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​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 :))

There is a lesson in there for everyone.

Here is a screenshot of the file where I used to note down these ideas. This file is from Oct 2003.

Book I read this week

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Started reading Think Like A Freak.
This is my kind of book: one which explains how to challenge the status quo, conventional wisdom, and think differently from the majority.
Because my biggest life lesson has been that if you do what everyone else is doing, you will end up where everyone else is.
For you to end up different, you will have to do something different!
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I have shared several books in this newsletter over the years.
​A list of all of them can be found here.

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Question of the week

What describes you the best?

• I think the world has become a better place during my lifetime
• I think the world has become a worse place during my lifetime

(and see the results of others, too)

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Results of last week's question

Well well well — across the board, people are thinking about the future!
It is surprising to me that with age, thinking about the past doesn't increase dramatically.
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​My response?​
Of these 2 options, definitely thinking about the future a lot more.

3-2-1
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3 pics from last week

Some pics from the past (because I didn't click any pics this week, haha!)

This is from 2013, when Ruchi and I ran our first half marathon.

This is from 2012, when I was working from home and Vidur had just turned 1.

This is from 2010, when we had gone on a road trip, haha!

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2 quotes I wish to share

The biggest mistake people make is assuming that what’s easy to measure is the only thing worth measuring.

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You are alone in life because either no one wants to spend time with you or everyone wants to spend time with you.

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1 new thing I learnt this week

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that makes it impossible for the brain to properly regulate a functioning sleep system/cycle.
This means that the affected person can fall asleep in the middle of any activity, walking, eating, or even running!
It affects approx. 1 in every 2,000 people and there’s no cure for it.
Wow! That is scary!

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🎙️ My top content from last week
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📹 YouTube:​ 6 month plan to fix your finances​

📱 Instagram: The marriage test​

🐥 Twitter: Letter to papa​

🎧 Podcast: Are you rich?​

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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.​
​(Dahi ki malai yummy aur dhoodh ki malai yucky lagne ki kasam)

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