Wasted Your 20s ?

 I am way past that age, but I have some really good advice for you.

• You really do not have to worry too much about the time you have lost. Unfortunately that time would not come back, but you can do some significant improvements in your life and lifestyle for future.
• Fortunately, you can make up for all the things you could not do back in your twenties.

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• First of all, what you really need to do is to eliminate things that do not matter in your life. For example, cut connections with negative people, and then negative activities.
• You have to put an immediate stop to all those things. Without this you really will not change, and nothing will be better in future.
• This will sound hard, and feel bad in the beginning, but this is actually good for you. It will bring an immediate impact and then you can focus on great activities.

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Next, you should find three things in your life: Inspiration, motivation, and discipline.

• Inspiration: You have to find a set of people with whom you are willing to swap positions. Write down on a paper why you think those people are amazing. They must have done some great things in their lives. You have to identify those things. You have to read books and increase knowledge. You have to gain the experience they gained. You have to develop the habits they developed, and refine those habits for your purpose.
• Motivation: You have to look up to the great things you can do now, and how things in your life would look like when you have achieved them.
• Discipline: You have to build daily habits that help you get closer to your dream. You have to be very consistent with these habits, and keep tracking your progress on a weekly basis.

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Some greedy approaches:

• You can find out from others what are good skills to learn whether you like them or not. You have find out from others what daily habits they follow and reason with them why those habits are valuable.
• Last but not the least, you have to tell yourself, that any great success comes to you in 10 years, and a short version of it can be realized in five years.
• If you go by this plan, and systematically work on your life, you can achieve a lot, and your future can be significantly bright.

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Stay blessed and stay inspired!

-Rohit Malshe

IISC

If there is intellectual heaven on earth then it is here.

Time spent at IISc bangalore was exceptional and I can easily say that those were the best days of my life.

IISc makes you a complete person. Let me tell you why

1. If you come from a normal college then 1st semester in going to take a toll on you. But you will have great peers and professors to take help from and work with, this is the reason that everyone sails through this study pressure.
2. Once you have studied at IISc, you are capable of handling any kind of pressure in life.
3. The enjoyment you do inside the campus is also incomparable. It teaches you to work hard and party harder.
4. Your intellectual level increases to the level that whatever comes your way in future, be it job or anything, you will be able to handle it easily.
5. Working in an environment which is totally different than the life outside of campus, gives you a feeling that you are responsible for the future of the country. You are being given the privilege to study at the heaven on earth.
6. It teaches you to live life peacefully without any hustle bustle.
7. Studying there gives you access of great sports facilities.
8. Since it's mainly a PG college. Students are treated with respect, and they are given full freedom. For example there in no restriction of hostel timings. Girls entry is also allowed in hostels.
9. Like other colleges, students don't compete with each other, rather they compete with the world outside.
10. For girls, it's a heaven. In this patriarchal society of India, IISc is a place where girls can reach their utmost potential. The campus is totally safe, they can come back to their hostel from department anytime they want. There is no restriction of hostel timings, unlike other colleges.

Both fun life and study life are at the extreme level.

1. All night playing games in labs and all night solving assignments in labs.
2. All classmates used to attend everyone's birthday at a night canteen.
3. Highly talented people become your friends and learning is at the highest level.
4. Cycling culture is super awesome. 99% of people use bicycles inside the campus.
5. Lot of clubs are there. You can join as per your interest. Being part of these clubs and attending different festival and function celebrations is very interesting.

Being an IISian is a proud in itself, you start witnessing change in your personality. People start knowing you from your college. Your parents also feel proud.

Work hard and be a part of this community.

Peace !

-Nikhil Panwar

Why companies call their employees "Family"?

• I don’t put much stock in what companies (or people) say. I pay a lot of attention to what they do. If they treat me like an ideal family, support me, nurture me, and protect me, then I believe their words and repeat them. If they exploit workers and then cast them aside, I laugh at the pretentiousness of their words.
• You can fire your family by dissolving your marriage, walking away from your parents, or ceasing to communicate with your relatives. Family holds no special place in this regard, as much as we wish it would.

-Kurt

There was this experiment done in universities

It goes like this, a bunch of people play monopoly. One person starts with more money, gets double for crossing finishing line. The others don’t get any money for crossing the finish line, the rich player gets two dices while others only have one.

As the game goes on, the rich player, who is picked at random, always began to act more dominant, boastful, and even rude. When they eventually won the game, they never think they had any real advantage, they are simply so good at the game, have some tactic.

They never consider this is because of how the game was setup.

Why rich people tend to think they deserve their money

A psychology experiment using a rigged Monopoly game reveals how inequality replicates itself.

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2021/01/19/why-rich-people-tend-think-they-deserve-their-money

The experiment was done by Paul Piff at UC Berkeley, where participants are randomly assigned to be a "rich" or "poor" player in a rigged game of Monopoly.

