If you ever feel guilty about not figuring out your career path quickly, please take heart – I graduated more than two decades ago, and I still feel like I am just exploring life. Maybe some of us take more time than others. Or maybe we are all like that – I don’t...
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Reclaim your life
I know you love your smartphone more than you should -- but this is not your fault really. Between 2010 and 2012, Facebook made two changes that kicked off our smartphone addiction. Here they are: 1. Before 2010, everybody on Facebook had a ‘wall.’ Anything I posted,...
What truly changes our life?
At my last job with a private equity firm, we had retreats at some really fancy hotels. At one of them, as part of the ‘evening service,’ the hotel staff would leave an array of small perfume bottles on the bed to help you sleep better. For sure, it felt like luxury....
Patience Nurtures Competence
On day 1 of my first job with the Indian Police Service – I was quite useless. I had some theoretical knowledge of law enforcement but I am pretty sure I was good for nothing. But people tolerated me and with time and exposure, I learned. The same thing happened at...
Leadership
One of my best managers at McKinsey announced on day-1 of the client engagement, “Guys, let us aim to make it a 9 to 5 engagement – I mean 9 to 5 pm, not 5 am!” We had never been able to do that on any engagement – least of all, on a super-intense, two-week due...
Health Fuels Success
Should you choose success over health or the other way around? It is a false choice. No job should make us choose between health and success. Without health, there can't be any success. When we are in good health, we do better work. When we are relaxed, we think more...
Strength from Struggles
Growing up in a strictly middle-class family, we did not have too much money. And it may seem like it put me at a disadvantage. It did not. In fact, I consider my upbringing my biggest luck. Not having money, I knew that whatever I wanted to do in life, I had to do it...
Consistency and Persistence
Yesterday, when I needed some medical advice for my dad, I called my friend Dr. Shankhabrata Bagchi, one of the best doctors I know. And yet, Bagchi has never practiced medicine – he joined the IPS right after his MBBS and was our batch topper. But such is his love...
Health Over Hustle
When I left McKinsey to move back to India, I promised myself two things: 1. No more working late nights. 2. No more alarms – I would wake up when I had enough sleep. So when I joined a private equity fund in Mumbai, I wanted to make sure that they didn’t work late...
User engagement
Here is an easy way to destroy your life. Start the day by checking WhatsApp, and then get sucked into a vortex of endlessly checking Facebook, Instagram, online news, Twitter, whatever... Keep repeating the cycle, and by evening, you will be a worn-out, empty shell....
Excitement is rare and overhyped
Very few professions that look glamorous or exciting, are actually that. During my MBA, I thought McKinsey would be very glamorous. Big clients, global travel and fancy hotels, advising CEOs, yada yada. So here is a reality check. At 11 pm one night, one of my buddies...
Five Keystone Habits
If you ever find yourself stuck in a rut of laziness, low energy, and lack of direction, these five keystone habits will help you smash through it: 1) Regular workout: More than for physical fitness, exercise is a great medicine for mental well-being. Study after...
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Rajan shares insights from his own life journey to help you build better habits in yours.