Experiences Archives - Sajith Mathew

Is World Getting Worse Day by Day?

Experiences

I hear multiple people telling me the world is getting worse day by day.

And this is my answer to why it feels that way.

The information we consume shapes our perspectives

We all consume information.

And at large quantities these days.

The content we consume shapes our perspectives.

The professional media we consume has a higher incentive for negativity and danger.

Why?

Not because the media is inherently biased.

It’s because we humans are wired that way for our survival.

Our pessimist forefathers survived while optimists back then perished. We’re the children of those pessimist forefathers.

We’re the grand-grand-…. sons and daughters of ancestors that could sense any danger faster and effectively.

The ancestors who couldn’t notice any slight danger perished.
It’s just evolution.

So, we humans are wired to notice anything that’s a potential threat or dangerous because we still think it matters for our survival(on a subconscious level).

Look at how media is incentivized – more attention, more TRP, more money.
I have written previously on how incentives make anything thrive – good or bad.
Read it here.

We notice information or content that talks about danger/threat more because we’re wired to notice them for our survival

It applies to newsfeeds, Google news, or any digital content in general.

The algorithm keeps showing us the info/content based on our past engagement.
Also, it takes into consideration how people with similar interests engage in the platform.

As we know, engagement tends to be higher for clickbait news, news on an imminent threat, conspiracy theories, and so on.
I’m not stating that the content in itself is negative.

The logic behind its incentives makes it negatively biased.

Captions like these are relevant and attention-grabbing at the same time. We could use this exact same logic to convey important and beneficial info as well.

Now, media needs money, more TRP, hence more negative and dangerous news, hence we see more negative news – even though there is an equal number or more positive things that happen in the world every single moment.

If you still feel confused about the ancestral story I told before – just think about the negative events that happened in your life.
Then try recalling the positive things.

We remember the negative stuff in our lives far more than the positive ones.

It’s psychologically proven that we tend to remember negative events far more than the positive ones

I just want to remind you – the world is a far better place than we all see it.
Also, be a bit more open-minded to multiple perspectives and consume news/info from multiple/varied media/people.

The world is a far better place than we see and feel. Acknowledge that and be kind to one another.

That’ll help you see things in a better light.

Love you all.

How My Thoughts on Habits Changed?

Experiences

We’re all a rebel at times. One trait of a rebel is to move the exact opposite way.

Hear out my rebel thought on habits and how I have changed them.

Until sometime back, I would always scoff at the advice on habits.

The advice can be anything along the lines – ‘You need to have discipline’, ‘You need to sleep on time/wake up on time’, ‘You need to plan your day’ and on and on.

Hey, these are not just from my closed ones. Also, from internet gurus and mentors and real impactful people.

Then I stumbled across an idea from the book ‘Atomic habits’ by James Clear.

Just one thought – Cue -> Craving -> Response -> Reward

This pattern controls our habits, which in turn control our lives.

I looked closely. Anything I felt I’m doing good, there was this pattern.
Any bad habits I have, there was this exact pattern again.

Earlier, I had this thought on habits – ‘It just takes away the fun and uncertainties in life. In essence, it just makes my life a routine or redundant.’

Now, I have this counter thought on habits – ‘It just makes my life function in a smooth way so I don’t have to worry about spending my willpower each time I make a choice.

The best thing – I can now spend my willpower on the stuff that really matters’.

In a way, habits give backs us the time to do our own stuff.

This is not to say that things will be completely fine, but at least good habits make them easier.

So, if you wish to change something in life, just think about the pattern:

Cue -> Craving -> Response -> Reward

Love you all.

How Social Proof Works?

Experiences

Have you thought about the relevance of product reviews, testimonials, and social proof in general?

“We seem to assume that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they must know something we don’t.” – Robert Cialdini

When we check out a product on Flipkart/Amazon, almost all of us tend to look at the reviews.

According to a trust pilot survey, 89% of the people worldwide read reviews before buying products.

We think it’s crazy if we don’t do that, right?
Now, this is absolutely useful in these scenarios.

This is called group thinks or herd behavior. It helps us navigate this world much more easily.

But there are instances when social proof manipulates us to the wrong choices we would not make otherwise.

Why do protests become violent at least in some scenarios?
Why do unpopular opinions get heavily criticized even if there’s a point in that criticism?

Why does social proof work like a charm?

I believe we have evolved that way.

I can’t go research and spend my precious time before making every decision. We know that we make a multitude of choices every single day.
So we access the groupthink and make our choices.

If a lot of people have thought it to be a good one, I guess it’ll do fine for me as well.

Using a quote in this post may be kind of social proof 🙂

This comes with a dilemma.
If I really think that a specific herd behavior is wrong and needs to be changed, it takes me a whole lot of effort to move that needle. I’m swimming against the flow.

Change is hard, however small it is. That’s why it takes a lot of time and effort to bring in social changes, however small it is. Even if all of us independently believe the change to be good.

I just want to tell you this – the majority can be wrong at times, so keep hold of your choice if you come across such a dilemma.

I would love to know your thoughts.

Use a Compass to Thrive in This Fast-changing World

Experiences, Life

Would you use a compass if that can help you live and thrive in this fast-changing world?

I have seen a pattern from my observation and experience.

These can give you a foundation to base your decisions on major scenarios

These pointers will help you to make your foundation stronger

1.Align your goals with the ultimate goal

This is so crucial.

As a species, our ultimate goal is extremely broad.

That’s what we all are striving for in one way or another.

Our goals can take any shape or form, but it has to follow the direction of the ultimate goal.

The ultimate goal – human progress and evolution

Every human being is either contributing towards or against the ultimate goal of human progress and evolution. The people moving against the ultimate goal cannot hinder the path, all they can do is to make the journey slower.

