Raksha Bandhan: A Call to Protect Beyond the Ritual

On this Raksha Bandhan, as we honor the bond of protection and love, let us reflect on the deep responsibility we hold as a society to ensure the safety of our women and girls. The recent heartbreaking incident in Calcutta, where a doctor’s life was tragically lost following an act of physical abuse and violence, reminds us of the vulnerabilities women face, even in places where they should feel secure.

This Raksha Bandhan, let’s go beyond tradition and make a collective vow to create a safer environment for every woman and girl in our country. Let our actions reflect a true commitment to their safety, dignity, and well-being.

Krishna: The Balance of Playfulness and Wisdom

As we celebrate Lord Krishna’s birth today, let’s remember how he embodies contradictions with such grace and ease. The Krishna of the Gita is wise, serious, and profound, while the Krishna of the Bhagavatam is playful, joyful, and free-spirited. Though these sides may seem contradictory, Krishna shows us the beauty of embracing all facets of life in harmony.

Let’s celebrate Lord Krishna by embracing our own nuances and uniqueness, and finding balance within them.

Happy Janmashtami! 🎉

“Discipline is Destiny” – Ryan Holiday

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – JIM ROHN

By embracing the principles of self-discipline outlined in “Discipline is Destiny,” you can achieve greatness and fulfillment. Control your actions, thoughts, and emotions, honor the Stoic tradition of living virtuously, and face life’s challenges with purpose and power.

The Power of Self-Discipline

Self-discipline is not about restriction. It’s about taking control of your life. By mastering your lower self and strengthening your higher self, you become empowered and unstoppable in achieving your goals and dreams.

Benefits of Self-discipline:

  • Practicing good habits
  • Enduring challenges
  • Setting boundaries
  • Resisting temptations

Self-discipline provides structure and balance, counteracting the chaos of unrestricted freedom. It’s essential to unlocking your true potential and living a fulfilling, happy life.

Take Control of Your Body Before It Takes Control of You

Being self-disciplined about your body means boosting your endurance and investing in yourself for the long term to live longer and better.

Strenuous Activities: Incorporate physically challenging activities into your daily routine.

Seek Discomfort: Embrace discomfort to build resilience and toughness.

Consistency: Show up daily, regardless of how you feel, to build momentum and achieve long-term success.

Build on Your Physical Self-Discipline to Temper the Mind

Once your body is under control, it’s time to work on moderating your mind. This involves balancing how you feel, think, and respond amid life’s chaos.

Patience and Response: Use the moment between stimulus and response to gather and think critically.

Focus and Flow: Train yourself to focus and enter a flow state, blocking out distractions.
Embrace Imperfection: Aim to do your best rather than strive for perfection, and learn from your mistakes.

Align Your Body, Mind, and Spirit to Achieve Greatness

Greatness requires aligning your physical, mental, and spiritual selves, much like the charioteers of ancient times who mastered multiple aspects simultaneously.

Balance and Harmony: Achieve success by balancing discipline with kindness, compassion, and love.

Self-Actualization: Temperance is about self-actualization, not isolation, and involves being kinder and more accepting of others.
Encouragement: Encourage yourself and others, recognizing that everyone is on their journey.

Self-Discipline and Self-Love

Being self-disciplined doesn’t mean being hard on yourself when you fail. It means holding yourself to high standards while being your best friend and supporter.

High Standards: Challenge your limits and don’t accept excuses, but show compassion toward yourself.

Self-support: Encourage yourself in moments of failure, recognizing that everyone makes mistakes.

Growth and Thriving: Use self-love and support to grow and thrive, even in difficult moments.

Nuggets from “The Almanac of Naval Ravikant” by Eric Jorgenson

Wealth

  • Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.
  • You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity – a piece of a business – to gain your financial freedom.
  • You will get rich by giving society what it wants but does not yet know how to get. At scale.

Business & Profession

  • You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity – a piece of a business – to gain your financial freedom.
  • Pick an industry where you can play long term games with long term people.
  • Play iterated games. All the returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest.
  • Pick business partners with high intelligence, energy, and, above all, integrity.
  • Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.

Specific Knowledge

  • Arm yourself with specific knowledge, accountability, and leverage.
  • Specific knowledge is knowledge that you cannot be trained for. If society can train you, it can train someone else, and replace you.
  • Specific knowledge is found by pursuing your genuine curiosity and passion rather than whatever is hot right now.
  • When specific knowledge is taught, it’s through apprenticeships, not schools.
  • Specific knowledge is often highly technical or creative. It cannot be outsourced or automated.

Leverage what you know best

  • Embrace accountability, and take business risks under your own name. Society will reward you with responsibility, equity, and leverage.
  • Fortunes require leverage. Business leverage comes from capital, people, and products with no marginal cost of replication (code and media).
  • Code and media are permissionless leverage. They’re the leverage behind the newly rich. You can create software and media that works for you while you sleep.
  • If you can’t code, write books and blogs, record videos and podcasts.Set and enforce an aspirational personal hourly rate. If fixing a problem will save less than your hourly rate, ignore it. If outsourcing a task will cost less than your hourly rate, outsource it.
  • Set and enforce an aspirational personal hourly rate. If fixing a problem will save less than your hourly rate, ignore it. If outsourcing a task will cost less than your hourly rate, outsource it.

Learning to be the Best

  • Judgement requires experience, but can be built faster by learning foundational skills.
  • Study microeconomics, game theory, psychology, persuasion, ethics, mathematics, and computers.
  • Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true.

When a friend makes a mistake…

“When a friend makes a mistake, the friend remains a friend, the mistake remains a mistake”

– Shimon Peres

The statement by Shimon Peres, “When a friend makes a mistake, the friend remains a friend, the mistake remains a mistake,” recently got me into a pensive mood. It encapsulates a profound understanding of human relationships and the nature of friendship, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between a person’s actions and their intrinsic value as a friend.

Looking back at my own experience, I recall how my friends—those who I would swear by—reacted very differently when I made a mistake. Some of my closest friends formed strong opinions about the situation, opinions that were influenced not just by their own perspectives but also by their spouses. This created an undercurrent of tension within our group of close friends, resulting in invisible factions. Invitations to get-togethers became selective, and it was clear that the dynamics had shifted.

Despite the divisions, there were friends who chose not to let this affect our friendship. There were also those who never mentioned anything about the matter to their spouses. They never judged me and instead offered sound advice while listening patiently to me and my challenges. They realized that I needed help, understanding, and most of all, a friend who would stand by me no matter what. These friends embodied the essence of Peres’ quote, as they separated my mistake from my worth as a friend.

Others advised me to keep calm and allow time for things to settle down, assuring me that everything would be fine in the end. Their approach reflected a deep understanding of the transient nature of mistakes, which each one us is vulnerable to, and the importance of giving time for healing and resolution. These friends did not form strong opinions but provided a steady presence, which was very reassuring during a difficult time.

As I reflect on these events now, with the mistake firmly in the past, I often ponder why some friends chose to react the way they did and in my view continue to do so. I have come to understand that every friendship has its dynamics, and people react differently based on their values, experiences, and external influences.

In conclusion, Shimon Peres’ quote serves as a poignant reminder that true friendship transcends mistakes. It encourages us to value our friends for who they are, rather than judging them solely based on their actions.I am grateful for those who stood by me, offering sound advice and non-judgmental support—they truly embody the spirit of friendship. As of others, they will always remain “my friends”.

“How to get from where you are to where you want to be” – Explained in 36 seconds

This short video summarises a 5 step process, explained in the book “How to get from where you are to where you want to be”, by Jack Canfield. A must watch for everyone.