warikoo Wanderings

Welcome to another edition of Wanderings. Hope all of you and your loved and known ones are doing safe.

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FINDING THE RIGHT MENTORS IN LIFE

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There is no day that I do not get an email from someone requesting me to become their mentor.
Here is the truth - I would be a bad mentor for most of you.
And that has nothing to do with me or you.
And all to do with how mentoring actually works.

I am 40 years old. And I have had a fascinating life living multiple lives. From studying to be an astrophysicist, to doing an MBA, to becoming a management consultant, to launching India for a global company, to starting on my own to becoming a content creator and teacher.
And if you sat down to interview me today and asked me, "Hey Ankur, how did you do this?"
I will struggle to give you an answer.

Because the truth is - I do not know anymore.
So much of what I do today is a habit, that I cannot remember or explain how I even ended up with that habit.

So if I become your mentor, and if you are in your 20s, I will say stuff that will not make much sense to you.
Because for me, it will be obvious.
And for you, it will be something you are not even aware of.

The gap is just too wide, of what all I have been through in my life and what you are yet to experience.

Here is an example.
Last week, I was speaking to a student in their 2nd year of college. The student was looking for some internship advice. And I was sharing some email templates that could be used for cold emailing. I basically encouraged him to cold email the founder of every startup he wanted to work at.
This went on for some 25 minutes. Super useful, or so I felt.
And then we were exchanging goodbyes when he asked, sheepishly:
"But how do I know which email to send it to?"

Now, don't judge the poor student. He is all of 19. For you and certainly to me, it is obvious how to find the email of someone or create permutations of the name to get to the email address.
For him, it wasn't.

Now that is a terrible mentor, right there.
Here is why.
I shared with him the tough part - that of writing the email.
But I missed the obvious part - which email to send to.
And if he hadn't gathered the courage to ask, you know what would have happened?
He would have spent the entire night feeling dumb and stupid.
Because he would be thinking, "It must be so obvious but I know nothing about it. I must be so dumb and stupid!"

A mentor always makes their mentee feel that everything is within their reach.
​A mentor never makes their mentee feel dumb.

This why is - when looking for mentors, here are my 3 tips

1. Look for mentors who are in the same experience band as yours. So that what is obvious and not obvious to them is also obvious and not obvious to you.
2. Look for mentors who look at the world differently from you. So that you always see an alternate way of looking at the same thing, when you speak with them.
3. Look for mentors who are going through the same thing you are going through (as similar as possible). So that they can relate to what you are going through. They just have a different take on it, because of pt2 above.

As for me, I am happy to play the role of a positive influence. Someone who gets you to think, who inspires you, who through his experiences leaves you with hope and strength.

And using this hope and strength, you go back to your coach and mentor.
And win! :)

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YOUR ENEMY IS YOU

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A new episode was released on my Podcast (Woice with warikoo) - titled "The enemy is you"

You can catch it on Spotify, Apple Podcast, JioSaavn, Google Podcast.

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BOOK I AM READING THIS WEEK

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I am currently reading a rather interesting book called "In the footsteps of Rama: Travels with the Ramayana"
This is not a book on the Ramayana, instead a book where the 2 authors along with their wives travel to all the destinations that have been mentioned in the Ramayana. I found this a very different take on the epic story, which most of us have grown up with.

The best part about the book is how real it is.
From bribing folks to get the best stories out, to connecting what happened back then to the present world. If you like history and mythology, pick this up. Simple and enjoyable read!

On that note, I released a video on "20 books for your 20s" which has been received well. You might want to check it out.

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QUOTES TO SHARE

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The day we start taking ourselves too seriously, the world stops doing that!
​(Share on Twitter)​

It is baffling how many times we dismiss the right message because of the wrong messenger!
​(Share on Twitter)​

If you invest in something you don’t understand because others are doing it, it is not called investing.
It is called FOMO!
​(Share on Twitter)​

Simplest way of building trust? Do what you say you will do! EVERY SINGLE TIME.
​(Share on Twitter)​

Build a culture where people are respected for what they do. Not what information they have access to.
​(Share on Twitter)​

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RESPONSES FROM LAST WEEK'S QUESTION

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Last week I asked you the following question:

Which one of these best reflects who you are

1. I take decisions very quickly, mostly based on data
2. I take a long time to take decisions, based on data
3. I take decisions very quickly, mostly based on gut/intuition
4. I take a long time to take decisions, based on gut/intuition
5. I can’t decide :)

Love the results :))
30% of you chose 2 - I take a long time to take decisions, based on data
24% of you chose 4 - long time, based on gut and intuition
21% of you chose 3 - quickly, based on gut/intuition
11% of you chose 1 - quickly, based on data
13% of you chose that you don't know (which is the harsher conclusion to "I can't decide")

This tells me 3 things

1. More than half of us take a long time to decide
2. The minute we have data, we actually slow down (which is, btw, proven by research)
3. Our gut is almost equal in slow and fast decisions (so we don't really know if it is gut or something else at work?)

Love it!

My response - I am Number 1 - quickly, based on data.

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THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

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Who do you tend to trust more often?

1. Your parents
2. Your friends or colleagues
3. Your partner/spouse/gf/bf
4. Successful people nationally/internationally
5. Your own self

And why?

​Click here to respond to the survey (it is anonymous).
And of course, you can always reply to this email - for anything at all. Several hundred people do so and while I may not be able to reply to all emails, I do read all my emails.
I read ALL my emails (cypto ke doobte value ki kasam!)

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