Personal playbook​

Below is a cheat-sheet for some of the important qualities that bring a lot of structure to life. It can be termed as a Personal playbook and should be relevant in most personal situation.

The following aspects build my playbook:

1. Clarity​

A clear sense of direction about the following 4 aspects of life - work, personal growth, health and relationship.

Everything has tradeoffs, all choices come with a cost. At an annual frequency, determining what I want is very important and pre-paying the cost of the choice adds to clarity.

2. Following my gut​

Over time, I have accepted that following the gut is who I am fundamentally. My personal mantra has become - not all decisions in life are optimizations or need to be rational. I discuss important decisions with people who I respect, but the final call is always mine.

3. Idealization Visualizations​

I have taken some important decisions by fast-forwarding life over two timelines - 2 years & 5 years. In these visualization grids, I run scenarios of the final outcomes being - good, average or bad. Visualizing life in such a grid helps in thinking about upside vs downside in a more long term manner.

4. Being with the right people​

Humans are like apes, we subconsciously copy the 5 or so people around us. We tend to gravitate towards the same usage of time and attention.

I have struggled to maintain and make friends who can interact regularly and be a positive influence.

5. Planning for setbacks​

Setbacks are part of every aspect of life - work, personal growth, health and relationship. Yes there will be days and months when:

• I will lose work, shut shop
• Break a leg or suffer in health
• Lose relationships or people around me

Planning for setbacks and visualizing life in absence of these aspects makes me more stoic and prepared.

6. Work is worship​

As naive as it may sound, I do not feel good about myself if I do not work on any day including Sunday. Work brings structure and purpose - being an entrepreneur - the scope of work is really broad and beyond the conventional working from office routine.

7. Lifelong learning​

I wasted a good 5 years in not learning regularly. It made me stagnant as a person. It influenced my mindset negatively and over the last 2 years, I have found learning from the following sources satisfying:

• Reading new books on Kindle or paperback
• Listening to books on Audible
• Listening to podcasts on Spotify

8. Peak to peak​

Life is ups and downs. Embrace the downs with open arms as I embrace the ups. The negative emotions and feelings are as important and natural as the feeling of joy. When things are going well, protect the downside and build skills for the next peak.

9. Resilience and bouncing back​

If you have to bounce, don't break.

Our daily awareness of reality is like - problems, problems, problems and crisis. Responding to crisis defines the orbits of life. These are moments where I need to be calculated, enterprising and logical. They define the trajectory of life in the long run.

10. Unshakeable optimism​

An average human in current times has more luxuries than the average king 500 years ago

Life is beautify and beyond the thoughts in your head, people around you and your fears. Optimism is contagious and has an upward spiral to it. It is limitless.

11. Courage​

Ability and willingness to face my fears is my courage. The fears have and will change over time as I get older. Courage is the spirit of moving forward, taking decisions, owning outcomes. An important learning is:

The more I chase security, the less I have it.

12. Self discipline​

Self discipline comes with persistence or rather persistence is self discipline in action. The ability to make myself do, what I should do - especially in the long run - 2 years or 5 years is a superpower.

In conclusion, I am not playing a game of life where I choose the outcomes that matter to me and I get to decide how to focus my time and attention around it.

Life is like microeconomics and we tend to live it like macroeconomics.

Limited time we have​

Everyone has the same time in the day. Passage of time is a crucial aspect of our perception of reality. Some basic facts which I tend to forget regularly:

• A year is equal to ~8800 hours
• I sleep ~2600 hours (30% of the time)

The remaining 6200 hours are the experience of reality. Relishing the awake hours is what brings the most joy, satisfaction, happiness to me.

Attention​

Life on autopilot is default for us with the devices, worries. Giving full attention to the act in hand is difficult but important. It is what makes me feel in the moment and a sense of completeness. A few things I have felt in state of full attention:

1. During conversations about work, I add more value and solve problems better.
2. During time with loved ones, I see their perspective better and feel more empathy.
3. In a day, I feel better if I am spending time mindfully instead of being stuck in busy bandwagon or infinity pools.

