In a 2014 study, Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia left students in a room for 15 odd minutes with nothing to do (phones were taken away). But they could give themselves a painful electric shock.  Almost 67% of the men gave themselves electric shocks to...

"Would you swap your life with that of an 80-year-old billionaire?"  Almost any sensible youngster will respond to this question with an emphatic 'no'. Yet, almost every few weeks, someone asks me this question: "How do I stop comparing myself with others?" If we are...

After graduation, one of my IIT buddies, a mechanical engineer, took up a job at a large auto manufacturer in India.  Once he joined the manufacturing plant, he saw that they did not have too much respect for precision. If some part of the car assembly did not fit...

I live in a private residential complex owned by a group of IAS/IPS officers in Kerala. And when these IAS officers retire, often as the Chief Secretary (the highest rank in the state government), almost all of them take some post-retirement gig with the government....

Addiction is the inability to control our urge for something that we know is harmful and leaves us dissatisfied. The more we use it, the more desensitized we become and need higher doses to get the same high. All smartphone users - does it ring a bell? - Rajan...

The most enjoyable course I took during my MBA at Wharton was taught not by a professor, but by a librarian. In the final semester of the MBA, no more under any pressure, I took a course outside the business school with the University of Pennsylvania's music...

The glass is not half empty. Nor is it half full. The glass is 95% full -- just that we don't look around hard enough. When we move into a new house or buy a new car, in probably two weeks' time, we start taking it for granted. We discover the value of anything when...

How would you feel sitting in a really, really hot room without even a fan? When we call it sauna, we would pay a good amount of money to experience it in a luxury hotel. But when it is a power cut in the summer, we would curse the heavens for the misery. In both...

When I see ads saying "Learn to build a website in 5 minutes" or "Learn XYZ in 10 minutes", I often wonder, what is the big rush? Do we have only that long to live? For sure, time is valuable. But so is the thing you are trying to build or the skill you are trying to...

Whether or not you have that MBA from Harvard, ISB, or IIMA, you have to train yourself to think clearly. To create thought clarity, train yourself to write well. To write well, write every day. To do anything every day, train yourself to do things even when you don't...

In the 8 odd years I spent in the Indian Police Service, I hardly saw anyone saying 'No, sir.' The 'Yes, sir' behavior went all the way to the top. In fact, a junior IPS officer might still occasionally say 'no.' But often, the top brass would not only say 'yes' but...

Digital distraction is the new diabetes. And it is no less deadly. Let me explain. Diabetes, obesity, and hypertension happen for a simple reason: A million years ago, in the forests, sugar, fat, and high-calorie food were life-savers for our ancestors. Hence,...

Two decades ago, along with a small group of policemen, I was chasing an elephant that had run amok. At that time, I was posted as an Assistant Superintendent of Police in south Kerala. Traditionally, in Kerala, elephants are extensively used for local festivals, and...

There is no hack to become rich or fit or well-read. There is no viral hack for your marketing. There is no easy way to master any subject or become an accomplished musician or a standout athlete. In short, there are no shortcuts. Of course, some people may get lucky....

A bag is heavy only if we carry it on our shoulders. If we put it down, it has no weight at all. Most of our mental worries are baggage our mind can't put down. That is also why we become so busy and overwhelmed. It is not the length of our to-do list but the mental...