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Tools can’t replace competence
You (and I) are in danger. Right now, LinkedIn is flooded with tools, templates, and hacks, especially after chatGPT. And to be sure, many of these tools have great value. They will make you faster and more efficient. But we might assume that these...
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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...
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,...
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...
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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...
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...
Experience is just an opportunity to learn
A few years ago, in my startup, we were building a tech platform that was performing horribly. The screens would take forever to load -- clearly, the algorithms were poorly written. Though we had experienced engineers, we did not have the funding...