Anything, literally anything can be your goal.

All it has to do is to match with the ultimate goal in some way.

If you’re a teacher, you’re more aligned to the goal.

If you’re a lawyer, you can choose to stand for the truth, thus aligning with the ultimate goal.

If you’re a businessman, you can choose the direction

If you’re a politician, you can choose the way

If you’re a preacher, you choose

If you’re a writer, you decide how you can assist in this process

If you’re a musician, painter, artist, scientist, engineer, creator, farmer,……

Some of our professions tend to have a default direction, but we can go wrong even then.

If we keep this in mind, the journey will be worth it in the end, both internally and externally.

2. Trust the interaction

I know what you’re thinking.

Many of us have fallen into traps by following this.
Remember, if you do this, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

We all know people who have cheated their ways to success – maybe they have made more money, maybe they won and reached places, and so on.

This is true and I have gone through this too.
This was possible and the cheaters in the system benefited greatly until very recently.

This is changing as we’re getting connected more and more every passing day.

Trust is becoming a valuable commodity in today’s world more than ever. The major reason is the super-connectivity we’re all part of. We are building projects, doing transactions, partnering in businesses with strangers in the world. How do we make sure that the other party is trustworthy? Through mutual connections, past experiences, digital footprints,…

Our personal brand – a short measure of our ethics, values, and interactions – is reaching people just at a click or a call.

French President Emmanuel Macron is my 3rd-degree connection on LinkedIn. British President Boris Johnson as well.

References and our past interactions are becoming more relevant. Relatively easy access to sift through them is acting as the gasoline to this fire.

We’re all connected on social.

News spread like wildfire. Ideas travel places.

We access collective intelligence more than ever.

We access similar sources.

We have a similar metric to value and measure things and people.

This was not the case until very recently. So trust didn’t have much prominence on a larger scale.

If I did something good, chances are that at least a few people will know about it.

No, I’m not talking about broadcasting this on social.

I’m talking about the person/community that benefited from my acts.

People tend to work with me. More opportunities come my way. More business options take shape for me.

We live in a super-connected world. The tech and scientific advancements have enabled us to interact with any human being out there with very little effort. We can access insights from anyone and anywhere in the world. Also, we can share our values, ideas, and plans with the world. Human instincts always look for proof to trust the other person before having any major interaction. It’s part of our survival mechanism. If we have trust points from our past interactions and projects, it would favor us in the long run.

On the contrary, if I have cheated someone, maybe in business or in life in general – this word spreads too. Maybe a bit faster than the good ones.

People tend to limit their interactions with me. Opportunities redirect from my way to others with goodwill and more trust points.

Business options take a dim route as business interactions and partnerships are built on trust.

This is not just for people, applicable to communities as well. And the people within that communities too.
If a community is creating chaos, the opportunities get closed for people in those communities. The options will become smaller and narrower with each passing day.

The bad news and ill trust spread far and wide.

We might hear about building a personal brand and similar stuff. All those come as a subset of this point.

3. Open-mindedness is rewarded

The world is your oyster. And it rewards people with open-mindedness.
How?
Things are changing, and changing fast.
You might have heard about Moore’s law.

Moore’s law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit double about every two years. Moore’s law is an observation and projection of a historical trend.

This is in regards to the computing power.

Moore’s law is generally used by technologists and scientists to convey the exponential changes that happen in fields. As humans, we tend to miss the point of exponential growth and always look at things from a linear point of view.

This is relevant in numerous fields and industries.

If we take this law into consideration, the number of opportunities opening up is humongous.

New fields are opening up possibilities that we have never heard of before. New technologies are creating fields altogether.

If we’re close-minded, we don’t really take chances.
And open-minded folks just keep taking chances. And a few of them click.

You might ask me?
How can I afford to take such chances?

I get it.
Let me ask you a few questions.

How do you go about taking any major decision in your life?

We weigh the upside and the downside – pros and cons of that decision.

If the pros weigh more, we generally go with that decision.

This is a simple process but all of us follow it.
It can be a decision to take up a profession or it can be a billion-dollar deal.

Open-minded thinking leads to more ideas. If pursued, there are chances that some of them will work out.

Now, let me reveal a piece of good news for you.

The new opportunities that I talked about earlier – most of them have a very little downside and a huge upside.
Now, would you be taking chances in such scenarios?
If you would, you gain a lot.

But, why is that?
Why does the upside far outweigh the downside?

The major reason is the tech intervention in most fields.
Advanced technologies have made it a lot cheaper to break into any industry and field.

You just have to have the guts and a little money.

For instance, you can now access the genome sequences from the National health of science to formulate your own ideas. It is a two-sided game.

Anyone can access the tech and research for cheap.

So there’s a high chance that someone will bring something amazing to the table which will get distributed to the pool which again brings back greater insights. And it goes on.

Now you can see the communication is faster, the access is cheap, the insights are greater, hence the human progress is faster. We all act and work as collective intelligence.

We’re all contributing to or against this collective intelligence in one way or another

We all strive to contribute to this collective intelligence.

This system rewards people who bring greater insights to the table and it does it heavily.

Why?

Those people are pushing collective intelligence forward. The greater impact, the greater the reward.

Open-minded people take more chances and get rewarded exponentially.

If you keep these pointers in your mind and align your decisions using this compass, you are at great odds to live a fulfilling life.

Are You Ready To Take A ‘Focus Walk’

Experiences

I have been pondering over a question for some time, how do I utilize the information I learned to be applied practically?

This leads to a new question of how do we come up with our opinions about a thing?

For me, both these questions seemed to be poles apart in the beginning. Later, it reached a point where both of them were inseparable from each other.

We capture some kind of wisdom daily, from our experiences, the videos we watch, or the content we consume. Now, the content might not necessarily be knowledgeable in itself, it may be plain entertainment. The whole point is that, have we picked up something new or not.

