Life

Before You Quit Your Job

May 13, 2018 | 28 Comments

Getting out of your comfort zone is the most difficult thing in the world to do. But then, the thing that I learnt early in my life (thanks to an advice from someone I respect a lot) was that the time to quit your job is before it starts to feel painful.

The worst time to quit is when the pain is the greatest, simply because decisions made during great pain are rarely good decisions.

So, sometime in 2010, I decided to quit my job just as I was starting to get comfortable in it. That comfort was leading me to stagnation, and thus pain. I quit in 2011.

That my spouse was strongly by my side – not just emotionally, but also rationally – was an important factor that helped me in my decision making. Our second child was on the way when I had decided to quit, but that acted more of an incentive than a deterrent to quitting my job. The thought of taking care of my kids, and seeing them grow every day, encouraged me to move fast in this decision.

Shortcuts

May 11, 2018 | 11 Comments

It is human nature to want to get a job done as quickly as possible. Like you cross the street between intersections instead of using the zebra crossing. Or you jump a fence instead of using the gate.

It is not your problem!

Most of us have grown up being told that it’s important to accomplish as much as we can. But what we often aren’t told is that rushing can result in accidents, errors, and more time spent in the long run.

It is often not worth it.

Warren Buffett, the investing legend, says, “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”

This rule applies to almost every sphere of life. Some things just take time.

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The One Thing You Need to Grow and Prosper

May 1, 2018 | 5 Comments

There is one thing that is common to you and me. We have this as the root of our relationship.

It is also common to any organisation, nation, economy, and civilization.

This one thing, if absent, will destroy the most the most successful business, bring down the most powerful government, put brakes on the most thriving economy, destruct the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, and the deepest love.

But if developed and leveraged, this one thing has the ability to create unparalleled success and affluence in every dimension of life.

Your ‘3 Idiots’ Guide to Success

April 15, 2018 | Leave a Comment

“Pursue excellence and success will chase you… pants down.”

Remember this dialogue from Rancho to his friend Raju in the 2009 blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’?

This was amongst the several lessons that Rancho delivered throughout this movie, to his friends Raju and Farhan.

But the biggest lesson among them was that if you worry about what you’re doing (or not doing), you will be on the path to desperation and failure.

This not only applies to individuals, but also to companies that are worried about whether their next plan will succeed or not.

You see, success is such a peculiar thing.

When we focus on our failures, or try to minimise or avoid them, it will not help us become successful. This is because we will be devoting our energies focusing on minimising or avoiding failures.

But then, when we go after success, there’s no guarantee that we will really succeed.

So how do we succeed?