sofar, Tiny Desk (by NPR), even Coke Studio but done in an intimate setting!
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J/ Focus
Saw this tweet and wondered, if the missing ingredient from my life and success is focus. I’ve never been the kinds to stick to one thing. But maybe this is the thing that I need to do? With Meru, at least I am trying to do one thing. Let’s see if it bears fruit.
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K/ Mental Health 101
From whatever little I know, I’ve been able to distill that your happiness is the gap between your expectation and reality. By corollary, it’s also the gap between efforts and returns. And thus the old-age advice on not attaching to outcomes serves well.
So that!
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This is it for this week. More next week.
๐ท Some Photos from the week gone by
Here are some photos that I took and saved in the last week. Here.
The cover would be this…
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Lemme know which one do you like the most. And do share some of your photos with me!
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๐บ LARGE objective from the week gone by?
I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that Iโve been writing for a long time. This year I couldnโt). And I just added health a few weeks ago.
Book 2 โ There was no movement.
Nothing to report.
Yearly Plan โ I dropped it long ago.
Now its time to think about the plan for the next year. Lol.
Health โ Was ok health wise but not doing very well with food and all. So a -1. PS: I track my health updates here, in case.
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โ๏ธ 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.
- Health
- Meru
- C4E
- Brand SG
- People (Family, Friends, Strangers, etc)
- Book2
- Shauk (Music, Films, Poker etc)
Health. This has fallen off the grid completely. The rigor with which I worked on this is gone. I need to restart. Am taking off Monday and Tuesday to only fix this. So, 0.
Meru. Great progress but not something that I can talk about on this blog. But till we ship, I will give myself a 0.
C4E. No action from my side. No comments. A 0.
Brand SG. Riya has started to share things on ToL. You may check it out here and here. Early days. But some action finally. Thanks to Riya, a +1!
People. No action on this.
Iโd say 0.
Book 2. Nothing.
So, -1
Shauk. No action.
No time.
And I am not losing sleep over it. So a 0.
So the overall score for the week is 0
I need to now ensure that I get a + every week. And that means I will break things into tiny chunks and manage those.
Watch me.
๐ The tracker from the last week
Here is the tracker for the week gone by…
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What trends do you see?
I seeโฆ
- Consistent unhappiness.
- Bad food.
- Sleeping late.
What do you see?
๐๐ปโโ๏ธโโก๏ธ Health
I added Health as a key section some days ago. I am still discovering what to cover here. Letโs see how it goes.
I read somewhere that you need 4 things to live long โ sleep, exercise, diet and community. I will track all four. And then some more variables that I feel are important to me. Letโs see what comes out. Also, I log a few things at these links โ food log, my daily health log channel.
1/ Sleep
I slept ok, but later than what I would’ve wanted.
2/ Exercise
No action. Despite my 100% intentions.
3/ Diet
I track each thing I eat on my food log.
Was terrible.
I am just not able to solve this.
: (
4/ Community
No large movement on this.
5/ REDACTED
This was being tracked till the last week. I have stopped this from this week onward.
6/ Movement
No action.
: (
7/ Meditation
No action.
Overall, the last week on health front has not been the best. I am thinking why am I even tracking this if week after week, all I have is inconsistent outcomes?
๐ Interesting Reads / Views from the last week
Here are some…
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1/ This post from Sam Parr. About how to live a good life.
2/ This X thread about Osho is very interesting. I am not too well read about his life and work but this was a good 101.
3/ This Linkedin broetry has great advice for young people. I love these parts the most…
1. ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐ถ๐: Regular readers know the Explore vs Exploit framework. In situations of repeated decision making, you can either ๐๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ (try a new thing), or ๐๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต (stick with what you know works). In building a career, the early years should be dedicated to Exploit. Try as many things as you can. The time to Exploit your skills / experience will come later. For now, experiment!
5. ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐. My closest friends today are from only two cohorts – college mates, and friends from the earliest days of my working life. Cherish these early years. They offer you deep friendships, lasting mentors.
6. ๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต. Eating out every day, too much drinking, long nights at work, travel, no exercise. Think your body can take punishment and still endure? Maybe. But it’ll thank you later if you took better care of it.
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4/ This post on the Taste and Talent gap is worth it’s weight in gold. Do read it?
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5/ This X thread on success is great. From this, I love these…
- you should be able to sleep on floor, no matter how rich you become
- dilute stakes at peak to use the money at extreme lows and stay afloat
- business is an emotional ride and very bumpy, be prepared
- if you can move to Dubai or US make some money quickly then expand in India
- always have 36 months of money for family security
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6/ Shaan VP on how to be rich. This is a 20-odd minute video. Must see for everyone.
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This is it for the week. Oh, I am reading this book these days. Painfully slow cos time. But a riveting read!
๐ง Reminders from last week
This section captures things that I want to not forget. I add those to SGโs Office. I will copy paste these week on week and track updates.
Iโve been skipping this for a while now.
Lets see when I get back to this.
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๐ฅก So, one thing that defines the past week?
Grind.
Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have beenโฆ 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.
โ
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, 09 (missed), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38
PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I donโt have energy to cut paste edit this in some other spell check thing.
PPPS: In case you see me being inconsistent in anything โ work, writing, reviews etc, PLEASE do point out.