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Building mental models
All learning boils down primarily to one thing -- building mental models. During my electrical engineering undergraduate program, we were (involuntarily) subjected to a lot of dense math. At the beginning of the semester, had I seen all those...
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The Ripple effect of small changes
One day, during my stint as the Trivandrum City Police Commissioner, a communist party leader walked up to me and said with a smile -- “Looks like...
Pausing for deep thinking
During my days at McKinsey, one day we got a funny email from the engagement manager of another team working with our client. This manager informed...
The mental benefits of physical exercise
This happened a fortnight ago. It was around 1 pm and I was feeling this terrible low-grade anxiety, making it difficult to focus on anything. And...
Human desire
After landing in Kerala, an IPS batchmate lamented to a senior officer -- “Sir, Kerala is so far from my native place that even if I draw a circle...
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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...
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...
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...
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...