Getting started is painful

I love running. But I also hate running. Let me explain. Once I am done with a long run, it is pure bliss. Running is my drug (in a really good, positive way). And yet, incredibly, my mind sometimes resists getting started with the run. This especially happens when...

Tomorrow never comes

In the final years of my schooling, I became a chronic procrastinator when it came to studying. Every day, I resolved to start ‘tomorrow’, but as they say — tomorrow never comes. For reasons I can’t understand even now, I had completely lost my focus — it...

Beyond comfort zones

One fine day in 2012, when I quit my job, the monthly SMS stopped — no more salary updates saying ‘Rs XYZ has been credited to your bank account.’ No more business class flights. No more business cards. In fact, on the 1st of every month, I was the one writing...

Life is not a race against time

When I left my last job to do a startup, I was in a hurry — as if it was a race against time. Foolishly assuming that VC funding was the only way, I felt that I had to quickly build a prototype and raise a seed round. Then show traction and do Series A, B, C, D,...

Prioritizing meaning over pleasure

When I decided to write the Civil Services, I uncomplainingly slogged for 7 months. It was certainly not pleasurable in the normal sense and yet I was super-motivated. We often hear that humans are ONLY motivated to do pleasurable things — it is plain wrong....