Gathering thoughts…
A world of little thoughts.
We often look to this quote with fondness and admiration. We often use this quote to inspire and motivate. For a new skill. For a promotion. For a healthier lifestyle. Yet we are often baffled and surprised when we see the other side of the same coin. The ugliness of how negative small changes can add up too. For…
(which is to say people who take pleasure in life; art, food, people) are the most enjoyable people
Venture capital has funded many of today's most successful tech companies ("Big Tech"). As those companies rapidly scaled, small harms that perhaps initiated as unknown risks, ballooned. I'm not going to list them all here because I would need way more than 300 words, but here's a selective subset: - online…
There was a two hour period between the time I got to office and had my first cup of coffee where nothing happened. The coffee machine hadn't been setup for the day yet. Two inoperable hours of walking to the office kitchen every 15 mins or so, hoping I would see the glow of the LEDs in the miniature display box. Such…
I've always had a predilicition for writing. While others had debating & mooting in law school, i had writing. Be it formal boorish academic writing or bouncy ridiculous writing. Nicheless perhaps seems ideal owing to its limited word limit which places less onus on me to produce a grand blog piece with characters, an…
I have nothing against people who like planning and following plans. But all planning is ultimately your need to feel in control. It's a you-problem. I say problem because being good at planning nurtures a bit of entitlement within you. You move ahead in life thinking - because plans work out 70% time, the other 30%…
Extractive systems exhaust resources by removing them faster than they replenish. These systems are parasitic, while regenerative systems are symbiotic. Regenerative systems protect and enrich what they depend on. Consider a few regenerative examples: - A regenerative economy would protect the natural energy systems…
Doesn't it feel good to check off a task, meet a goal, or get to your destination? That feeling is equal for small or large steps. For your new journaling habit, you need to start small. A small start means it's doable, less intimidating. It takes less time and fits into your schedule. You still see results. When…
If you spend yourself chasing butterflies they will fly away If you spend your time making a beautiful garden they will come to you. Charisma - is something that means YOU PUT OTHER PEOPLE FIRST THAT IS FUCKING CHARISMA - oh my god. It’s that easy - nothing to do with personality; nothing to do with funny It’s just…
one day we will no longer understand proust, just as we don't understand beowulf but we will always understand liszt and his liebestraum.
When I started weight training about 15 years ago, I was rather intrigued by some of the folks in the gym who wore all sorts of contraptions. From wrist and knee bands. Head bands, gloves and then a belt around the waist. It was quite fascinating that the exercise wearable market had evolved to a point where the body…
Hmm. This morning, I was thinking to myself that we use too many apps anyways, and now, I'm thinking of building another one. But then, I find myself excited to see what lies ahead. Also, it depends on the time of day. In the mornings, I am more open to screen-time, but by the evening, it gets too much.
