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...
13 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...
20 days 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...
27 days 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 1 month 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 1 month 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...
about 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...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Why are expensive cars expensive? What makes a Mercedes so expensive, or a Ferrari even more expensive? It is not the leather seating, the fancy music system, the cool sunroof, or the large display. Of course, these things do add to the cost, but if you truly cared about these things and went about adding them separately on your own, you would be able to do it. And you would realize that their cost is not significantly huge as a percentage of overall cost. What makes a car expensive, then?The...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Struggling in your 20s? Why are your 20s so challenging? Because the four pillars of life feel like they’re all in flux: Relationships Old-school friendships fade. New college bonds aren’t fully formed. Work friendships feel untrustworthy. Romantic relationships are confusing because we don’t yet understand ourselves. Family ties become strained because they don’t fully understand us. CareerConstantly unsure of our paths. Everyone else seems to be doing better. We don’t love our jobs. We...
2 months ago • 2 min read