Celebrating a decade!

Today I turn 33, and, coincidentally, also finish 10 years of my professional life. Like a few people out there, I would have loved to list down the top ten eating destinations in Delhi NCR, but I am sure most of them wouldn't like my health-conscious food spots ;) So, let me go on a different tangent and focus on the aspects that shaped my career & life. I believe an undying thirst for a growth mindset, curiosity, courage, and compounding is critical for one's metamorphosis. But apart from them, if I had to filter a few other essential aspects that shaped me, the following would be the ones –?

1.Deep Work

Ashish Dhawan, one of the first mentors I had way back at YIF in 2012, emphasized the importance of deep work (before Cal Newport wrote his book - Deep Work). Some of the best pieces written by Nehru and Gandhi were when they were in solitude inside the jail. Nehru wrote 'The Discovery of India' while imprisoned for 1041 days at Ahmednagar Fort between 1942-45. Bill gates wrote the first version of BASIC language during his 8 weeks deep work state. Warren Buffet sits at Omaha, far away from the hustle & bustle of the stock markets of NY. Despite not being 'closer to the facts,' he is one of the most successful investors in the world.

Sometimes, I try to plug off by being on airplane mode for a weekend, decoding the problem plaguing my mind or simply building my knowledge in areas that capture my curiosity.

• Recommended book : Deep Work by Cal Newport

2. Mastering Non-Verbal cues

When you decipher non-verbal communication at a deeper level, you can better assess the feelings, intentions, and actions of people around you. Wouldn't life be much better if you could understand someone's mind better than just interpreting their words? With so much information in today's world, filtering true signals from noise gives you a competitive edge.?

The limbic system of the brain is responsible for all non-verbal cues. Most nonverbal reactions occur without thought, and unlike words, they are genuine. They are hardwired into our nervous system, making it difficult for us to disguise or eliminate them. Thus, the limbic brain is regarded as the "honest brain" with respect to non-verbal cues.

Apart from knowing the true intent, you can also use non-verbal cues to inspire people. Over the years, unraveling non-verbal cues has been an asset for me numerous times - fructifying a potential partnership, figuring out the truth while surveying customers, onboarding new customers in a faster way, assessing a potential hire, etc.?

I can assure you that I don't use any of these cues during poker matches. So please don't stop me from inviting to poker matches ;p

Recommended Content :

• What Every BODY is Saying - An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People
• Identifying the VAK personality
• Dealing with various VAK personalities

3. Compounding close-knit network over a decade

?Thanks to my early careers in Banking and Investing, I obtained the privilege to know and work with some of the most talented and pensive entrepreneurs across different industries, who are now veterans in their respective spaces. Having witnessed their career progress & sometimes being a part of their successes over the last 10 years has helped me build a strong bond. For example, I would know the best person responsible for the growth of a successful content/fintech company because of something he did 5 years back; or someone who built a robust tech stack that gave a distinctive edge to that company across all the competitors. Giving back/supporting them is the best way to create an environment & culture of mutual cooperation and growth.?

4. Wellbeing through the means of Fitness & Meditation

I dreaded the evenings of September month from 2007 to 2009. When the clock hit 5 in the evening, I had to rush for my swimming coaching. I was selected for my college swimming team and had to compete in the national competition at the end of September every year. The coaching used to start with the following warm-up - a few mile sprints, followed by 100s push-ups and half a mile swim across the pool. What followed next was subsequent races with my fellow mates. In hindsight, reflecting on those days helped me get disciplined, exert the same intensity in my professional life, and be resilient enough to bounce back every time I drowned (pun intended).

The above experience taught me the value of long-term delayed gratification. Sometimes you need to spend years going through a hell hole to start enjoying and reaping the benefits in your professional and personal life. You can't always control your external environment, but a brief fitness activity can alter your internal state of mind.?

On the mediation front, I always had difficulty achieving a tranquil state through audio or video media. A few techniques like holotropic breathwork helped me get to the meditative state faster.?

Recommended Content :?

• The 4 – Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
• PDF published (back in 2016) by Jitender Chouksey, founder of surge backed company FITTR

5. Morality & Moral compass

Being righteous most of the time is a personal choice. It is not about karma, as I don't think that some karmic ledger is being written for every individual. But I believe promises and commitments should be honored; if not, how do we expect to live a righteous life? This implies following unquestionable governance and keeping promises irrespective of the presence of any agreements.?

My favorite book on this topic is 'The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma' by Dr.Gurcharan Das. The book deals with the learnings from the world's largest epic poem - Mahabharatha. He was CEO of Procter & Gamble India and later MD, P&G Worldwide. Mr.Das does not retell the story of Mahabharatha. He takes episodes and characters who pose moral and ethical questions in a very intriguing way.?

• Recommended Content :?The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma

Apart from the above points, living a frugal life is one of the most underrated armour you can ever have. As my expenses were always subpar than my earnings, it allowed me to switch gears and be fierce in taking risks. Not having any commitments concerning location, family, etc. helped me be mobile, experiment multiple times & fail umpteen times. Of course, it comes with tradeoffs.

Appreciate you going through this long post. I hope you liked reading through it. Happy to delve deeper into any of the above aspects and maybe write about other aspects that helped me in a separate post. Happy 33rd to me :-)