Eu volto de férias hoje às 14h. Tenho certeza que tenho muitos emails para ler, só não mais que eu teria se estivesse trabalhando no varejo. Então, um mais um motivo para agradecer. Agora, minha quarentena esse ano vai ser do instagram. Volto daqui 40 dias. Com o tempo, pretendo ler mais, estudar mais. Hoje também fiz…
Push for more! There’s always something else to study/that you didn’t know Action Action will lead to more things in the future Act first align yourself to that actions Do with a goal study is for you to be more ready be more powerful save time to study but when you study you need to study well Focus will let you…
i have never done anything in my life i've hated as much as thinking about boat work not even working in a psychiatric hospital or sitting through tantrum fits of children who don't want to play the piano but who are anxious when i suggest that they stop taking lessons i hate this so much and i hate sebastian for…
An old colleague messaged me today about a memory he had of me. We haven't been in touch for a long time, so I was surprised at the message. I enjoy dancing. The times when all of us went out after work, I'd let my hair down. It was my first job after graduation. Our team was small, and most employee-manger rules…
Running around my neighborhood has made me bitter. I see piles of trash on the side of the road and I tell myself a story about people that don't care. I see more and trash and I feel more anger. What can I do? What control do I have? The same control I tell my kids that they have - I can only control myself. So I'm…
It is difficult to think where you’ll be at any point in the future. Things don’t always go to plan. So, what is the point of setting goals? On our default path (ie. 9 to 5 job - thanks Paul Millerd) we are asked to make targets or objectives relative to what we know today. What we think we’ll want to tomorrow. But we…
If one believes a certain proposition to be true for all times and for all places, the proposition can be said to be universally true. Conversely, if a proposition is only true for a particular time and place, the proposition may be true for other times and other places, but not necessarily so. Consider the…
It's the first week back at my job after a two week vacation. I had a nice Monday: no meetings, just checking email, code reviews. Then, on Tuesday, the onslaught begins. Meetings, meetings, Slack, distractions, multiple threads, dropping balls all over the place. Feeling dumb. Here we go again. I got some feedback…
Where I'm from, asking your waiter about the ingredients in a dish usually prompts one of two responses: 1) "You can't have this, this, or this. But this and this are safe to eat." 2) "Uh, I'll ask the kitchen and get back to you." While visiting London, I was really surprised that the near universal response was…
I vividly remember my mother's outburst in the summer of 2013 when I ran away from a Bangalore internship within five days of joining. She was angry at my incompetency to stick to a job. She compared me to neighbours who settled in soulless jobs. Her disbelief in my post-graduate design education fueled my own anger.…
...a place where you get to write just 300 words. Nice. Just capture what's on the mind. A snapshot. First impression: Nice, neat, uncluttered. Reminds me of blank paper on typewriter, minus any other prompts. No random feeds and hashtags, pulls or pressures. What way will this go?
Next time… a promise that was never fulfilled. As a kid, whenever I ask my mom for something she’d say “maybe next time?” Or whenever i ask if we can play a game together “next time?” I didn’t think much of it snd always hold onto that “next time” Now turning 16, I realised it was just empty promises. It was just a…
This was it. A day off after several months of parenting, working under pressure, side-hustling, managing the house, and doing all the third shift admin if my life. Finally I get to have some reprieve. A momentary escape. It was planned. I looked forward to it, after arranging for childcare and making a ton of…
i zoned out at the table again and for a while you didn’t say anything but then like a gentle tug, realigning my orbit when the disassociation dissipates, you anchor; “are you alright?” and it echoes then and now, in my own head, like a muffled drum “are you alright?”
A spiritual advisor said "gratitude is an action." So as we send text messages and, for the special ones, phone calls of gratitude to those in our life, it is time for me to reflect on how I display gratitude, rather that a simple admission of being "thankful." To my wife and family, I am grateful. She has a full time…
To top off three days of being an excellent host, my pal Christian gives me a selection of six of his favourite German beers as a reward for my having run the Berlin Marathon. Classy. From Berlin, I must travel to Kuwait to make a pitch to an oil and gas company. The beverages go into my check-in luggage. Arriving in…
liberal societies such as Europe unequivocally call for abolishing death penalty, arguing that it violates the fundamental right - the right to life. further, it is also argued that emotional impulse for revenge does not justify capital punishment, neither is there evidence to support that death penalty is a potent…
So I have subjected myself to around 30 minutes of scrolling through LinkedIn. Ive been feeling a bunch of negative emotions stirring up in my belly and I would like to analyze them. 1. Twinge of regret/ FOMO - BlissClub seems to be putting great posts about their folks and culture and Sudhanshu seems to be a great…
