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You need a break – here is why

The harder you work, the more you get done, and the more value you create. Right? Wrong! It turns out that life is not that linear. Working long hours, non-stop, is not the recipe for value creation. Nor is working without a break for months and years. Every once in a...

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You need consistency – but not 100%

This is going to be controversial. But read on… By now, you must have heard this a zillion times: To achieve even your biggest goals, be it building habits, becoming fit, or compounding your wealth – all you need is consistency. When you are consistent, small...

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A practical approach to learning faster

Except for my early childhood in Bangalore, I grew up in an environment where English wasn’t used for day-to-day conversations either at home or in school. So my English vocabulary was limited mostly to commonplace words. But unfortunately, all the newspapers and...

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The story of the most hated man

During my training at the National Police Academy, there was one man everyone was terrified of – Mr. Anil Kumar Raturi (the future DGP of Uttarakhand). At that time, he was the boss of our outdoor training at the Academy. Which means, all the physical torture we...

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How to do in one day what may take months

Last December, a colleague and I were talking to my friend Ashish Chordia, who also doubles up as our startup coach. When we excitedly told him about the new program we were going to create (on journaling), he asked, “How long will it take?” My colleague said, “3-6...

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Is there a happiness ATM?

What makes us happy? This question is both trivially simple and impossibly hard. For centuries, philosophers have speculated about this but thankfully, we don’t have to anymore – research has thrown up some really specific answers in the past 50 years. But first, let...

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How to cut out junk from your life

We are swimming in junk – be it the greasy food from Swiggy, mindless scrolling on the phone, or binge-watching Netflix.  And it is not even that we enjoy it. I haven’t seen anyone who says, “Yay! I spent 6 hrs scrolling on Instagram.” No, they hate their life. But...

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How to make each day delightful

Today morning, I woke up feeling a slightly toxic mix of sickness, low mood, and light anxiety. I guess, my Covid recovery is slower than I expected. Even the morning meditation didn’t help much – my mind was too fragmented. So I went for a walk. But instead of just...

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How To Be Free

Rousseau said, “Man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” In this newsletter, I want to talk not about socio-political freedom, but something deeper – the freedom to choose how we live. Today, you live carrying a heavy burden. So do I. This burden is the...

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Rajan shares insights from his own life journey to help you build better habits in yours.