We are exposed to new information and picking them up even if we are unaware

We can all agree now that we are picking up new information daily, constantly. This is the raw information.
Now, how can we use this information later which will be beneficial in some way?
The new data we picked up has to be malleable to be used with the existing information.

And that’s why we are taking a ‘Focus Walk’.

I would read a new article on any topic I’m interested in and then go for a walk.
I could see that since the human mind is turned on all the time, it needs something to chew on. And the information I just consumed acts as the fodder for the mind. It then chews and chews on the new information, and take some already known information and mix it up.

We’ll be mesmerized by the ability of our mind to connect the highly unrelated information. We come up with our own completely fresh perspectives.
Now I’m pretty sure that someone might have thought about this same conclusion, but that is okay for me.

I have come up with that conclusion in my own way, thus forming my own opinion on a subject.

What we hear through the news are their end conclusion, we don’t even know how they come up with that conclusion

What we hear most today is already formed analysis which leads us to the same old opinion.
Just try it for yourself, listen to the news or any article for that matter, it gives a conclusive point in the end.
This is good in case of matters where we are completely unaware of the subject at all. We might not have the time and energy to figure out everything on our own.

We can always apply the ‘focus walk’ to ideas and topics that we would like to find an answer to, subjects that are close to our hearts.

We don’t think to a conclusion today as frequently as we used to. We have straight-up facts on any imaginable subject around.

There are good and bad aspects of both arguments, but I would love to take a focused walk on the threads that matter to me.

I’m going to take a short walk, you might find it interesting if you try it once.

It’s Never The Right Time, It’s Always The Right Time

Experiences

I have waited forever to do things that I actually wanted to do, that pumped blood in my veins, that created that adrenaline boost when I just think about doing it.
Time just flies, not waiting for anyone.

When I think back about anything that I feel worthwhile doing in life, I always find a pattern.
All those things I now cherish happened, just because I took the jump, not waiting for anyone, not waiting for any particular time, not waiting for any event.
I’m glad that I took that leap, at times.

Take the plunge. Life worth living is always filled with surprises. And sometimes, we have to actively look for them by taking risks

I can tell you one more thing.
This feeling would never go away once you taste it. We always crave that feeling throughout our lives.
We all have this innate doubt about timing. Is this is the best time to chase that passion, or to go for that event, or to try that adventure, or to take that risk?
We’ll never be ready enough to do anything worthwhile.
We learn by doing it.
We learn by experiencing it.
We learn by failing at it.
And finally, we learn by getting up again and starting all over again.

We fail, we pivot, we start over. How do we learn what not to do, if we win all the time?

If we never take a chance, life will just pass by. The trip you always wanted to take will still be there on your to-do list. The risk you wanted to take will still be a risk, without you experiencing its taste, bitterness, or sweetness.

One thing that I would keep reminding myself is about regrets.
I can take up anything, but not regrets. That feeling kills me from inside.

I’m fortunate enough to live with my grandparents. And being a curious person, I would always bug them with my silly questions. But to my utter amazement, the answers were all pretty insightful. I could feel the experience behind those steady words. And topping all that, these are the people who want me to win in life because I’m their silly kid even when I’m 20.

More people are ready to help you than you could ever imagine. All we have to do is just put aside our ego, and just ask

Honestly, the answers were nothing like what we see in a self-help book. They would mostly give their answers through their experiences, and you could find patterns from their stories.
I have listened to some stories where they express their regrets of not doing something when they could. I could read the pain in their eyes.

More than that, I have seen their faces lighting up when they tell me something they are really proud of. One thing I have figured out was that my grandpa has lived life on the edge, a pretty adventurous life even at those times. And he is a brave and honest man. He’s 99 now.

we get great memories to cherish, great experiences to tell our young generations? Only by experiencing it, not just by clapping hands in the gallery.

The one way we should never live our life is by living in fear. What happens if A occurs, what if B goes wrong, what if C would never show up, what does D think about me.

We find people on the journey, we create memories than can be cherished

My grandpa has told me this, do things you really enjoy doing. In a nutshell, fall in love with the process, not just the results.

And I would share the same with you, enjoy your life by actually living it, not just by watching it pass by.

Look At The Night Sky When You Feel Low

Experiences

As far as I can remember, I always loved the night sky. I am not sure of the exact reason for that affection.

Every time I look at that vast beauty, it gives me an insight that is profoundly connected to the thoughts I have. Or maybe it is just providing me the unjudged medium to express my thoughts. Either way, it is helping me at tough times.

The night sky shows us what we are looking for

How many of you have taken some time to really look at the night sky. I know a few of my peers do.

I go look at the night sky whenever I feel a little low.

Think in the comfort of an unjudged medium

If you haven’t done it in your life, just try doing it. There is nothing complicated here. Just look at the night sky and be there. You will be able to see new stars which keeps on increasing after every second, as your eyes get adjusted to the darkness.

You can see countless stars there, which I always associate with countless possibilities. This will give you a tiny boost, especially when you feel a little low, giving you the idea of countless possibilities in your life.

Clarity of thought gives you a sense of surreal calmness

A sense of calmness overlaps your mind replacing all the mind-numbing thoughts. Your child-like curiosity just gets out of nowhere and you keep your eyes without blinking to see the stars shining.

I have seen people in their middle ages getting this excitement out of nowhere.
Maybe you should try that too.

The night sky has been my constant companion for a very long time. And it hasn’t failed me yet.
Hope it does the same to you, provided you look up with a blank canvas.

A Powerful Strategy For A Smooth Journey

Experiences

Detach yourself from the results!