Being careful with time​

We are all influenced by external forces while lead us to commit time to topics, problems and activities. Mindfully spending your time is the biggest gift you give to yourself on a daily basis.

The lapses in being mindful happen in chunks. I fall off from this mindset for a full day or week. It usually happens along with travel or change of environment. Attention and time become more important and having a routine to reflect upon it is something I would like to include in my schedule.

Gloaming​

How many sunsets have you lived? - I asked this question to myself. And no, it is not a rhetorical question. I remember some distinct evenings when I was mindful and present. It felt like time has gone still and nature so serene. Sunset are reminder of rhythms in life - the cycle of rise, shine, set and repeat.

I do hope to observe sunsets more frequently. I do not need to be on a beach to do that. Only need to be present in the moment and look at the marvel of nature and its rhythms.

Chasing Daylight​

Eugene O'Kelly, talks about gloaming in his book Chasing Daylight.

The last rays of light and the shadows that fall just before the gloaming that follows. Gloaming is when shadows disappear. It’s not completely dark yet, but there are no more shadows. Gloaming is what separates day from night.

Friendship in humans​

Friendship has been an integral part of human society for thousands of years. The concept of friendship can be traced back to ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Greece, and Rome, where close bonds were formed between individuals based on shared interests, values, and experiences. In these early societies, friendship often played a crucial role in political and social life, with friendships between rulers and advisors providing the foundation for many powerful dynasties. Over time, the nature of friendship has evolved, with the rise of individualism and modernity giving rise to new forms of friendship that are more egalitarian and based on mutual respect and support. Despite these changes, the basic human desire for connection and companionship has remained constant, and friendship continues to be one of the most important aspects of our lives.

Friendship for me​

I have a lot of acquaintances and a few friends. A naive view that I had while growing up was that friends are those who are accessible, available and enthusiastic.

An ideal friend is someone who is trustworthy and supportive. They are there for you in good times and bad, and they accept you for who you are. They listen without judgment and offer advice when needed. An ideal friend is someone who respects your boundaries and does not pressure you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. They are honest with you, but they do so in a kind and respectful way. An ideal friend is also someone who is fun to be around and shares similar interests and values. They make you laugh, lift you up when you're feeling down, and celebrate your successes with you. Overall, an ideal friend is someone who makes your life better just by being a part of it.

Body & mind​

In one of the guided meditation sessions, I was gently nudged towards thinking about body and mind. Especially, differentiation between our association with the question of - who am I? Am I the body, the mind, both?

Building upon the narrator, I am my mind and the body is something which I control. The control varies over age, circumstances, health and more. The explicit relationship between mind and body is the perception of self in the reality.

Honor your body​

There are trillions of cells in a human body. The number estimated is around 37.2 trillion cells in a human body.

It is fascinating that we have such a complex machinery at our disposal. In daily life, we tend to forget that we have something magical going on in our body at every moment.

Honor your own body, your body is the most precious gift from nature.

Levels of Anger​

Anger is an emotion characterized by antagonism toward someone or something you feel has deliberately done you wrong. While, being angry towards something might not be in my control, how I react to anger is under my control. Anger can be of different levels, like:

• Passive-Aggressive Anger
• Assertive Anger
• Openly Aggressive Anger

Identifying my Anger​

Today morning I was angry about two men who were reckless and quite unperturbed by their actions. Instinctively, I made some noise to avoid collision but they were quite involved in their action to pay heed to the warning. While I let it go within 5 minutes, I later realized the sequence of thoughts in my mind.

Letting go of any emotion - pleasure, joy, happiness, amusement, pride, awe, excitement or ecstasy - is important for staying at my core. During the rush of anger in the morning today, I felt that I could disassociate my mind and my anger. It was as if I was looking at me as a third person with a bird's eye view. I asked myself the question - Is is worth my morning to pursue my anger?

It is definitely a new experience for me. I had heard about it in guided meditation sessions but never experienced it personally.

It is wise to direct your anger towards problems -- not people; to focus your energies on answers -- not excuses.