The results consistently show that the "rich" players, despite knowing the game is unfair, become more arrogant and less empathetic, attribute their success to skill, and become less sensitive to their "poor" opponents' struggles. They also tend to act more dominantly and less considerately of resources.

The experiment has been replicated countless times.

My kids have achieved some pretty amazing things.........

My kids have achieved some pretty amazing things. For example, my younger daughter was the youngest girl to have ever got an A* in her IGCSE (16+) Maths, when she was 9, and she can speak 6 languages.

My 3 kids are hard-working and motivated. Here’s some tips:-

• Empathise with them and they’ll listen to you more. So I’ve told them I agree studying is boring. C’mon, it is!
• …and then tell them why they should do it. They need to buy the vision.
• Always listen. If they’re not working hard, or they’re being rebellious, talk to them and understand why. No need to get angry, whatever they feel, they feel they’re right.
• Like adults, kids need a goal to get them motivated. So, for my kids the goal is typically an exam. They know the exam date and the grade I want, and are reminded of it every few days. Your kids’ goals could be to get As in half the subjects in the report card.
• With every major goal achieved there should be a huge reward. My kids will be spending an extra 4 weeks in London if they all get the top grade in June 2018.
• Every major goal needs to be broken down into sub-goals. Sub-goals should be tracked, ideally in a spreadsheet.
• Every sub-goal achieved needs a celebration. Typically it’s a film with pizza at home, or we go out for an ice-cream.
• Take an interest. I ask my kids every day what they’ve done and get excited with them when they’ve done well. High fives and all.

• Get involved. You need to induce hard work. I take my kids to cafes as they can’t really do much apart from study there. And they love it as they eat what they want. Once bored of one cafe, we go to the next. BTW I don’t teach - I do my own work.
• Make sure your kids understand that their brains are like muscles, which get stronger by going to the gym. When they study and don’t understand things they’re getting smarter. Studies show that kids that believe intelligence is fixed do worse than those that believe it can change.

That’s all I can think of for now…

-Asim Qureshi

Promotion ?

 First, let us look at how Peter’s principle works. Peter principle - Wikipedia.

It states that the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role.

Thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively, and "managers rise to the level of their incompetence".

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• The biggest career mistake that people usually make is that they tend to over estimate their worth in the short term and underestimate their worth that is possible in the long term.
• Often many people end up in a sub optimum job (where they do not like either of work, co-workers, or boss), and do not move out of it, and think that they will get a promotion next year or so.
• Then when they do not get a promotion, they think that they have incurred one more year in the sunk cost, so they should stay for one more year, wait for a promotion, and then move.
• If they still not get one, then they tend to give up, and lower down their own performance(second biggest mistake) which is when it is even harder to get a promotion and that is exactly how they get stuck where they are.
• Then, family and multiple other obligations come up, and the likelihood of getting promoted or to find a better job goes down even further.
• Then, they enter a stagnation mindset, in which they spend multiple years.
• Eventually, companies do promote them, and this can all happen at least two to three times until eventually they make it to a position where they are not the most competent persons for the job, they are actually incompetent for them.
• Unfortunately they take up those roles(third biggest mistake) and ruin the companies they work for.

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How not to make these mistakes?

Thinking:

• In the initial years, it is often very tempting to think that you are really amazing. Unfortunately, you actually are not, so stop thinking you are amazing.
• Instead, focus on what will actually make you so amazing that you can do a job two levels above your job. Sure this will not happen overnight. This will happen in 10 years, but one must plan like that.
• In short, people should actually prepare themselves for two grades above where they are in terms of their thinking.
• That is, always think like your boss’s boss.

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Doing:

• To actually do the work, you should work as if you are your boss.
• Learn the technical things very systematically, and try to make everything really easy for your boss.
• Become the person who can train all others around you as if your boss was to do this task.
• Work very closely with customers and find out how you can satisfy them.
• Network with as many people as you can, and grow this way as much as possible in your current job.
• That is, always work like your boss.

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• If you succeed in thinking like your boss’s boss, and doing like your boss, then be assured, that you are sure to get promoted sooner than later.
• As soon as you get promoted, start thinking again about your boss’s boss and start working like your boss. Perhaps they are still the same persons, or probably different persons.

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• Always keep the enthusiasm alive, and never ever give up in your life.
• Sometimes promotions will happen on time, and sometimes not.
• Your work ethics are in your hands, but promotions really are not.
• Also, never tie your happiness with your promotions, otherwise you will never be happy.

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Now some people will say why not work on your own start-up? And I will say - sure that will certainly be amazing, but even then, this is how you really need to inspire people in your organization and you are sure to succeed.

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Stay blessed and stay inspired!

-Rohit Malshe 

Blessed are those...........