This strategy is all you need to live a smooth life.
Every once in a while, we beat ourselves for all the opportunities we missed.
Every now and then, we regret the chances we didn’t take.
Every new year, we remember the time we wasted.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda – the daunting thoughts

We all do this, only the frequency differs.
The only thing you can do now is to carve a thought in your mind.
I am gonna jump when the next opportunity comes.
I am gonna do whatever that makes me feel excited when I get some free time.
I am gonna utilize the next chance that comes in my way.

When you do this much, embrace the freedom.
All you have to do is to detach yourself from the results.

Detaching from the results — Spread your wings, detach yourself from the results

I did take chances and I hopped on the opportunities that came on my way.
But something doesn’t feel right. I started becoming more focused on the results rather than the process.
I just wanted to reach my end goal somehow.
What happens when you do this. You feel stressed about the long way you have to go to reach your end goal.

But then I started applying this strategy in my life. And this made my journey much easier than you can imagine.

I started not caring about the results as I used to be.
I started enjoying the task and time at hand. And when you do stuff with maximum focus, each step started getting better. And when each step started getting better, the journey transformed, and the probability of me reaching wherever I want to reach increased exponentially.

An added advantage, I felt more happier than ever.

Life become happier in general when you start appreciating the small stuff

Most often, we fret too much about the results and miss what we do in the present.
And in case if we missed our end goals, we never try it again as we give too much importance to the results.

In a nutshell, just do whatever you love to do without thinking too much about the end results.

Rethink Your Thinking

Experiences

Let’s take a moment and think about what could happen if the way we think is not right.

How will this affect our everyday life? What impact does this create in the long run

We can all agree that a multitude of scenarios can go wrong in that case.

Now we may think that I’m the kind of person who researches a lot before taking any tiny decision.
Let me tell you this. Even then, there is no way you can be right all the time.

The major culprit behind all this is ‘Confirmation bias’, the mother of all misconceptions.
I’m sure that at least some of us have put out this term ruthlessly in any argument.
We tend to interpret any new information that comes in our way so that it becomes compatible with our existing theories and convictions.

In simple terms, we just simply filter out anything that contradicts our existing views.

I got lost in this bias for a long time, but ultimately I realized my mistake.
I realized that facts are still there, even if I care about it or not.

I thought about a way to escape this trap. I will tell you where I have reached.
I made peace with this bias. The only way I could figure out was to be extremely aware that things might not be plain simple as it seems on the surface.

I started giving more importance to the contradictions that come up when I am damn confident about something.

Murder your darlings
Arthur Quiller-Couch

Let me tell you about the guy who can go wrong even if a lot of thinking is put on the line.

We all consume tremendous information today, actively or inactively.
It can be the Facebook newsfeed, blog platforms, or expert guidance.

Now think that you look for information. There is a higher chance that you choose the ones that are aligned with your beliefs.
You might skip the ones that are in a way disconfirming for you.
Any blog post you read, any content you consume, you interpret the new information in a way to match your theories.

You can try it out yourselves. First, try searching whether Marijuana is bad for health. And then read the top two pages that show up.
Now you’re convinced that Marijuana is bad for someone’s health.
Now try searching whether Marijuana is good for health. And then do the same.

You realize that there will be numerous content out there validating both the aspects.

The search just gives you the information you were looking for, not exactly the facts.

If you just look around, you can see numerous examples of us getting dis-illusioned by confirmation bias.

Astrologers, religious beliefs and most of the self-help operate on this same principle.
The predictions are so vague that you can find shreds of evidence for these prophecies. Other times, they just give you the information that you are looking for.

I’m sure you have this thought once in a while.

Let me ask you a question here and you try answering it logically.

There are hundreds of godmen and numerous religions out there. Why could no one predict anything of this COVID-19 sort, if they are the masters of this art?
I’m not here to put a blame on anyone, but to make us aware that there can be gaps in our thinking. And people can sell on these gaps.

It requires a bit of an effort to get out of this bias, especially in this digital age.

The content we mostly consume is tailor-made for an individual.

If I watch a show on Netflix, it suggests similar shows in the future. If I search for anything on google, it gives me associated searches in the future.
We are suggested with similar products we liked before.

In essence, everything we consume is stabilizing our beliefs without even realizing it.
We won’t even see a speck of disconfirming evidence due to this tailor-made algorithms

Things can go wrong if we don’t correct the way we think. Thinking right can take us to the next level as well.
I learned it the hard way.

In conclusion, realize that there can be gaps in our thinking. Being just a bit more self-aware goes a long way.

We All Deserve A Pat On Our Back

Experiences, Life

Have you ever paused for a moment to think about how far you have come?
If not, take a moment and think about the distance you have covered until this point in your life.

Life is more of a marathon than a sprint. Wherever we look, we see life portrayed colorfully. In a way, that’s perfect, if the colors represent a wide variety of experiences and emotions. On the other hand, that is utter nonsense, if we see it as lively and fun.

I bet each one of you might have gone through turmoil and difficult situations in life at least once. Why do I say this? Because I have experienced this myself. I can understand how it feels to stand in the dead-end of your story. Maybe it can be a short spell, but we all have been there, some for a moment and others for a longer-term.

Our version of the dead-end is 99.9% incorrect. There are countless possibilities from our version of the dead-end, considering life has countless number of complex moving parts

I want to give you a perspective that emulates the revival of a hero in a movie, but honestly, I cannot. I do appreciate my life and the wonderful things happened to me, but sometimes I feel stuck to lift myself.

Time heals almost everything. Give time, time
Regina Brett

Sometimes, the only relief is time. Time heals everything. When I look back in a month to the same situation, I might probably laugh it off at its silliness.

We don’t give enough credit to ourselves, a majority of us. We are kind to the people around us. We give advice and offer solutions to others, we tell them that it’s okay to be wrong.

