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Don’t forget the real luxuries
The biggest luxury is not Mercedes Maybach. Nor is it holidaying in the $30k-a-night suite in Burj Khalifa. These are just expensive toys and frills. Real luxury is being fit enough to run a few miles without breaking much of a sweat. It is being...
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Note-taking technique
I discovered the effectiveness of this note-taking technique during my Civil Services exam preparation. At that time, I barely had 1.5 months for...
Life changing habit
Here is a simple life-changing habit -- sleep an hour before you normally do, and then see what happens. Not convinced? For a few days, log what you...
Less is More
During my IPS training, we were attached to a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) unit that was fighting militancy in Tripura. In this remote CRPF...
Leadership
During a training program at McKinsey, we were split into groups of 4-5 people and given a task – we had to build paper planes using a kit given to...
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Life is short
As a fresh consultant at McKinsey, for the first time in my life, I had to go around seeking time for meetings with clients or senior leaders at the Firm. Prior to that, while serving as the Police Commissioner, if I wanted to speak with someone, I...
Prioritizing Thoughtful Work
When I was serving as the Trivandrum Police Commissioner, I once skipped a useless meeting called by a senior government official. The next week, when my assistant shared my weekly timesheet, she showed an internal meeting that I had never...
How to build a startup?
Conventional wisdom (some of which I also fell for): - Leave your job. - Chase VC funding. - Spend all the money on ads and a huge team. - Pray for the next round of funding. A better way: - Don’t leave your jobs until much later — start by working...
Value your time
An email you almost never get: I need your money. An email you often get: I need your time -- can we jump on to a call? Is your time less valuable than your money? Of course, not. If you clutter your calendar with calls and meetings, you can say...