3 harsh truths about the workplace



3 harsh truths about the workplace

3 harsh truths about the workplace that affect hard-working people more than the rest:

1/
Good folks are dismissed as “too nice, too honest, too innocent, too naïve”.
“You do not know what it takes to win in this brutal world.”

And that’s true.
Good people often finish last.

Because the game favours the ones who bend rules, who bypass them, and have flexible morals.

So you have two options.
Find a place that is non-negotiably aligned with your value system or throw your ethics away!

2/
Early on in my career, I saw an unequal split of work given out by my manager.
The hardworking ones got more and more work, and the lazy ones got less work.
I thought, “That’s unfair.”

My manager replied: “Good people pay a higher price for being good than bad people pay for being bad.”

What he meant was — if you are good, more work will continue to be assigned to you BECAUSE you are good.
That’s the price you pay.

So you have two options.
Continue to pay the price of being good or stop being as good.

3/
Notice how the good folks keep expressing their dissatisfaction in subtle ways — never to be noticed until it is too late?
And then the organization wonders what happened for them to leave.

Organizations assume no news is good news.
They rarely reach out to ask — “Are you doing okay?”

So you have two choices.
Share what you are feeling and make sure it is heard, or find yourself leaving the place because no one ever cared.

At the risk of endorsing a victim mindset, I will say this.

Most of the corporate world is designed for mass employment, putting people through a regimented process, expecting them to follow orders, make the least noise, show up, work, go back home to come back again.

It is NOT designed for the exceptional few.
(Share on X)
The ones who want to make a difference, the ones who care, and the ones who see their work as an extension of their expression.

So if you are good, hunt down organizations whose culture nurtures your kind.
Never give up on who you are, least of all for an organization.

Do not let the world change what is good for you.
(Share on X)



Book I am reading this week

Started 2 books and dropped them in a day. Didn't find them interesting.
As a principle, I do not share the names of the books I drop.
Because I believe every book is good. It's just not for me; not at this point.

Any good book suggestions?
Around philosophy, history, and psychology?

My new book,
MAKE EPIC MONEY, hit #1 in India on the AC Nielsen Book Scan - making this my 3rd consecutive bestseller.
I am now a 3X bestselling author, lol.

Here is a list of all the books I have shared in this newsletter so far (alphabetical order)



Results of last week's survey

Which of these is your preferred holiday destination?

  • Beaches
  • Mountains
  • Forests/Wildlife
  • Cities

Here are the results:

Observations:

  • The younger audience is more mountain-friendly. Older is more beach-friendly. I attribute it to drinking.
    Older folks love the idea of sitting on the beach and drinking.
    Younger folks want some active excitement.
  • Cities are not a high point for most.
  • Forests/wildlife are high early on, dip during the peak working years, and then rise again in the 40s.

My answer:
I love travelling to cities. Totally!


Quotes to share

Love, during easy times, is attraction.
Love, during hard times, is commitment.

Do not let the world change the good in you!

How we feel when we see ourselves is how we think others feel, when they see us.


📸 My week, in pictures

In this section, I share my week in pictures, for those who do not like to read as much as I write :))
I do so not to show how cool a life I live, but instead to show you what are the highlights of every day. As you will see over time, my days are mostly in repeat mode - the same things, but different experiences from them.

Went for lunch to this lovely vegetarian healthy place called Life Yoga at Malcha Marg, Delhi. Gorgeous interiors. Equally tasty food :)

Had a fun time recording a session with BizTak around money. Live interactions have a different feel!

Met my college friend Akash (The Deskbhakt) after a really long while. Shot a video with him.

Went to the Delhi Book Fair to sign copies of my 3 books; clicked a lot of selfies :))

The video with Akash went live and this one comment caught my attention.
At times, such comments sadden me. Most often, they just set me thinking about why people think this way. Must be something that I say or do for them to form this impression.

Went for a heritage walk to Hauz Khas on Sunday. Ratnendu, who led the walk, is hands down my favourite history storyteller :))

Went to a birthday party at this cool place in Delhi - Climb Central. It's a wall climbing place. Real fun - for adults and kids.

That's it for the week in pictures. Have a lovely weekend and week ahead, all of you lovelies :)))


Question of the week

How much money do you need today to retire in life?

  • Less than 1Cr ($150K)
  • Between 1-3Cr ($150K-$450K)
  • Between 3-10Cr ($450K - $1.2M)
  • Between 10-50Cr ($1.2M - $6M)
  • Above 50Cr (Above $6M)

(and see the results of others, too)


🎙️ Podcast I shared last week


🚀 Content I shared this week

📹 YouTube:

Best mutual fund strategy

📱 Instagram:

5 signs that your relationship is strong

🐥 X:

I have the most lovely parents


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.
(Jaldi garmi aa jaane ki khushi ki kasam)

warikoo Wanderings

Entrepreneur, Author, Content Creator with 15M+ followers across platforms. I share this newsletter every Friday around personal growth, books, quotes, pictures - it is the most personal version of me online.

Read more from warikoo Wanderings

There are 2 types of holidays We travel for 2 reasons. One reason is to escape from your current life. This is for those people who often say, "Thank God it's the weekend."Because that means no more work, no more office/college, no more manager/teacher, no more of the boring routine. You can sleep more, wake up late, watch TV, mindlessly scroll. No worry in the world. So when they go for a holiday, they do everything that they usually can't do in their normal life. They try and visit all...

There is only one form of true love Someone asked me about kids: Warikoo, what’s the good part about having kids? Like you don’t sleep for first 4 years. You clean after them for 7-8 years. You get zero time to yourself. What makes any of this fun or worth it? Like I’m having a phase I guess having to decide about a family. My exact response was: Having a child has two sides to it. First - it is hard. And undeniably harder for the mother than the father, because she is the main caregiver and...

Ideas are worth nothing In 2003, when I realized I’d be dropping out of my PhD and returning to India, I was unsure about my career. I had no idea what to do with my life. I was convinced no one would hire me, no one would ever give me a job, and no company would ever recruit a PhD dropout — that too Physics! So, I listed down potential business ideas. That was my way of controlling my own fate, haha. Turns out, I did nothing about these ideas!But someone else did. Some are now unicorns :))...