But we tend to be harsh on ourselves most of the time. Why did I miss this task, why did I behave this way, why didn’t I call someone, why did I procrastinate, why am I not good at this like him, you get the gist.
Our inner critic is in sports mode all the time.

That’s why sometimes it is better to take a step back and feel proud of what you have accomplished.

Give credit to yourself for how far you have come

It’s essential to do this once in a while because we have miles to go before we sleep. A self booster is required even if no one else gives it to you.

We all deserve a pat on our back.

The Super Power Of Pushing Through

Experiences, Life

We all know instances in our life where we called it out and went with our lives.

It can be a daily exercise, a cheeseburger, or an extra episode. This is not anyone’s fault. And these things happen to each one of us. This can be called as a challenge in a few cases where the effort required to overcome that act was kind of a big deal. In some cases, we might have done this act by using our self-control, postponing our instant gratification.

What did we feel after accomplishing that, however simple the act might be. But you know one thing, the conscious effort of self-control and taking smaller steps create a snowball effect. These build up the momentum and fuel our bigger ones, challenges. And without we even knowing, we will be sifting through problems and challenges one by one.

This is an incredible journey. If you have asked anyone who has accomplished any kind of success in their lives, they will tell you the satisfaction and happiness they got from this journey. Besides, this journey made them all better people. They can understand what others go through. The only difference between people who succeed and not is the act of pushing through. The act of never giving up.

Overcoming each of the hurdles is not an easy task. It is difficult, but not impossible. This is the thought you have to keep in mind. Anyone and everyone who achieved incredible things in their lives have gone through countless challenges, which made them feel there is no way out. But still, they pushed through, thus they saw the light.

Making one move at a time in the right direction is all you need

See challenges as opportunities to grow

As Steve Jobs quoted, no one knows the path of their journey, it makes sense only when we connect the dots back. It seems like there is no way forward at times. But remember that this is when you have to push harder. Why? Because this is when you know that you have started taking actions towards your goals. That is when the path starts getting obstacles.

I keep this thought close to me always. It is not easy to work hard when you can’t see the light in front. And this why you have to work even harder to reach success. Take any person in any field in any part of the world. There is only one thing in common. They never gave up. They believed in themselves when no one else does.

There will be people around you giving you bits of advice, instructions, commands, and suggestions. Listen to them and take the actions you planned anyways. Because you are the one who knows yourself the best.
These people around you might be trying to help out of good intent. But never listen to anyone who does not have what you want to have. I think this is a great filter to weed out distractive criticisms.

Do what you want. Create your vision, set goals, assign deadlines for these goals, and start grinding. You learn, grow, and acquire new skills when no one else is watching. Build silently. Because you are doing this for yourself. The freedom you get after accomplishing your goals is mesmerizing. That is worth the wait.

Be a Risk-Taker

Now think from a different perspective. You have an idea to start something new in your life or business. You start working on it. And along the way, you start facing challenges, which is part of the whole process.

If you give up when faced with these challenges, two things happen. First, you will no longer be able to execute your idea or change.
Second, your confidence in yourself goes down. But think about the reverse case. You pushed through the challenges and executed the idea successfully. You achieved your goal. Also, your self-confidence has gone through the roof.

You now know that if you put enough effort into any goal and be consistent, you will achieve that. This helps you in venturing into new fields and ideas. This gives you one of the most important life skill, the risk-taking capability. Risk takers are the winners. They might fail in a few attempts, but they are going to win for sure.

Take calculated risks. Not taking risk is the biggest risk.

Keep this in mind when you traverse through life. For anything valuable to achieve in life, you have to pay the price. The returns will be much more than you expect.
And you will become a better person in the process.

Changing Your Mind Is Cool

Experiences

What do you think about changing your opinion on something, not so cool, I guess.
I have been thinking the same way until recently.

Maybe we all got this same ideology from the society. Maybe the people around us have primed us in that way. We all acquire bits and pieces of information unconsciously which becomes our facts as we grow up.

Everything and everyone has a perspective

I now believe that changing the mind on a topic or forming a new opinion is so cool which takes immense courage.

The process of forming a new opinion

This process does not come easily. The process starts with the person getting exposed to a new perspective. Generally we would go into defensive mode protecting our older version of the story. If you are a person who thinks and keeps an open mind, this can create contradictions in your mind.

The first step of forming a new perspective is to have a doubt, but until and unless you keep an open mind, the doubt cannot penetrate your existing ideology. And when you process the new perspective, there will be instances where you can see a fight for existence between the old and the new perspectives.

I believe that the new ideology should be strong enough to fight the old one and thus forming your new clear opinion on a subject. This process keeps happening throughout your life if you are an open-minded person, thus making your mind change more often. Thus in conclusion, a person who changes his mind to form newer opinions on a topic is a thinker and has an open mind. He is the coolest of the lot.

Don’t fall for the pressure to keep your decision the same. This pressure can create rigid thinking. It’s not an offense to change your mind. In fact, the reverse is an offense, not changing your mind creates the problem.

Just think about this, what would happen if everyone in an organization thinks in the same way. What would happen, if everyone in the society holds similar opinions?
Who’s there to question the existing ideologies here. How can we improve as humanity if everyone holds the same opinion without challenging the existing beliefs?

Our freedom to think and form our own opinions is a powerful tool that we should use extensively. If we look around, everything around us has been created by people just like us who challenged the existing beliefs and ideologies. That’s where the magic happens.

“It’s really dangerous if everyone in a company starts thinking in the same way.”
Michael Dell

Support and question

Rather than pointing fingers at the people who changes their mind, we can think about their perspective. We can think about how they reached their new version of the story.
We have been presented with various angles of a topic by companies, institutions, and politicians. Analyzing those and thinking for ourselves enables new ideologies.

