Writing did not come naturally to me. In fact, I dreaded writing when I was in school and college. Interestingly, what made me incline towards writing was; Reading.

I developed a love for reading a decade or so ago, which intensified over the last few years. I started with fiction and gradually slipped into non-fiction and then stayed there.

When you read a lot, you start getting a ton of ideas and thoughts. Every book gives you food for thought. Some of these ideas were so brilliant that I had to share them with others to remember them. …

I come from a conservative, religious, orthodox family. My parents and grandparents strongly believe in the values and principles of Jainism.

One of Jainism's key principles is Non-Attachment, also called ‘Aparigraha.’ To explain it broadly, Aparigraha means minimal attachment to material and worldly possessions. It recommends very limited possession of property, relations, and emotions. This principle's key idea is that unchecked attachment to possessions (material & psychological) results in direct harm to one’s personality.

While it is difficult to follow and comply with this recommendation completely, my family did make an effort to follow it to the extent that they…

This is a familiar situation for most of us. You told your colleague something, they interpreted something else and then communicated a completely different thing to a third person, stripping the statement of its original intent or spirit in the process. Kids call it the telephone game. For adults, it is workplace gossip.

Many of us have contributed to and been victims of gossip like this. It is deeply pervasive in our workplace and can range from harmless banter and conjectures to full-blown conspiracy theories.

Why we like it

No matter the nature of gossip, we seem to derive some definite pleasure from it…

I have 15 unfinished courses!

My mind immediately reacted after seeing my Udemy course library. I firmly believe in the value of lifelong learning and informal education and hence, this caused uneasiness and guilt.

And it wasn’t Udemy alone; LinkedIn Learning & Coursera libraries had the same picture. My courses finished vs. courses enrolled ratio was 2:10.

I wanted to change that and started going through the remaining courses to complete them. I made progress in the next few days and felt good about it. However, that progress didn’t last long. …

“You’ve let your distractions hijack your mind. You’ve got to do something about it before it’s too late.”

My friend had a dire warning for me when I sought his advice on my deteriorating work performance and unfulfilled personal life.

This happened almost a year back. I presented him with my problems. He asked me some basic questions and dug deeper into my answers. It took not more than 15 mins for him to realize what the problem was. I had set some lofty and ambitious goals for myself at the beginning of the year. Now, in June (When I…

Growth is on top of our minds when we join a new organization. Growth is multifaceted. We care about our career growth, intellectual growth, character growth, and monetary growth.

Companies play an important role in helping their employees grow. However, depending entirely on our organizations is never a great strategy. Our growth has a lot to do with us than with our companies.

And I don’t mean to say that in a negative light. Most organizations do have defined career growth paths. Do this, and you’ll be granted a promotion, achieve x, and you’ll move to the next level. …

I love sending cold emails to complete strangers. At work, it has changed my career trajectory in ways that I could never have imagined. In my personal life, it has given me opportunities to meet with amazing mentors and guides who’ve had a significant influence on me and have helped me get better.

In the last few years, I must have sent hundreds if not thousands of cold emails to prospects hoping to initiate conversations. While some of them landed great meetings, most of them died a slow death in the recipient’s inbox. That’s the nature of this beast.

My…

I started reading non-fiction books when I was in high school. I immediately fell in love with them. They’ve played a significant role in shaping me and helping me understand this ever-evolving world.

Even today, with all the information overload around us, books continue to remain my guiding light. They’ve played the role of a mentor, a coach, and a great friend. I’ve had more than a few pivots in my life and career so far, and books helped me navigate those.

Good books inform you, but the great ones change you. Of all the books I’ve read so far…