You're just busy, not better I received an email this morning:I am a banker. I have been a compliance professional for almost 8 years (my whole career). Right now, I am in XXX, in their London office. I am in a good place, career-wise. I make more than enough money, and I am respected by my team and seniors alike. But I always had a deep desire to contribute meaningfully to society. I wish to leave London for the Rural Exploration of my home state - XXX. I wish to understand what's going on...
14 days ago • 3 min read
You defeated yourself Disclaimer: This post will be triggering for those with a mental medical condition, in which case I would request you to not go through it. I received an email yesterday:I’m a 20-year-old girl, and I’d really appreciate some suggestions from you. I used to be a good student until class 9, but everything changed after I confessed my feelings to my crush and got rejected. He insulted me brutally, and since then, I’ve been struggling with deep insecurity and a lack of...
21 days ago • 3 min read
Ambitious people are not in a hurry I was speaking to a 22-year-old the other day, who recently started her first job. "How is it going?" I asked."So so, not that great.""Why, what happened? I thought you were really excited about this company, role, and even the money.""Yeah, all that is good, but I am not creating any impact, Ankur." Sorry, what? Did I hear impact? "Impact? How long have you been working?""It has been 6 full months Ankur. And yet, no impact.""Ummm - who told you that you...
28 days ago • 3 min read
The person living for today, or tomorrow? We all have two individuals living inside of us. The person who lives for today. And the person who lives for tomorrow. The one who has the upper hand in your life makes all the difference. Back in our time, the person living for today didn’t have much to look forward to. There was barely any distraction, addiction, and entertainment. So, it was easy to rely on the person who lived for tomorrow. Because tomorrow was shiny. If we worked hard, then...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Here is what young people do not have I received an email this morning. She earns well, has a stable job, is well-qualified, and has been investing for over 5 years. Her investment corpus is 25 lakhs, which is impressive. But her email mentioned a common, naive goal: "I want to reach 1 crore in the next 3-4 years." In personal finance, compounding is key. For those unaware, here’s a quick explanation: Start with 100 rupees and earn 10% annually. You might think the amount you make every year...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The shoot last week made me realise this... I was in Mumbai last week for an ad film shoot: 14 hours straight — 7 AM to 9 PM — with a team of about 200 people. We shot 5 ad films. It wasn’t my first shoot, but each time inspires me. This time, I realised something: to the experts on the team — stylists, makeup artists, photographers — I’m not Ankur Warikoo or even a person. I’m what their work demands. As soon as I reached my hotel room, the styling team was waiting for me. In the next 60...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
3 realisations from last week's team offsite Our team works remotely. So, we go for 4 offsites a year! We just returned from our 14th offsite; 4 days in Shillong filled with travel, food, laughter, and relaxation! In our team meeting, I shared 3 key points for everyone - not just businesses, but individuals too. 1/This year marks our 5th anniversary. We began in March 2020 with 6 people, aiming to create accessible, helpful content and courses. In 5 years, we’ve: - Gained 15M+ social media...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Priorities of life On YouTube, I run a series called Money Matters, where I speak to people from all walks of life, trying to understand their financial situation and helping them if I can. Yesterday, I spoke with Akanksha, who is 21 years old. Graduated last year. Family of 4 - father (who is paralysed), mother (who is a homemaker), younger sister (in school) and herself. The sole earner of the family. She earns Rs 26,800 per month. Pays a rent of 7,500.Medical expenses of Rs. 2,000Sister's...
2 months ago • 4 min read
That email changed my life Exactly 20 years back, I received an email announcing the start of an important year. A year that changed my life. I had dropped out of my PhD program a year back (in 2004), came back to India from the US after giving up on what was a dream life - 100% scholarship, a generous stipend, top of my class, on a fast track to complete my PhD.Everyone was devastated. Disappointed in me. I was disappointed in me! Everyone around me (well intentioned) kept saying only one...
2 months ago • 4 min read