i feel like every person with a solid sense of self has "themes" for ex: - outdoor sports, traveling, nature, wanting to discover the world, wanting to have fun (japanese with shun) - environmentalism, human rights activism, politics (some swiss ppl i know) - money, how much money they have, how much more money they…
Complete: to make whole or perfect; to mark the end of So many pursuits are taken up with the idea of perfection or wholeness arriving at some point. But what is ever complete? There is no state of perfection or wholeness that can be achieved. The closest thing to it might just be recognizing the futility of the chase…
Just like your cleansing schedule - it’ll take hours to do. However if you have the “do-it” mentality: you’ll reach there no matter what, you’ll get better once you start to do it everyday Just get started first Always have an end goal in mind. Then set a timeline First principles Like why you wanted to do it You have…
Project management is common sense. There, I said it. Thanks for reading. The default path requires us to be certified in this or that, otherwise, how could we possibly know what to do? I’ll tell you how - use your common sense! Project management is not a skills based exercise. There are set outcomes expected that…
The best mentors are the ones who don't charge for their time. Hear me out. I'm not talking about the ones who make mentoring their main source of income. I'm talking about industry veterans who are passionate about what they do and want to pass on all that they've learned over the years. They've already "made it" and…
There were few mass shootings in the US over last couple of days and this got me thinking what could be the root causes of such a hideous act of crime. The incidents were given different names such as - gun violence, hate crime, domestic terrorism, white supremist attack etc. based on which media outlet you consume…
Got moneys doesn’t mean shit. It’s how you treat people, with genuine care, with genuine kindness - having confidence means it’s okay not to be liked, even nobody is with you it’s going to be okay. And that usually is cos you have your own tribe already that you can do that - you can’t treat it with everyone that way…
Having had a long period where I had no energy or interest in tinkering with any side-projects, the energy now seems to return. Perhaps it is a reflection of a better state of mind. Perhaps it is a reflection of winter in the Northern hemisphere and hence less daylight, but nevertheless the fact remains that I have…
I stan'd about BlockFi for years. Yesterday, the FTX contagion was realized and withdrawals were frozen. I stand to lose $50,000 USD in Stablecoins, my ACH withdrawal is in a "Pending" state. I spoke to my wife and let her know. This money represents many hours of my life, sleepless nights, hard work, and time away…
there was a study with mice where "the mice have a lever that they can press any time they want. When they press the button, a special optical sensor, which controls specific neurons in their brain, activates their dopamine neurons" anyway they pressed the button until they died with no desire of food or drink if…
Today I spent almost the entire day just doing excel analysis. It is tiring and tedious, but I love it. It makes me feel so satisfied when I finally put data into a form that makes sense to me, no matter how menial the task might be. I spent 1.5 hours by myself today post dinner just listening to music and doing excel…
Western culture is suppressing it's animal nature and that's creating a dangerous shadow. That's what Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in his first book "The birth of tragedy". I'd love to tell you how to express your animal nature in a healthy way. But I don't know. Here's what I do know; Tragedy was born in theater plays.…
Blogs on what I learn or what appeals to me. Read on a topic over a single day and then write, unassisted (except for quotes), at the end of the day. The goal is to develop concise and coherent communication skills. Feel free to drop a text if you have something more to offer on a topic. Let's see where we get with…
Sometimes you come across a pair that is clearly very close to each other. Observing them interact, it's unclear who is taking care of whom. The daughter still seeks to impress and seek validation, while showing her mother how things are done. The mother still instructs, but also follows instructions, probably…
I was woken up by mom having really high fever and immense body pains. It was immensely scary. I was suddenly face to face with exactly how helpless I was without her. Also, my immediate reaction was anger towards her. Anger for being vulnerable. I don’t know why I react this way Just the previous night, had a…
In the late 1990s, the most visited website for many Indians, especially NRIs, was samachar.com. It provided single-point, free online access to most major national newspapers. A quarter of a century later, and the online Indian news landscape is unrecognisable. Some of the best, most honest journalism in India today…
So, what prevents us from making changes in a constantly changing world? Do we remain rigid while the world evolves around us? To understand this, let's consider the insights of neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett. She challenges conventional thinking and offers valuable perspectives on how our brain constructs…
Recently, I had a conversation with the mother of a friend. She asked me what I’m planning to do after finishing my undergraduate studies this summer. Saying that I don’t want to pursue a master’s degree and rather start working directly was already hard for her to comprehend. Then she asked, “So where are you going…
