The Realities of Careers

Job loss is not a blot on your career. It is an unfortunate feature of the free market economy. Gaps in your resume are also not a blot on your career. They reflect the realities of human life. One of my best hires at HabitStrong was freelancing for many years instead...

Three things to achieve any goal

Whether it is working on my startup or preparing for the Civil Services exam, I have never needed motivational videos or a pep talk to get going. In fact, you ONLY need these three things to achieve any goal: 1. Take up a goal only if you are willing to happily accept...

Life is an opportunity

When I was leaving my job at McKinsey after a relatively short stint of 18 months, a classmate remarked that I was being hasty – in the initial few years on any job, one has to pay the dues. I disagreed – and still do. There are no dues to be paid. We are born free...

Attach your ego to the right thing

During my stint in the police, I was once overseeing a jampacked swearing-in ceremony for some new ministers at the Kerala Raj Bhavan (Governor’s official residence). The crowd was in a celebratory mood and hard to control. So when the Chief Minister’s car arrived,...

Prioritization

Most of us suck at managing our time. And here is the biggest mistake we make — we try really hard to finish our to-do list. When that does not happen, we get frustrated and blame ourselves for being lazy. In fact, we feel absolutely certain that there is some hack...