Accepting people who come up with newer philosophies along with forming our own opinions is crucial in our lives. Changing the mind is kind of cool when we know what’s going on behind the curtain.

5 Tips To Come Out Stronger After A Crisis

Experiences, Life

Are you in a dilemma on how to act during a crisis, especially since we are in the middle of a crisis now?
We have our history to look back into when we are confused. We generally look down upon our history. We think that we are living in a far different scenario today. This is absolutely true.
We can learn from our history, not to extrapolate and figure out outcomes for the future. But rather change the outcomes based on the learnings from the history.
There are few patterns that never miss during a crisis.

1. Default decisions are always wrong

We tend to panic during a crisis. And our human instincts overlap our thinking capabilities. We plat if safe and go on a hideout. This is what 99% of the people do.
We behave like sheep who panic and flock together to a safe place. But the reality is that there is no safe place nor a hideout. You either charge or fall.

We are presented with a multitude of choices everyday

2. Charge into chaos

If you want to come out stronger after this crisis, charge into the chaos. You can use an analogy of a fire scene. You don’t know what is actually happening there. If your life depends on it, you need to get a clear picture of the exact scene. All the wealthy families we see today have come out strongest during crises.

3. Invest, not save

We have some savings we have done for a rainy day. This is a rainy day. It is better to keep a reasonable amount for necessities. It is best to invest in your network who can support your cause and your business. One major reason is that most people are ready to connect with you and provide advice due to the situation. This cannot happen during normal circumstances. Take advantage of that.

4. Learn

Learn and grow. This time is the appropriate time to learn news skills to come out stronger after the crisis. Money changes hands during a crisis which otherwise might not happen. We pay for the value we receive. If we are able to provide extreme value to people by becoming our best version, there will be people who are ready to pay extreme money.

Learning crafts you into your better version

5. Nurture your relationships

There is no happiness without sharing. We get to spend a lot of time with our family, friends these days. Talk, listen, and support each other. Try to know your close ones. This will give you extra mileage in life.

Use the time of crisis in a good way so that you can come out as a better and stronger version of yourself financially and emotionally.
We will meet again after this crisis. This too will pass.
Life will move on!

Suspend The Judgment And See The Magic

Experiences

Do you want to see the magic in your life?
Do you want to see unlimited possibilities with your life?

There is a simple way you can do this.
Suspend your judgment on everything and see matters from a neutral perspective.

Let’s take a rest from our constant judgments and see things from a new perspective

This sounds simple but not easy. What happens when you suspend judgment?

You start seeing things in a new light. You start seeing that the instances are far more wider and deep.

This is applicable to people as well.
When you start listening and hear out people from a neutral perspective, you find them to be people with depth.

Seeing things clearly changes our perspective

We never know how people around us work and experience. Maybe, they are great souls who never show off. Maybe they can give ideas and solutions to your problems. Maybe they have a huge network of great connections you can benefit from. Maybe they have gone through some serious experiences which made them the way they are.

We can never truly know them until and unless we look at them from a neutral perspective. We know that looks and words can be deceiving.

People operate from their experiences and knowledge. Some of them might say marriages are bad because they got this idea from either from their experience or from someone they trust. Similarly other people might hold an exact opposite belief about the same concept.

Clear mind provides another level of freedom

This is true for challenges as well. Just ask yourself. Are you the kind of person who stops when you see challenges. Opportunities can be disguised as challenges.

The same problem can be considered as an obstacle and a possibility. The people who become successful are the ones who see problems as possibilities. Everything around us was created by people who pushed through challenges as they see possibilities.

Every second of our Iives, we are making choices. And mostly these choices come from the way we see and analyze things unless we are at a gunpoint. If we start seeing things, experiences, people, and instances without prejudging them, that can open up to a truly new life.

And what’s more, we become less neurotic about tiny choices, rather shaping them up to our advantage.

Think Differently For Extraordinary Results

Experiences, Life

Have you ever made a particular choice just because everyone around you seemed to support it?

This is the conventional way of thinking, most of us take this easy route. We think that the choices made by everyone is the right one. But just take notice of how many people are getting the results they want. How many people around us are living the life they have dreamt of. Maybe a few.

If we think like everyone else, we get the same results. By Newton’s third law, every choice you make has certain results. More importantly, people make choices from their level of knowledge and understanding.

There are a few things you can do starting today to shift your thinking, thus change the results.

1. Question Conventions

We have conventions everywhere, from kindergarten to a cemetery.
However, there is a problem with conventional beliefs: they are often wrong. Then why do we still follow them? One reason is that it is far more easier than using our brain. One way of saying it is that evolution has made us opt for choices that consume less energy. So we choose the easier path here.

Another reason is that, conventions were formed gradually due to circumstances, which might not be valid in our current situations.

“Question everything, even if it represents generations of conventional wisdom.”

– Robert Ringer

I always try to remember just one thing, conventions can be wrong. So, I try to think for myself in circumstances that doesn’t make sense to me.
That’all you have to do. Question conventions when it doesn’t make sense to you.

2. Think Like A Child

The most common trait among children is that they are insanely curious.
I remember the trouble I have caused by interrupting any conversation I was part of until my confusion was clarified. Children always have that wonder for all the things they see and experience.

A child has more questions than an adult

I always thought about this difference between children and adults. I finally figured out an answer for myself. Maybe, that’s because everything they see and hear can be a completely new experience for them. This keeps their sense of wonder alive. But as adults, people might have experienced the instances of their daily lives more often. In case if they had a new experience, they tend to tag it to a similar one they have seen. If adults have to get that sense of wonder, they need to encounter a completely new experience, which they couldn’t anyway relate to any circumstances they have faced in their lives.

