Wk 39-25 – Weekly Notes

Notes, thoughts, highlights and other things from the week 39 of 2025.

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!


๐Ÿ’ญ 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

.

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

.

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.

.

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.

.

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 ๐Ÿ™

But, in spirit of action and seeing something that I always knew on paper, why cant I make my way to a colder country?

.

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.

.

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.

.

H/ Ashutosh Rana and Rashmirathi
You have to see this, unless already.

Ok, this is it.

.

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!

.

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.

.

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!

.

This is it for this week. More next week.


๐Ÿ“ท 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…

.

Lemme know which one do you like the most. And do share some of your photos with me!

.


๐Ÿˆบ LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that Iโ€™ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldnโ€™t). 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.

.


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.

  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 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.
Iโ€™d 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.


๐Ÿ“Š The tracker from the last week

Here is the tracker for the week gone by…

.

What trends do you see?

I seeโ€ฆ

  1. Consistent unhappiness.
  2. Bad food.
  3. Sleeping late.

What do you see?


๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธโ€โžก๏ธ Health

I added Health as a key section some days ago. I am still discovering what to cover here. Letโ€™s 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. Letโ€™s 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?


๐Ÿ“– Interesting Reads / Views from the last week

Here are some…

.

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. ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ถ๐˜: Regular readers know the Explore vs Exploit framework. In situations of repeated decision making, you can either ๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ (try a new thing), or ๐˜Œ๐˜น๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ต (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. ๐—•๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐˜€. 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. ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜๐—ต. 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.

.

4/ This post on the Taste and Talent gap is worth it’s weight in gold. Do read it?

.

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

.

6/ Shaan VP on how to be rich. This is a 20-odd minute video. Must see for everyone.

.

This is it for the week. Oh, I am reading this book these days. Painfully slow cos time. But a riveting read!


๐Ÿง  Reminders from last week

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

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

.


๐Ÿฅก So, one thing that defines the past week?

Grind.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have beenโ€ฆ 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: 0102030405060708, 09 (missed), 1011121314, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18192021, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 25262728293031323334353637, 38

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I donโ€™t 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.

Wk 35-25 – Weekly Notes

Updates from the week 35 of 2025.

Aug 31,
Starbucks, Versova
Finishing it on Sep 1, 2025.

Today I woke up late. I mean I was up at 6:30. And then I slept again (cos I was up till 2). And then I woke up at 8:30. And this means I am delayed on most things, including this note. But now that am here, I will make the most of it. And since I didn’t write the last week’s well, I need to do this one better.

Lol, talk of self-imposed pressure.

Anyhow.
We shall prevail.
And we shall do more.
Oh and before we go ahead, here’s the track of the week. This.

.

Ok, let’s go!


๐Ÿ’ญ Highlights, reflections and notes from the past week

PS: As always, these are not in any order.

1/ The raison d’รชtre of this weekly review
As I was writing this, I realised that it takes me about 3 hours to write this. Give or take. And then whatever time it takes me to maintain notes that I take thru the week (in hopes that I will publish this on this post). For the curious, most of those notes are on my Apple Notes, Self WA Group, TIL and Roam.

However, if I am to look at the value that I get from this, I think its zilch.

Apart from making me feel good about continuing with a habit for more than 8 months.

TBH, in the past, I used to have lot more time. And that meant I could work on this at my speed, at my pace, at my schedule. I remember I would start writing this on a Thursday and then I would get back to it often. Now, all I get is a half a day per week and in that time I need to crunch errands, socialise, do soul things and all that.

And thus I am left questioning this.

But then, I enjoy the process of writing. This is the only thing that I write these days apart from work. Plus, writing this allows me to reflect and see notes and revisit things from the week gone by. Its this revisiting that has got me numerous opportunities that I would otherwise not get.

So, if I were to do a pros vs cons analysis, I dont know what to make out of this.

What do you think? Should I continue with this? Or should I stop?

.

2/ Punit Pania
I’ve been aware of his work for a while but over the last week, I saw a lot of his videos. And with each, my are for him has only grown. What an incredible guy!

I wish I had the balls to be like him – live life on own terms and rely on 1000 true fans to support his life. He’s clearly using his ability to write and speak to rage against the system. In a manner that is harmless and yet impactful. At least I am a convert. I wish I had the talent to do that.

But then, even if I had the talent, I would probably not rage against anything. I would try and build things. I am never against anything. I am towards something else. I dont know if this makes sense to whoever is reading this, but that.

.

3/ Personal Brand
I’ve been making efforts on building my personal brand. Actually wait. I am not making efforts. Riya is. And Vishal and Naman are. I am merely giving into whatever they tell me. See this video as the first output. This is still a private link that we made as a trial. I have no interest in giving financial advice. Lemme know what you think.

I’ve also started to talk publicly about this on various platforms. And thanks to that, I’ve got inputs from many folks. Each is helping me sharpen it. Let’s see what comes out of it.

.

4/ Micro Dramas
I’ve been enamored by it. And everyone I know is talking about it. And I have this feeling of being left out. Super FOMO. Like I have with AI. And with so many more things.

Thing is, a lot of filmmakers I know hate this format (they think money is too less and there is no creativity etc) but I think its an important to embrace it. I think it will democratize storytelling. Like Youtube did. Plus, with all the noise of Tik Tok making a comeback, we will see a million filmmakers come to life – all equipped with simple phone cameras and insane talent. If someone can build a microdrama business, I think they are in for a goldmine.

Of course, I speak as an outsider. Till I had TRS, I was still on the fringes but I am no longer there and thus I know nothing about the business. What do you think?

.