“Blessed are those who got a chance to study”

“Blessed are those who have books to study”

“Blessed are those who have a roof and light to study all night”

“Blessed are those who are healthy enough to study all night”

“Blessed are those who don’t have to study empty stomach all night”

What is your definition of pleasure? 1. Netflix all night 2. Chatting all night 3. Staring at the wall all night etc. etc. etc. All these things are temporary pleasure, whereas study all night can give you pleasure for the lifetime.

Increase the beauty of the night by spending it with books.

Happy Studying !

-Nikhil Panwar

Be Happy Be Cheerful !

 

1. Past performance has minimal role in future success: You can be successful even if you were a failure in the past. So don’t fret on your failures, just work on present and make your future successful.
2. Every second matters: Utilizing every second of your time matters. For e.g. travelling in metro and looking here and there is unproductive, rather watch some productive podcast or your favourite TV show.
3. Family over friends: Family is the one which will remain with you all the time both in your good and bad (it includes some very good friends which are like your family). Normal friends will come and go. Even your best of friendships work on give and take principle but your family works on only give, give and give principle.
4. Marks in School are just a number: What marks you got in school have zero impact in your career. So, those tensions and crying over marks were useless.
5. Value of Fitness: What you eat and do today will reflect 10 years later in your body.
6. Art of saying No: Learning to say no is an art, the early you learn is better. Unnecessarily remaining available for people for their stupid stuff is useless.
7. Side income during college: We genuinely have some spare time during our college days. Having a online side income may give a sense of confidence and independence.
8. Solo Travelling: The early you start travelling, the better it is. You will have a lot of time and energy to cover places all over the world. Preferably starting from college days with the help of side income.
9. Selective Friendship: Give your effort and time for only few friends who will remain with you for the lifetime.
10. People Pleaser: You don’t get anything but regret in doing this.
11. One lifestyle Sport since childhood: I wish I could have known that playing one sport religiously and daily helps a lot in your future college and work days. I started late in college.
12. Relationships are healthy: Not all relationships waste your time like our Indian parents advice and warn. So don’t hesitate in getting into one.

Nonetheless, Be Happy and cheerful !

-Nikhil Panwar

Experience at IISc in one sentence

The best you will have in your lifetime.

Expectation Vs Reality:

1. People studying there will be geeks: But the reality is just the other way around. People there are no doubt good in studies but they are equally good in having fun in different activities.
2. The study life will be very difficult: But the reality is that you will have good support of peers, and it will not feel very difficult (but still it will be difficult).
3. Competition among peers: At IISc you don’t compete with each other, rather you grow together.
4. Exams will be serious: Not at all, Your prof will ask the class when do you want to give exams. And even if you get ill, you can take permission of your prof to give exam later in his cabin.
5. Will not find Hardcore Gamers: You will find hard core gamers in your labs. Research in day time and DOTA during night. This was the routine.
6. No time for Cultural Festivals: People from all around India make sure that all the festivals are celebrated with the same vigor and enthusiasm.
7. Hostels will be bad: But they are nice, and food is also respectable as compared to other institutes.
8. After classes you will go to hostel: But after classes you go to your lab and remain there till midnight or late. Even sometimes sleep in lab.
9. Hostel will be fun: But in reality, labs are fun. Maximum time of students goes in labs. Hostels are only to sleep.
10. Life will be boring: But the life is way to exciting and beautiful inside the campus.

To summarize, IISc is a different world. A world of dreams.

Picture Credits: CSA 2011–2013, IISc

-Nikhil Panwar

My boss is offering me a higher position with higher responsibilities but without a raise in salary, should I take it?

Who says the responsibilities are greater? The same boss that won’t give you a raise to take the job? Any chance there are some reasons why the job is not desirable, reasons you haven’t been told about?

Jobs are worth what someone will pay for them. If the pay is the same, it is arguable there’s nothing really superior about the job. If the boss is giving you a song and dance about “growth potential”, be sure to ask him to put that boast in writing.

-Kurt Guntheroth

The definition of entertainment of today's youth has become flawed

Now for them the entertainment is

1. Clubbing with friends and consuming alcohol.
2. Smoking weed.
3. Playing virtual Games like Pubg.
4. Get into relationship at a very early age
5. Watching useless TV serials like Big Boss.
6. Shopping for things which they don't need.
7. Social media scrolling for long hours.
8. Scrolling Dating websites.

Rather the entertainment has to be like:

1. Playing your favorite outdoor or indoor sport.
2. Dancing, singing, painting, sketching etc
3. Reading a good story book
4. Hitting the gym for daily fitness
5. Listening to podcasts on YouTube
6. Writing your experiences.
7. Creating some new Content for others to consume, like blogging etc.
8. Planning your next trip, which you want to do in near future.
9. Going out for an adventure activity with friends.
10. Learning some new skills like photography, musical instrument, cooking etc.

I do believe that today's youth has to be guided in the right direction. If youth themselves are reading this, then please try to change your definition of entertainment in line with the above 10 points.

Live life like a King !

-Nikhil Panwar