We as adults are good at focusing our attention on one specific thing. This is good in many ways to get the work done. But this can lead to misdirection. we tend to overlook the obvious steps, never questioning them.

Everything is new for children, they tend to look at any circumstance from a different angle. Nothing seems obvious to them, which helps them find flaws in the obvious steps.

Open your mind a bit more and see the wonder in everything you do.
In a way, think outside the box.

3. Data Over Emotions

More often than not, we tend to base our decisions on emotions rather than statistical data. This is what the media does to persuade us and support the ideas they propagate.

An incident can be portrayed in a multitude of ways, and various angles. Have you ever noticed the same incident portrayed oppositely in different channels and newspapers? The same news can evoke completely different emotions in a way that you might support or oppose the party involved. Our world is so complex, where it is extremely difficult to look at a matter from a single perspective.

Data always trumps emotions for better choices

The most sensible way to make a decision or analyze a piece of news is to look at it from a statistical point of view. Look at the data and think for yourself. This makes your decision unbiased and thus forming your own opinion on a subject.

In the book ‘Factfulness’ by Hans Rosling, the author demonstrates by the help of statistics that we have got completely wrong answers for the most simple questions about the world. Even the experts in certain fields like Nobel laureates got the most basic questions wrong. There are traps and flaws in our decision-making process. Being aware of this helps you to rethink about forming extreme opinions.

Always focus on data and make your decisions accordingly.

If you deliberately put these steps into action, your thinking process will improve exponentially.
There is a great chance that your decisions will be accurate than ever.
We all know that great decisions lead to extraordinary results.

One Small Shift To Change Everything In Life

Experiences, Life

A small shift in you bring about massive changes in your life experiences.

I look back through my journey now and think, what made it possible for me to be at this moment. The answer I get is the mindset I had.

We all can do a lot more than we think. But why are we not trying then?
The foundation lies in the mindset we have harnessed.
We either have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.

Think for a moment. If I think I am what I am and can’t improve on my skills, it is a full stop in my life. That is what happens to a man with a fixed mindset.

On the other hand, If I believe I can improve on my skills and attain new ones with consistent effort, my life is a continuous journey.

Can you change from fixed to growth mindset? Definitely.

It takes consistent effort to shift that and once you attain that, there is no looking back. You see endless possibilities. And that guides you in your journey.
When I had a fixed mindset, I sought out validation from others, on my skills and talents.
But once I attained the growth mindset, I realized that I’m in control of my destiny.
That means I can do and have anything in life if I am putting in the work.
That was a liberating moment.

Most of our problems block our way due to this fixed mindset. When you realize that, you can attain the required skills and overcome the challenges you face in your journey.
Let’s shift our mindset and ready for our journey.

The Paradigm Shift From What I Learned Today

Experiences

Can the content we sift through a day change your perspective.
Hell yes! And that’s what I want to discuss with you.

I consumed content via books, notepads, quora, youtube, medium, Spotify and blinkist.
It was a wide variety of sources.

I started my day with the book ‘ The art of creative thinking’ which is pretty interesting and the topics seem to be a bit rebel for most people. For example, how would you feel about a chapter titled ‘ Aspire to have no goals’, which is kind of misleading? But remember that the author talks from purely a perspective to develop creative thinking, and I feel that is the best way to do so. She is very focused on the subject and mostly the readers are there to learn about creative thinking, rather than achieving other aspects of life, like attaining a healthy body.
I learned a variety of thought models I need to implement in my life to achieve creative results of daily routines and aspects of my life. The book includes a lot of real-life stories that are highly inspiring.

I will give you a few thought models that struck a chord with me. The first one is about our school system which limits and inhibits our creative thinking abilities.
There are few options for a student to come up with creative solutions, rather than following the accepted standards. The school teaches you a lesson and tests you.

On the other hand, life tests you and thus you learn the lesson. During a long tenure of school time, we all as children who were creative geniuses in a way comes out as standard adult versions. This doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy my school period, considering there were a lot of great changes they made in me.

School provided me a demo version of society, where I could learn how to socialize and interact with people, the importance of teamwork, the happiness of sharing and caring, etc.
But in the creative aspect, I believe the school has failed me and my fellow beings. We rarely think creatively as adults, maybe because we are scared of societal judgments.
But we still have a chance to improve and apply our creative minds to apply in our daily lives.

Next, I have gone through my notepad where I have written inspired quotes and ideologies a few weeks back. The one I specifically remember is the importance of credos. Credos is a way of repeating to make one’s belief in himself stronger.

Why is this important? I feel, we encounter thousands of statements and news each day which has a high chance of influencing the way we see ourselves. If we keep this unattended, this can stifle out preception in the long term. That’s why its important to do credos.

The next way I had a few learnings was through Quora. This is one of my most favorite mediums to read. Why? Because you get a wide variety of outlook on the instances that are happening in our society. You understand what people think of a current scenario. Also, you get to learn from top entrepreneurs and their advice from their experiences, which I feel is extremely valuable. Honestly, I use quora mainly for this purpose.

Oh, I can tell you an answer I read today. This was written by Hector on the difference between how the normal people and businesspeople think differently. A normal person thinks debt as bad, but a businessman thinks debt a way to leverage money. A normal person tries to fit into society, but a businessperson tries to stand out. A normal person measures revenue by time/the number of hours worked, but a businessperson measures revenue by the value provided.

A normal person thinks failure as the end, but a businessperson thinks failure as an opportunity to learn. And it goes on to a few more points. You got the gist.

The next medium I used was Youtube. And I am a fan of the channel, Impact Theory. Tom is doing an amazing job hosting the program. It is a program where the host, Tom here, interviews highly successful people from a wide variety of fields to talk about their experiences particularly concerning business and mindset.