Everything Everywhere All at Once​

Everything Everywhere All at Once, a metaphysical multiverse comedy, is a powerful movie. Though, I lost focus in between, especially in Part 2 with the fast moving scenes. It is a definite watch, and kind of the movie which grows on to you - the more number of times you watch it. There were moments when I smiled, laughed and was amazed at the sheer direction of the movie.

I watched it on 11th March 2023, roughly 6 months after its release in India, at Worldmark, Gurgaon. It was the last day the movie was screened, alteast in this theatre. On another note, the cinema is 250 metres walking distance from my current home and 50 metres Euclidean distance from my ;living room.

Movies​

I watch movies with friends or family at a frequency of once every month. It is a good time out of home and the whole experience of watching on a big screen brings in novelty. A few things have changed over time:

• It has been many years since I have had Popcorn + Cola along with the movie.
• I always book using Axis Bank Card with BookMyShow - 1 + 1 offer.
• I think it is one of the bank offers which have stayed top of my mind and possibly the longest I have been using.

Cinemas are a tough business​

Cinemas are old guard business in the new world of OTT. Watching a movie in a cinema is a different experience than OTT. Some thoughts:

• I paid less than a dollar per ticket to watch such a nice movie. The market can be really weird in pricing.
• The movie has won 7 Oscars out of the 11 nominations.
• I watched it in a pristine new INOX - it has been less a year since the launch of Inox Worldmark Gurgaon.
• I certainly feel that INOX did not cover cost in this transaction. Cinema is a tough yet glamourous business.

Spring time​

String is the season full of life, growth and activity. It is a season that is marked by warmer temperatures, longer days, and the blossoming of flowers and trees. And Holi, in a way, marks the beginning of Spring season.

Intelligence in plants​

Plants are intelligent, albeit in a different way, but they are able to sense and respond to their environment, communicate with each other through chemical signals, and even solve problems. The next time you see a flower or plant bending towards sunlight, growing towards water - be amazed by the existence of intelligence all around is. In a way, isn't that what life is all about?

Converting for good​

Many a times, we take decisions which are tough, binding and for life time. These are moments of conversion, and if supported by willpower and change of identity, they are permanent. Some examples of converting are:

• Picking a new hobby - cycling or running
• Quitting smoking for good
• Becoming a reader

Zeal of the converted​

The process of converting from an old you to a new you is confusing, scary and comes with a lot of temptations. Building a new habit is tough, it is slow and requires an honest conversation with your self. But after you convert, it becomes pride and something you are indeed proud of. The converted you is zealous for the following reasons:

• It is energizing to do something new, hard and personal.
• Being successfully on the other side gives you immense confidence and self worth.
• Having struggled and failed, you are more willing to help others in their journey.

A zealous and converted me talking about morning swimming

What happened to Silicon Valley Bank?​

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed last week at a very rapid pace. Customers withdrew a staggering $42 billion of deposits between 8th and 9th March 2023. In simpler words:

• SVB was looking to raise around $2.25 billion
• There was a hysteria-induced bank run caused by VCs
• California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed the bank and started proceedings to protect the interests of depositors.

Why care about Silicon Valley Bank?​

Financial Institutions fail more frequently than we like. Silicon Valley Bank, as the name suggests, was geared more towards technology companies and related ecosystem. A few reasons will be:

• Many Indian startups (especially SaaS firms) have credit lines and/or deposits with SVB. Almost all SaaS companies with US presence will have an SVB account.
• Most YCombinator funded companies park their capital with SVB
• SVB has a office in Bangalore at Manayata Tech Park
• Banking is a lifeline of exchanging value. Your team members will not care about you if their payouts are delayed because of the banking partner.

Learnings​

I have never banked with SVB, but as they say Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. The following are learning from SVB:

• Managing risk is a primary job of an Entrepreneur. Always be switched on.
• Things do break and will break at a greater frequency in the modern world. Be prepared with a plan when you are on the receiving end.
• If a bank collapses in India, there's little to none immediate relief offered by the regulator vs USA. Always keep a rainy day fund.