5/ AI Film Fest
AK, C and others are working on putting together a film festival for content made with AI. Wow! I am constantly surprised at all the things they do! More details here.

Again, like micro dramas, AI as a concept is being dismissed per se by a lot of filmmakers but I know the time has come. Sooner you adapt to it and accept it, better it is.

Anyhow. Again. I dont want to talk more cos am not a man in the arena. But I do know that if young people think of putting together such festivals, the established filmmakers will have a field day if they embrace AI.

.

6/ Coaching
Sandeep Sir mentioned that I must explore coaching as a career option. I don’t think I want to. But he sees something in me that I dont see. And I dont want to dismiss him. Let’s see.

.

7/ This tweet from Naval on people
I am embedding it here so that it’s eay to read and all that.

I read this and I was like, o fuck!

I’ve long believed in this idea of having to identify people from afar. And then investing in them and then try to get them to work with me. And Iโ€™ve been mildly successful. Now that Naval has spoken, I must accelerate.

Also, thanks to Gokul (founder at CynLr), I understood the term โ€œneedle in the haystackโ€ when it comes to talent. This is a very good way to spot talent. In fact, this is how scouts for the sports teams work. Even VCs have scouts that work for them to identify talent.

So that.

.


๐Ÿ“ท Some Photos from the week gone by

Here are some photos from week 35.

The highlight photo has to be this from Naval…

Source: this

I saw this and I was like, O FUCK!
Ofc, I’ve spoken about it above.
Lemme know what you think of this.


๐Ÿˆบ The LARGE objective from the week gone by?

I had two large things when I started this year. Book 2 and a yearly plan (that Iโ€™ve been writing for a long time. This year I couldnt). And I just added health a few weeks ago.

Book 2 โ€“ no action.

Yearly Plan โ€“ I dropped it a few weeks ago.

Health โ€“ No large actions.
PS: I track my health updates here, in case.


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.

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

Health. I think I was better than last week. I ate mindfully. Had a few thing that I shouldn’t have had. But was ok more or less. If I had added workouts, it would have been sweet. I will give myself a 0.

Meru. No large updates in this week. So, a 0.

C4E. No action from my side. 0.

Brand SG. Recorded a few things with Riya. Yet to ship. But I did record and did make a progress. After a few days. So, a 0. And not a -1. Yay!

People. No action on this. Iโ€™d say 0.

Book 2. Lol! -1

Shauk. No action. No time. And I am not losing sleep over it. So a 0.

So the overall score is -1.


๐Ÿ“Š The tracker from the last week

Here is the tracker for the week gone by.

What trends do you see?

I seeโ€ฆ

  1. Eating a lot of things that I shouldnt be eating. I hope to fix this.
  2. Lesser spends than I typically do week on week. So, yay!
  3. Consistency with steps. Yay!
  4. Need to check on emotions, especially in the second half of the week.

What do you see?


๐Ÿƒ๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธโ€โžก๏ธ Health

I added Health as a key section some days ago. I am still discovering what to cover here. Letโ€™s 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. Letโ€™s see what comes out. Also, I log a few things at these links – food log, myย daily health log channel.

1/ Sleep
This was not good at all. I’ve been lagging behind on this. Must fix it.

2/ Exercise
Walks have been consistent. I do at least 8K each day. I hope to continue with this.

I want to add some workout in this. Yoga is easy but I need someone to help me. Gym, I can’t. I need to find a sport that equals weight lifting (you know, muscle and all).

Also, again, no action. So not counting this as a win. Till I actually do something.

3/ Diet
I track each thing I eat on myย food log.
This week was ok.
I had an average of 1800 calories in the week gone by.
As I write this, I have had only two Americano’s since morning. Not even protein shake.

4/ Community
This seems to be doing ok.
I am able to meet new people.
I am ok to build deeper relationships with more people. I am able to sustain interest as well. So all well.

5/ Crowdfunding health
I had said that I want my 1000 true fans to help me get healthy.
This will be a bummer.
I had to be under 90 but I am not losing weight at all. And I wont for the next few days either. So that will suck. I will inform these people and move on.

6/ Movement
No action.
Except walking.

7/ Meditation
I was to have meditated for a few hours this week. But I did not. So that. Will try again this week.

.


๐Ÿ“– Interesting Reads / Views from the last week

Hereโ€™s a list of interesting things from the last week.

1/ Read this from Naval in the morning and was like a whack on the back of the head. There are so many times I think to myself – the world is unfair, I couldnt do it, I dont have it easy etc etc. But Naval is right. YOU have only YOU to blame if youโ€™re not doing well. Will think a lot about this over the next few days!

2/ The CBO at Atomberg (Arindam Paul) just wrote a new book and its getting rave reviews. I am getting a copy for myself. Could be useful if you are interested in consumer brands, d2c, modern marketing et al. Check it here.

3/ This piece by Yash Garg on founder’s office roles is a gold mine for folks seeking such roles.

4/ Sahil talks about 3 types of friends. Incredible list. Made me think who’s my leaves, branches and the roots. I see myself using this analogy a lot in how I converse.

So yeah. This is it.


๐Ÿง  Reminders from last week

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

I’ve been skipping this for a while now. I think this will remain ignored for a few more weeks. Let’s see when I get back to this.


๐Ÿฅก So, one thing that defines the past week?

Routine.

Oh and in the previous weeks, the one-word reviews have beenโ€ฆ 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: 0102030405060708, 09 (missed), 1011121314, 15 (missed), 16, 17 (missed), 18192021, 22 (missed), 23, 24 (missed), 252627282930313233, 34

PPS: Please do point typos.
Grammarly is not working well and I donโ€™t 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.