When you wake up, unthinkingly, you grab your phone and check messages or some social apps. You are doing it for just one reason -- it is your default behavior. Next, whether you work out, grab a coffee or just snooze, it is again driven by your defaults. When you...

When I was a kid, finishing books was so effortless! But today, it feels much harder even though I spend a lot more time reading. The problem is this: When you read a book today, there are countless other books, newsletters, podcasts, and audiobooks beckoning you....

The secret to making money is out in the open. On websites like Trendlyne, you can find the stock portfolios of India's best public market investors, starting from that of the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. And since these guys are super successful, making money should be...

The most damaging thing you can do to an employee: Give them non-stop critical feedback for even the minutest of things. This claim may sound plain wrong. After all, without critical feedback, how would people improve? True. Honest feedback, delivered thoughtfully, is...

During my consulting days in New York, three of us were walking to our client's office for a meeting. One of my colleagues was an Indian-American while the other was Jewish. The Indian-American asked, "Why are so many consultants, lawyers, and bankers Jewish?" The...

One year back, I received an email from a young lady who was torturing herself for not qualifying the NEET exam. And I receive loads of emails like this. Why do we needlessly torture ourselves for our past failures? Because we don't realize this one secret to...

If every investor (including an amateur) has access to the same information, tools, and technology, why isn't everybody an equally good investor? To paraphrase Joel Greenblatt, a renowned investor, "If you are investing in the market, patience will be the last man...

One great way to not take any action is to debate everything and make it an intellectual exercise. Here are a few common tactics I have seen: Tactic 1: Start analyzing the pros and cons of everything. Example: If someone says, "You should start walking or running",...

Once I got an email from a doctor who started his post-graduate degree in anaesthesiology a bit late (in his 30s). Feeling that he is behind his peers, he lacks confidence, fumbles while speaking, and procrastinates. And it is not just him -- one time or another, many...

Bryan Johnson, a millionaire entrepreneur obsessed with staying young, pops in 100 pills a day -- it is more than the amount of rice I eat for lunch. All things being equal, it is a wonderful thing to live longer and healthier. But when I hear that Bryan is spending...

I have 30-odd books on my table, some of which I won't read for months, years, or maybe, even ever. And I am cool with it. Because we don't have time for everything -- including positive, life-enhancing activities we would love to do. We spend a lot of our lives...

Good news: You don't have to ALWAYS be happy. We live in this 'Happiness as a compulsion' age where it seems that if you are not perpetually happy, something is wrong with you. In fact, when we feel unhappy about not being perfectly happy, we just create additional...

I was once explaining a basic breath meditation technique to somebody but he wasn't satisfied. The next day, he said that his friend told him, "Forget all that. It is a waste of time. Try this other technique 'X'." This technique X was just a rapid breathing technique...

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 retired IAS officer)...

A few years ago, while teaching physics to a bunch of high-schoolers, I erred in deriving a formula. And in a split second, even before I could correct myself, a kid raised his hand and pointed out the error. This kid was so brilliant that anything you explained to...