I watched an interview with John Assaraf today. And it was mindblowing. It was one of the episodes I like the most. John starts his story from his childhood, where he talked about his abusive father and the challenges he faced with his character problems. This all changed when he met his mentor, Allen Brown who helped in out to get in the proper life track.

I always wanted to find a mentor like this, who can guide me in the right way and provide me some advice in times of adversities. Allen started by reshaping John’s mindset and beliefs, then moved on to helping him with skillsets in the real estate business. The first task Allen gave John was to ask him to write down his goals.

When John showed this to Allen, the wonderful question this mentor asked was, are you interested in achieving your goals or committed? Sadly, John didn’t know the difference. Even I was not very sure before Allen explains it this way. If you are interested, you will take convenient actions on your goals, but if you are committed, you will do whatever it takes in achieving goals. And John like myself is a highly committed person.

I learned a lot from these interviews and I have taken down notes in my notebook.

The medium was Medium. This is similar to quora but more lengthy and explaining articles.
They have audio versions of certain articles as well. Today, just before having lunch, I listened to an audio article on the topic ‘ why bitcoin is no different than US dollars, sometimes even better’.

This was an intriguing title for me, as I have seen this title multiple times before while scrolling through the feed. It talked about what money is and how does it get its value, in essence, the value is human trust. Then it moved on saying that, nowadays the money is printed as and when required without much care which results in losing its value. The total currency in the market values at 10% of its actual value. This can be understood from the fact that we are now getting something for 1 dollar, which used to get at 12 cents in the 1980s.

The politicians and financial institutions are using multiple ways to find loopholes, which ultimately loses the stability of the currency. On the other hand, bitcoin works on the principle of blockchain technology which ensures much high protection. Besides, bitcoin stopped mining in 2014 and no more of them have been mined after that, which preserves its value and makes it more trustworthy than the traditional currency.

But there is an opposing argument stating that bitcoin is used in the dark web for illegal purchases, be it humans, drugs, or weapons. The counter-argument is that this is not specific to bitcoin or any other cryptocurrencies, this is more about the innate nature of money and the people using them. Traditional currencies are being used for purchasing drugs, humans, and weapons. It goes with arguments and counter-arguments on this topic.
I started having massive support for cryptocurrencies, as these are kind of the same with traditional ones with more trustworthiness.

I generally use Spotify for music. I rarely listen to podcasts in Spotify. But I started this habit of listening to a daily soap opera called ‘ The Archers’ which is broadcasted by BBC radio. I started this to improve my communication skills as suggested by Lucy from Y.channel. This is a really interesting show with 15 mins of content daily except Saturdays.

I feel this can tremendously improve my pronunciation and communication skills. I like the British accent, cockney which is sexy to listen to.
I listened to the Impact Theory interview here to take notes.

It was dinner time. And I listened to the blinkist book ‘ Epic content marketing’ I don’t remember the author. This was an interesting audio to listen to as I learned some valuable insights on content marketing.

To make this more valuable, this aligns with the business I am working on currently. Besides, I got an awesome business idea to work on in the future, a content market company, which supports and provides services to brands and companies to acquire more customers.

Why is this critical, because the majority of the population access content online. So the best way to market something is online, especially if you know the market and the target audience. I target millennial customers, as I belong to this category. I know exactly what they need and what interests them.

They are 426 million in count in India, and they have the most purchasing power, and they spent and consume content online majorly. Do we need another reason to target this audience? All my businesses and ventures will be catering to this audience, the millennials and I am one among them. I know the vibe.

Finally, we have reached the end of this post. I have listed down my learnings and the corresponding sources I accessed today.
Happy learning time folks!

Challenges, Are They Good For Us?

Experiences

Challenges have the power to shape us in a way we never imagined. But that doesn’t happen neither overnight nor automatically.

This is a real question that puts me in a dilemma several times.

I always thought challenges as blocks in my way of life until recently.
The whole picture changed when I was going through my diary 3 days back.
Do you know why this change? Let me explain it from my perspective.

When I was a young kid, I had to face some challenges that made me cry the heart out. I was in a position of massive dilemma as a kid, where I was incapable of saying certain things out loud because I didn’t know whether what happened to me was right or wrong.

But looking back at all the challenges, I am kind of grateful to them. These blocks helped to shape me the way I am today. I am not perfect and there is still a long way to go. But I am proud of myself overcoming those obstacles which I once felt were the dead end.

There is no doubt that you have encountered countless challenges in your life of varying magnitudes. It is time now to stop dwelling in the past and those challenges. Look yourself in the mirror and be happy for the person you have become. In a way, each challenge is a stepping stone to move to the next level of life, where you probably face bigger challenges. But it doesn’t matter to you as you already became a stronger version.

I always felt I had more life tools when I faced bigger challenges.
This thought makes me collect tools while I am navigating through my life.
I am sharing the tools, so that you too can use it in your journey.

Regret

This is one of the best tools if you know how to use it effectively.
This is one thing that pushes me to try harder when I face challenges much bigger than me. I don’t want to regret later of not trying harder, of not trying to explore the other side of a challenge.
If you are afraid of regret, then you will push yourselves past the obstacles in life. I would have never gotten here without this tool pinching me once in a while.

Vision

Our dreams and goals are shaped based on our experiences in life.
If you grew up in a poor family, then you know the value of money. This can shape your dreams and goals to become wealthy. If you had great travel vacation experiences as a kid, there is a high chance that your bucket list contains mostly travel destinations.
There is one other major factor that comes to shape your dreams and vision in a later part. That is knowledge. If you know something is worth pursuing and matters to you, this knowledge can make your goals align to match your unique vision of life.
If you read and watch movies, some scenes strike you and becomes a part of your dreams.
Always expand your knowledge horizon, this expands your dreams and ultimately your vision.

I hope you become a stronger human being who achieves whatever you strive for!