Why do we need to remember things when everything is just one Google search away? (Or these days, one ChatGPT query away). In fact, this was the logic once proffered for why we didn't need to learn multiplication tables -- or for that matter, anything factual. The...

Stop hoarding PDFs, podcasts, videos, e-books, and online courses. We already have enough. The problem is something else. Can you guess what? Our reflex answer -- 'I don't have time.' Not true. Here is what is going on. When we have to pick a task, we only pick the...

Flow, the 'secret to happiness,' is closer than you think 🙂 Here is a step-by-step guide for experiencing flow (almost) every day. Quick recap: What is flow? It is such a deep immersion in a task that you lose track of everything, including the passage of time. Like...

I was once talking to a UX designer in Bangalore, who was supposed to be quite good at her craft. And she explained to me some nuances of UX design quite well. But when our discussion shifted to other social issues, she seemed quite lost. At one point, she decried why...

As a consultant with McKinsey, one of my projects was to advise a Fortune 500 healthcare company on whether to launch a new service line. And here was the funny part -- the company had already done the study they hired us for! They had put two people on the project,...

Your smartphone is useful but dangerously addictive. And every day, we are sucked into it for hours on end not because we love it, but because we think we have no choice. We often assume that we only have two options: Give up our phones, OR Use the phone without any...

A few years ago, I was visiting the Chittorgarh fort, which is extremely imposing, to say the least. But if you look at the quarters in which the king used to stay, you realize that a modern 3 BHK has a better finish and amenities. This is not to imply that the kings...

I suspect this post will save you from unnecessary failure. When you aim to build a good habit or achieve a long-term goal, what is the first advice you get? Consistency, consistency, consistency... Yes, that is true. But here is the thing nobody tells you -- you need...

Apparently, standing on the World Startup Convention stage in Noida, are not the investors from Sequoia or Accel, but cops from the Uttar Pradesh Police. This convention was billed as a mega startup event, with a not-so-implicit promise that startups will have a great...

It is soon going to get very weird. And we are not realizing it. A small gang of people, probably based in Silicon Valley, will increasingly have so much concentrated wealth and influence that in comparison, today's world may look like a socialist utopia. To be clear,...

Over the last year, after my parents moved in with us, I have been hounding my mother to go for a daily walk. She has put on a fair bit of weight, possibly due to her slowing metabolism. But despite my pestering, my mother was very reluctant. Nevertheless, she started...

When I was a kid, we were living in a remote military station in Assam, surrounded by hills and jungle-like vegetation. In those days, power cuts there were a daily thing. But one day, the transmission system got knocked off so badly that for more than 3-4 days, we...

2,500 years ago, without fMRI machines, research labs, or any understanding of neuroscience, one man single-handedly figured out how to end all human suffering. The Buddha created the world's best mental health program. We now call it Vipaassana. And today, with all...

The value of your college degree is like radioactive material with a half-life of about 3-4 years. So we cannot sit on our laurels and degrees. In 10 years (3 half-lives later), your degree's value would be down to about 10%. Ultimately, which college you went to...

Long ago, I was attending a conference on drug addiction, where they honored an Australian guy who had dedicated his life to helping people caught up in drug addiction. When he was asked to address the audience, he started out by listing all the awards, honors, and...