Past Newsletters

In 1994-95, during the placement season at IIT Kanpur, I desperately wanted a job at a company called Hughes Software Systems. Today, hardly anyone has heard of the company, but back then, it was a leader in computer networking -- a red hot area (almost like what AI...

In Aug 2009, when I quit McKinsey, I was on the verge of collapsing with stress. I needed a break, and hence, I joined an investment fund where life was completely chill. Suddenly, I had no more daily deadlines or hourly deliverables. I could finally breathe.  I felt...

My 10 years of darkness In 2007, when I joined McKinsey as a consultant, outwardly, this was the peak of my life professionally. I had just gotten a job in New York that was a dream for most MBAs.  Yet, I was struggling and literally in pain. My health was in shambles...

The Beginning of My Entrepreneurial Journey In 2012, when I quit my last job to become an entrepreneur, I didn’t know exactly what I would do except for a vague notion that it would be something in education.  But as soon as I launched my startup, the clock started...

A. THE MYSTERY OF EFFORTLESS SUCCESS In my college days, the people that really annoyed me were the all-India top rankers. These guys beat us by a mile in the entrance exam, even though we tried so hard. But there was one consolation – they surely slogged 18 hours a...

In 1991, I entered the IIT Kanpur campus loaded with confidence and zest. And then, we had our first quiz in which I got a big zero. That too, in Physics – my favorite subject.  Sadly, that zero also summarizes my four years at IIT. 😊  By the time I was in my final...

The Shockley Story: A Lesson in Focus William Shockley was on his way to winning the Nobel Prize. But he nearly lost it. And here is why you should care. Shockley, along with two fellow scientists, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, were working on inventing the...

A. WHAT HAPPENED More than 500 people applied for a pilot we recently launched for our upcoming program called “Zen Productivity.” And in the application, we asked this question: “Please describe the obstacles that come in the way of your productivity.” And do you...

Wish you a very happy new year. 🙂 You probably want to make 2024 different. But haven’t we tried that in the past? How can this year be different? Here is my simple answer – this time around, avoid the usual traps we keep falling into every year. Just do that, and you...

When General Norman Schwarzkopf led the US Army's invasion of Iraq in 2003, you would imagine that he would be talking about tanks, planes, tactics, and battle plans.  Instead, he said, 'Shined shoes save lives.'  Is it not weird? A guy whose job is to defeat Saddam...

Over the last 4 years, I have written about 2,000 pieces on LinkedIn and Quora. And while writing may not be your thing, over your lifetime, you will surely have big goals that will require a multi-year effort.  So how does one maintain years of consistency?  Let me...

Many years ago, I got intrigued by the US Navy SEALs, who go through arguably the world's most grueling military training. It includes, among other things, an infamous ‘hell week,’ where for five-and-a-half days, the trainees go through a non-stop physical grind with...

Conventional wisdom states that, as an entrepreneur, I should be slogging 12-16 hrs a day. Yet, on any given day, I never exceed 4-5 hrs of real work. Of course, I work beyond that as well – e.g., on administrative work, emails, etc. But I don’t do long hours or late...

I have practically no memory of what happened yesterday morning. No, I wasn’t drunk or unconscious. But yesterday’s forenoon was a blur. All I remember is writing a post on LinkedIn. Then I checked emails and soon got sucked into a bunch of small tasks. One thing led...

In the past six months, I've lost three friends who passed away unexpectedly, including an ex-boss I was close to (his passing made national news). When you lose friends, it is very hard to accept that it is all over. With one of them (Amarnath Raja), I have still not...

On Feb 22, 2021, I got an email from Apoorba, a participant from our digital detox program Undistractable (it was then called ‘Reboot’). Apoorba was in the middle of a career crisis. His sales team was shrinking and the sales numbers were crashing. Covid had made it...

LinkedIn is ablaze with posts that tell you, “Never quit.” But probably the biggest mistake I have made as an entrepreneur is not quitting when I should have. Let me share this story which started in 2012 when I quit my job and launched CourseBrew, my first startup. I...

A 101-year-old changed my plan for today’s newsletter. I was planning to write about something else until a week ago when I came upon the curious case of retired Navy commander V. Sriramulu. At 101, Commander Sriramulu walks and runs 18 kilometers. He has won many...

The internet is splattered with two life philosophies. Philosophy 1 This philosophy says ‘Discipline equals freedom.’ So toughen up your mind, show up every day, and be relentless. Don’t allow your feelings to mess with your actions. You don’t need motivation, you...

First of all: Wish you a wonderful new year! While I may not be able to talk to you personally, I say this with all my heart: May 2023 be truly special for you. May you find success and peace. May this be the year of joy for you. 2023 can indeed be a special year. But...

Human beings are unhappy not because they have less but because someone else has more. Who has never felt envious or jealous of others? We all have. Comparing ourselves with others is a recipe for unhappiness. Yet, we can’t stop our mind from going down that path. How...

What makes us happy? This question is both trivially simple and impossibly hard. For centuries, philosophers have speculated about this but thankfully, we don’t have to anymore – research has thrown up some really specific answers in the past 50 years. But first, let...

We are swimming in junk – be it the greasy food from Swiggy, mindless scrolling on the phone, or binge-watching Netflix.  And it is not even that we enjoy it. I haven’t seen anyone who says, “Yay! I spent 6 hrs scrolling on Instagram.” No, they hate their life. But...

Today morning, I woke up feeling a slightly toxic mix of sickness, low mood, and light anxiety. I guess, my Covid recovery is slower than I expected. Even the morning meditation didn’t help much – my mind was too fragmented. So I went for a walk. But instead of just...

Rousseau said, “Man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” In this newsletter, I want to talk not about socio-political freedom, but something deeper – the freedom to choose how we live. Today, you live carrying a heavy burden. So do I. This burden is the...

I recently read ‘The Attention Revolution,’ a book by Alan Wallace, in which he guides you through 10 stages of tranquility meditation leading to such mastery that you meditate for up to 4 hrs, with practically zero distractions. Even if we can reach the first 3 or 4...

This question is controversial – hence worth talking about. Let us start by dissecting it further. When we talk about balancing work and life, we assume that they are in conflict – that one of them comes at the cost of the other. And somehow, we need to find that...

The solution might sound straightforward: Practice, practice, and more practice. But not so fast. It does not work that way. To convince you, let me share a personal experience. My daughter started playing the violin in 5th grade. When kids start practicing, what...

I don’t know if you have ever been in a rut but I have. There was this one particular year in school, which I totally whiled away without studying. It was not that I was caught up in some bad habits or delinquent behavior, but somehow, I could just not break my...