Rajan’s Linkedin posts

Don’t Freeze, Keep Moving

Long ago, a friend who took the NDA/military career route was telling me about the bayonet charge routine in the army. In a bayonet charge, you run towards and attack an enemy bunker typically defended by a machine gun firing 10 bullets per second. What are the odds...

Why Consultants Always Have ‘Three Things’

Whenever consultants want to say something, they always have 'three things.' And we mock them for that 🙂 But if you want to communicate well, there is some real science here -- the science of working memory. It turns out that our working memory can hold about 7...

Simple Diet, Strong Health

A former McKinsey colleague of mine from Australia once said that his father would claim insulin from the Australian Health System and give it to their dog. But how did the dog become diabetic? Aren't animals supposed to be naturally healthy? Actually, we are all...

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

Meaning of life

There are two people I knew, who tragically died of cancer -- one somewhat recently. One was a professor and another was doing some research study. And in both cases, they kept working nearly till the end. Why did they do that instead of taking it easy? My speculation...

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Age is not a barrier to learning

In 2008, while looking for a job, I met this big shot in Mumbai -- tall, handsome, and extremely articulate, this Ivy League graduate was a top leader at one of India’s biggest business conglomerates. At that time, I was urgently looking to move back to India due to...

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The journey of growth

When we started HabitStrong, our first month’s revenue was less than my one day’s salary when I was working. Every journey starts small. Don’t mistake the size of the seed for that of the tree. Keep compounding, keep growing -- be at it. One day, you will surprise the...

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Happiness within

After crossing the finish line of my first half marathon, I came across this guy who had completed the run barefoot, and that too in just over 1.5 hrs. This was fantastic timing for any amateur -- much better than mine, for sure. Post-run, my friends and I were...

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Free elf

When I was working as a consultant, I longed to see the sunset, but I couldn’t. We rarely got out of the office before 11 pm -- often much later. And even after that, my journey back home was long -- a cab ride from New York, followed by picking up my car from a New...

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Life is an unpredictable journey

In 2011, I met this struggling entrepreneur who had come to us for fundraising. At that time, I was working with a large private equity fund. Since we made only large investments (at least Rs 200 Cr), his startup was too small for us. Moreover, his company was not...

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Overcoming challenges with perseverance

I have rarely felt as hopeless or defeated as I did on Jan 14, 2000. In front of me were a million people caught in a massive traffic jam, which I was unable to prevent. At that time I was the Police Chief in Sabarimala, one of India’s largest pilgrimages. Every year,...

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The biggest lottery

I won only one lottery in my life -- and it changed everything. My father grew up in an impoverished village in UP, surviving on subsistence farming. Yet, despite attending a local village school, he managed to land a job in the armed forces. That stroke of luck...

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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 you are getting ready for war!” That day, the Communist Party was conducting a protest march to the Chief Minister’s...

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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 everyone, including the senior partners, that henceforth, he would check his email only at certain times during the day,...

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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 when I can’t focus, my anxiety ramps up even more, and soon, the day goes downhill really fast. I then realized the...

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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 of 1,000 km radius, I will not find a single relative.” The senior officer replied, “Make your circle’s radius 3,000 km...

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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 especially happens when...

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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 focus -- it is not...

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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 the one writing...

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