Latest Post

Most powerful motivation comes from within

When my dad was in his eighties and unfortunately, not in very good health. But on some days when he feels a bit better, he would go outside the house, sit on a chair, and learn Malayalam – a language totally alien to him. One day, my neighbor (a...

read more

Recent Posts

Do less, focus more

A McKinsey colleague, curious about my policing experience, once asked me, "What was the most difficult aspect of leading a police force?" The...

Perspective is everything

Once I had to visit a cancer hospital in Trivandrum to seek a medical opinion for a friend's father. The hospital was packed with patients, many of...

More Articles

The Pain of Growth

Talking about growth mindset has become such a cliche that not a day goes without hearing it. Then why aren't we all adopting that mindset? Because growth does not come free. Take the example of muscle growth -- how does it happen? You go to the...

The Yerkes-Dodson Law

Why do deadlines improve performance? It makes no sense because deadlines create anxiety, which is the enemy of focus and productivity. For that, we need to understand Yerkes-Dodson law. When we have a deadline, our brain releases an alerting...

Pain is Private While Success is Public

What happens when you take a risk? If you succeed, people will sing folklore about you on LinkedIn. And if you get really lucky, Harvard will write a case study, which MBA students will interpret in all kinds of funny ways. But if you fail, you...

Not Everything Can Be Intellectualized

Today, I saw an article in 'The Print' in which the author explained why he quit the 10-day Vipassana course run by Sri SN Goenka's organization. He criticized many aspects of the program such as the 'noble silence' and the lack of discussion and...

Subscribe to the HabitStrong newsletter

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