warikoo Wanderings

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LIFE IS SIMPLE. BUT NOT EASY

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The other day I received an email, on a video I had released.
The video was about time management.
Where I had stated, amongst other things, that the first and most important step to taking charge of your time, is to start measuring it.

I have been measuring my time for the longest time I know.
Back in school, I used to maintain a notebook, where I listed down what I did, every hour.
Every hour!
And at the end of the day, I used to calculate the (geek alert!) effectiveness ratio.
The ratio of time I spent doing things that were useful (imo) as a base of the total waking time.
My aim was to always be above 75% effectiveness.

Unfortunately, I lost those books to deemak (termites) - kid you not!

Then when I started using excel (at 22), I moved to recording my hours on excel.

Here is a snapshot of the excel I maintained back at ISB

So I know exactly what I was doing at 9.30 a.m. on Nov 5th, 2005.
Giving a mid-term exam!

So, back to the email.
The email mentioned that this was impractical and she was looking for some path-breaking time management techniques to fix her problem of procrastination.

I was sorry to break her heart - but I had to say it.

There is none.
There is no path-breaking technique to live life.
There isn't.

Life is simple.

You want to get fit?
Simple - eat right and workout.
You want to manage time?
Simple - start measuring where you spend it.
You want to get better at relationships?
Simple - give more than you take.
You want to grow at your job?
Simple - challenge the status quo, at the risk of failing.

The answers are always simple.
BUT NOT EASY!

We all look for answers, because we are convinced that life is complicated.
That there is some magic formula that only a few know of.
And if you were to know it, you too would become them.

That just isn't true.

Don't go looking for complexity.
Go looking for simplicity.
That itself, is a hard thing to do.
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THE ART OF COLD EMAILING

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In this week's podcast, I speak about the cold emailing techniques that have worked so well for me and how you can benefit from it as well.
You can give it a listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, JioSaavn or Gaana.
​My podcasts are now on YouTube as well - because so many of you asked for it.

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BOOK I AM READING THIS WEEK

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I took a break from reading this week (my 3rd break this year) - because I had a few late nights the past week and getting up as early as I used to, was hard.

Which reminds me - have I shared this IG video on my morning routine?

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QUOTES TO SHARE

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It is crazy how far you can go without stopping, if you love what you do.
​(Share on Twitter)​

When overthinking, we do not assign any probability to all the possibilities in our head. We think everything is equally probable.
​(Share on Twitter)​

You continuing to live with a mistake isn’t going to fix the mistake. It’s going to make it worse!
​(Share on Twitter)​

When we are young, we think too much and calculate too little.
As we grow older, we think too little and calculate too much.
​(Share on Twitter)​

Everyone experiences pain. But not everyone has to experience suffering.
​(Share on Twitter)​
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RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION

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Last week I asked you:

Where are you in life?

1. I feel I have got what I deserve
2. I feel I have got less than what I deserve
3. I feel I have got more than what I deserve
4. I feel I don't deserve anything at all

Here are the results

Observations

1. The feeling of "don't deserve anything" continues to decrease as people grow older. I think this is because they realize with age that their uniqueness makes them deserve something as against nothing at all.
2. But then, as we age, the regret of "we got less than we deserve" also grows. Consistently. Personally, I feel this is the biggest reason for unhappiness in the world.
3. About 1/3rd people across all age groups think they have got what they deserved. I didn't expect it to be so consistent.
4. And 1 in every 5 people think they have got more than what they deserve. I was surprised to see the peak in the 18-22 age group, which is where I would have expected it to be the least (because of comparison and FOMO).

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THIS WEEK'S QUESTION

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How much time do you spend daily, on your phone?

1. Less than 1 hour
2. 1-3 hours
3. 3-5 hours
4. 5+ hours

​Click here to let me know your answer (anonymously)​​​​

You can, of course, always write to me, by simply replying to this newsletter. I love reading all your emails, even though I may not be able to reply to them all.
Yes! I READ ALL MY EMAILS. ALL OF THEM.
​​(Sardi mein roz meethe meethe santaare khaane ki kasam!)

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CONTENT I SHARED THIS WEEK

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​How to make money using Credit cards (YouTube)​

​10 Questions to ask before buying Health Insurance (YouTube)​

​Power of writing (IGTV)​

​AMA on Friends (IGTV)​

​3 steps to mental strength (Reel)​

​You are wasting your time (Reel)​

​Biggest investment mistake I made (LinkedIn)​

​Reasons why today's kids prefer foreign education (LinkedIn)​

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK

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We hit 1Mn followers on YouTube this week.
Last October (2020) we had sought the help of Manish, to finetune our strategy on YouTube. He made 3 suggestions:

1. Change to Hindi
2. Make content geared for the youth
3. Put out 3 videos every week

Needless to say, his suggestions worked wonders for us. He has been such an active supporter of our work and when we hit a million on Monday, he sent across a cake, along with this wonderful note.

Thank you Manish :)

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