THIS COULD HAVE BEEN YOUR SUCCESS...

​

He was the topper of our school.
The teachers loved him.
The kids adored him.
And that included me as well.

He was tall, really tall.
Maybe 6'2"?
Perhaps taller.
And he had really long hair.
Which, I thought, added to the enigma that he was.

I remember one day, I asked him, "How come you have such long hair?"
It was a stupid question.
An excuse, frankly.
To speak to him.
He replied, "In the time I go to the barber's shop, I can complete one more chapter for the exam. So I don't bother."

I remember, standing there stunned, in awe.
Admiration.
So busy with pursuing his goal that he couldn’t care less about these trivial things in life.
THIS IS SUCCESS, I told myself.

And for the next decade, I followed that definition of success.
Being busy. Being productive. Ignoring the trivial things in life.
Blocking my day, every single hour.
As if I wanted to impress him - my invisible teacher.

And then the definition of success changed.
For the next decade, I spent all my time with people, as a leader, a manager.
Trying to help them get better at their work.
Their trivial things became my job.
That became my success. Their success.

Today, I don't want to be busy.
Boredom gives me joy.
Looking at a free calendar gives me joy.
The trivial things give me joy.

​

​

It is okay to have a definition of success that keeps changing.
While the presence of success or the desire of it can be constant, its definition needn't be.
It's okay if it changes for you.
Every few years, perhaps.

What is NOT okay is to know that something is not your success anymore, and yet continuing on the path.
Hoping something changes.
Because nothing changes.
Except what dies within us.
What could have been our success.

​

---

🐥 Share on Twitter

---

​

📕 Book I'm reading this week

This week I am reading Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?: Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties by Ajahn Brahm.
Ajahn is a monk who, through this book shares lovely tiny 1-3 page anecdotes from his own life, to inspire learnings for life. It is a joyful read and I will highly recommend it to everyone who doesn't like heavy books, yet wants insights from a book.

Here are links to my two books:
​Do Epic Shit - hard hitting truths about life, one page at a time.
​Get Epic Shit Done - answers to 36 life questions that we all have, for our lives.

​

---

🐥 Share on Twitter

---

​

🗣️ Response to last week's question

Last week I asked all of you:

Do you regularly drink alcohol?

• Yes, I do
• No, I don't
• I used to, but quit drinking
• Do not wish to answer

Here are the results:

Interesting that the majority do not drink, while with age the drinking share increases.
Also interesting how the share of people who quit drinking also increases with age.

My answer:
I do not drink. Do not like the taste of it.

​

---

​

🙋🏻‍♂️ Question of the week

Do you sleep in the afternoon?

• No, because I don't want to
• No, because I don't have the time
• Yes, because I am forced to
• Yes, because I want to
• If I feel like it or have the time

​

Answer here

(and check the answers of others too)

​

---

🐥 Share on Twitter

---

​

📸 Picture of the week

Getting into the best shape I have ever been in. And loving it :)))

​

​

Last week we went for a heritage walk to Chandni Chowk and it was mesmerizing. Unlike the markets that one usually sees, we spent a lot of time visiting the haveli of old Delhi. It was beautiful.

​

​

---

​

🎙️ Podcast I shared this week

​

---

​

🚀 Content I shared this week

📹 YouTube:​

​7 life regrets​

📱 Instagram:​

​3 signs that people are stopping your growth​

🐥 Twitter:

​15 brutally honest lessons from 43 year old Ankur to 20 year old Ankur​

​

---

​

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.​
​(Garimoyon mein baarishon ki wait, baarishon mein sardi ki wait, sardiyon mein garmiyon ki wait ki kasam)

You can view all previous newsletters here.

​