warikoo Wanderings

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​My new book - Get Epic Shit Done - is now out. Get your copy here. ​
You can view all previous newsletters here.

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REMEMBER EXAMS?

If I were to do a poll of all school/college students, asking them 'What is the biggest thing you work towards, while at school/college?', I bet a vast majority will reply - EXAMS!
School/college had this fascinating way of trying to teach us something:

• Everyone will enter a class, at the start of the year.
• Through the year, everyone will be taught the same subject.
• Everyone will be expected to understand and comprehend that subject, at the same pace.
• At the end of the year, everyone will give an exam.
• Based on how well you do the exam, you will either pass or fail.
• Those who pass, will be ranked, to show who is doing better than the others.
• But doing better will have nothing to do with how well they understand the subject. It will be purely based on how well they scored in the exam.
• And once the exam is done, yay! Subject is over. You move to the next class, the next subject.

The singular focus of school/college was to train us HOW TO GIVE EXAMS, so that once we gave them, we were done with the class/subject and moved to the next one.

School or college basically taught us how to do a task really really well just this one time, and then move on.

I repeat!

School/college taught us:

• How to prepare for one task
• Do that really really well
• But you just have to do it once
• And once done and done well, you move on!

And then, school/college ended.

We entered the real world.
And we went WTF!

Because this real world did not care about all the things we had been taught and trained on.

This real world believed in just one thing.

Can you do the SAME TASK OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, while getting better at it, every time?

And oh boy, we don't know how to do that!

We were taught how to give the exam once and move on.
And here life is telling us - give the exam every single day. The same exam! And do it well every time you give it.

Which is why, most of us struggle.
Because we don't know what it means to do just one task really well and do it over and over again.
So we either:

• Do the task over and over again, but rarely improve on it.
• We get bored doing the task over and over again, so we keep seeking newer tasks!

Neither works!

In life, the exciting gets the news, but the boring gets the reward.
In life, the exciting gets the attention, but the boring gets the results.
In life, the exciting gets the love, but the boring gets the respect.

In life, the ones who get the reward, the results, the respect, are the ones who realize that school first teaches a lesson and then takes an exam, while life first takes an exam and then teaches a lesson.

School/College failed you here.
Do not fail yourself!

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BOOK I AM READING RIGHT NOW

Finished reading "As a man Thinketh" by James Allen. I now realize why people call it one of the best self-help books ever written. It is simple but immensely powerful. Every line has to be re-read atleast 3-4 times, for it to make its presence felt.
Highly recommended.

Started reading Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioural Economics​
It is by Richard Thaler, who also wrote Nudge (a book I really loved) - and I am liking this one so far. I have a fascination for behavioral economics or anything that helps me understand the intersection of psychology and economics. This book does a wonderful job of that.

The start of the book is heart wrenching and so profound. I wouldn't' give it away - read it for yourself :)

My second book GET EPIC SHIT DONE has launched!
​It is available in print, audio version (English, Hindi and 6 other regional languages), as an e-book and in offline stores as well.
​Get your copy here.​
Last evening, I received this message and I think after this I am going to continue to write books forever. So touched!

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QUOTES TO SHARE

You can't buy back time. You can only trade it for something else.
​(Share on Twitter)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The most dangerous thing you can do as a leader is force progress.
​(Share on Twitter)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

If you aren't willing to listen to feedback, you aren't ready to build!
​(Share on Twitter)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION

Last week I asked you:

Between these, what would you spend most money on?

1. Your top/bottom/dress
2. Your watch/sunglass
3. Your footwear
4. Your bag/wallet/purse

VERY interesting
1. Notice how, as we age, it shifts from our top/bottom/dress to our footwear and our watch/sunglass.
2. Footwear is largely because of comfort. But that's something you only realize with age haha.
3. Watch/Sunglass is part status and part quality. These are 'technical' items, which means the best quality ones tend to be more expensive than others.
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My answer:
Footwear
I change my tennis shoes once a year and they itself are quite expensive! :))

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PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Started my India book tour this Saturday with Gurgaon, where I was signing books and then had a 1.5hr live session with 500+ folks.

This week (21st Jan) is Pune. Mumbai is 11th Feb and Delhi is 26th Feb. Followed by more cities.

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

How often do you meet your closest friends in real-life (not virtually)

1. Daily
2. Weekly
3. Every 1-2 weeks or so
4. Monthly
5. Beyond a month
6. Don't have close friends

​Click here here to let me know your answer and check the answers of others too.

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CONTENT I SHARED THIS WEEK

Podcast:​
Winning an argument
​Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, JioSaavn, Gaana or YouTube.

YouTube:​
​6 graphs that will shock you​

Instagram:​
​3 signs you are a beautiful human being​

Twitter:
​How we scaled our courses business to 13Cr last year​

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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.
​(Netflix par aadha ghanta 'kya dekhna hai' - uspe kharch dene ki kasam)

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