During my recent trip to Brazil I had the opportunity to go to a Jiu Jitsu tournament. A friend of mine (black belt!) was competing in the 80 kilo weight class and invited me to join. Opportunity I couldn't pass up! It was an awesome event because it wasn’t just one fight - at any … Continue reading The Black Belt Mindset
Kill the Dragon
I believe that how you start your morning is largely a predictor of your ability to dominate a day. If you wake up early, have a consistent practice such as exercise or meditation, and take conscious effort to gain control over your body and mind first thing when you wake up, you will be better … Continue reading Kill the Dragon
Your body is an ocean of feelings – Learn how to surf the waves
Everyone who meditates has a different reason why they do it. Some do it to calm down their anxiety ridden monkey minds. Others do it to experience altered states of consciousness. Others do it because they think it will be a performance enhancer. Personally, I like to look at it as a simple check-in. An … Continue reading Your body is an ocean of feelings – Learn how to surf the waves
You are ALREADY the best version of yourself
One of the things that pisses me off about the world of self-help, self-development, etc etc. is that there is this assumption that there is something wrong with us. That we need to improve areas of our lives to become the best versions of ourselves. I'm guilty of it as well. I see the version … Continue reading You are ALREADY the best version of yourself
Not Everyone Is Motivated by Money
Towards the later days of BrainGain, shortly before I ultimately moved on, I learned an important lesson about motivation...and how it’s different for everyone. While many of us believe that money is the sole motivator in life, from my experience I have seen that it’s actually quite the opposite - Money is the easy low … Continue reading Not Everyone Is Motivated by Money
How to encourage inclusion and ideation at work
While running BrainGain I liked to have monthly “State of the Union” style meetings to have a comprehensive overview of what we accomplished throughout the month. These meetings often went well for the most part, but there was a key ingredient missing. Ideation. I found that my teammates just didn’t have ideas to contribute. OR, … Continue reading How to encourage inclusion and ideation at work
The Power of Positive Constraints
Knowing when to dial back and how to do it One of my worst habits is my ability to perpetually bite off more than I can chew. I have periods of dormancy, where I’m anxious that I don’t have enough work on my plate, and then, feeling this anxiety, I go out and create work … Continue reading The Power of Positive Constraints
Stop chasing new customers if you’re neglecting your current ones
One of my (many) problems with the glorified startup culture is the mindset of grow, grow, grow. Everyone seems to be focused growth. Traffic, signups, downloads, paying users,etc., If you’re not growing ____, then you’re failing as a business. While yes, this is a healthy mindset to have (the goal is always to grow your … Continue reading Stop chasing new customers if you’re neglecting your current ones
How to become less reactive and more emotionally stable
Whether you’re studying Stoicism, Buddhist Meditation, Mindfulness, or simply practicing How to Not Give a Fuck, the underlying principle remains the same – How to become less reactive and more emotionally stable. How to cultivate a healthy indifference. Note that this is different than avoidance or non-reactivity. The goal here is NOT to become an emotionless … Continue reading How to become less reactive and more emotionally stable
My nightmare of a fundraising story
Around two years ago, when trying to scale my recruitment company BrainGain, I tried to raise a round of funding...and failed miserably. It was a great story with a lot of learnings so I decided to document it all. I hope you enjoy the ride 🙂 …. After living in Bangalore, India for the better … Continue reading My nightmare of a fundraising story