Will you start by “listening” and starting to read TODAY?

 “You’re too young to start a business, Son! There are no shortcuts!” my dad told me before I started my parking lot business outside my college campus.

“Come on! It can’t be that difficult, Dad! I’ll figure it out!”

I failed!

“Son, hard work is not good enough! You’ve got to work smart and stay disciplined!”

“You're telling me I’m stupid, Dad? What’s wrong with you!”

A few months later, still during my College years, I tried my second business … I purchased a Xerox machine to sell photocopies to students in an apartment building.

I failed!

My dad patiently was watching me fail.

Humiliated, I finally started listening to him.

“It’s not just your hard work, Son; It’s how smart you work!” he insisted.

What do you mean smart work? I asked offended.

“Son, in life you either learn from others’ mistakes or you learn from your own. It’s cheaper and faster to learn form others’ mistakes! You need to develop the habit of reading and listening to others!”

“Reading? That’s boring! Listening? I can hear you, Dad! I’m NOT deaf!”

After several years I finally understood the lessons my dad was trying to teach me.

“Never minimize the power of a book, Son! Books give you the experience of a lifetime in just a few hours. Imagine living 100 years in one year! What would that result in?”

“What do you mean, Dad?”

“If you develop the habit of reading, you could read 100 books in a year! That’s 100 years of knowledge!”

For the first time, I listened to him and I never forgot that!

Books are amazing! There may be thousands of books in a library or a book store, but their abundance will NEVER be a commodity. Never minimize the value of the wisdom each book contains!

1. Wealthy people develop the habit of reading.
2. Wealthy people develop the habit of listening to others, the reason they surround themselves with the best advisors in the world.

Will you start by “listening” and starting to read TODAY?

-Hector Quintanilla

Toxic Relationship

 1. Too Many Compromises

Often one-sided, if I may add.

Compromises are good, and if you want to build a healthy relationship, you must be ready to compromise. It might stink for a bit, but you made your partner happy and a few kisses later you’re totally fine with your choice.

However, while I’m saying that, I also want to add, that compromises shouldn’t conflict with your values, goals, dreams and overall wellbeing. They must be an exception.

That’s not the case with your partner, though. If you feel like you’ve been compromising for too long with too many things in your life, then that’s an indicator something’s not right.

In a toxic relationship, often the compromises are one-sided, and you feel like you’re going against yourself too much.

Is that your case?

2. Your Health Is Affected

Now, that’s something that not everyone will pay attention to.

However, if you are in a very toxic relationship, that’s literally what it happens – it poisons you and your mind. Sooner or later, your health gets worse. You feel depressed, low energised, lose or gain weight (depends on how your body reacts to stress). Your mental and physical health suffers from the toxicity in your life.

After the end of my last toxic relationship, I had lost so much weight that none of my clothes fitted me. I still keep a specific photo of me from that period, just to keep me aware that I should never again get myself into something like that.

3. You Feel You’ve Done Something Very Wrong

Have you got that weird feeling that you’ve done something horrible? That your choices aren’t leading you to the right place in life?

I had it.

I still remember how I sat down on the sofa in the living room and loudly asked myself: Is this how it’s going to be from now on? Is this how I will spend my life? Is this present also my future?

At this point, I panicked. I realised that if I have to spend the next 40 or 60 years of my life in this relationship, the way it was at that moment, I would be the most miserable and unhappier person I know. Right there and then, I decided that it’s time to break up with my partner.

Therefore, if you feel like something went very wrong with your life… you’re most likely in a toxic relationship.

Trust your guts.

-Jonathan S Perkins

Telltale Signs of Narcissim

 1. Deeply repressed shame

Narcissists don't feel much guilt because they think they are always right, and they don't believe their behaviors really affect anyone else. But they harbor a lot of shame. Shame is the belief that there is something deeply and permanently wrong or bad about who you are. Buried in a deeply repressed part of the narcissist are all the insecurities, fears, and rejected traits that he is constantly on guard to hide from everyone, including himself. The narcissist is acutely ashamed of all these rejected thoughts and feelings. Keeping their vulnerabilities hidden is essential to the narcissist's pretend self-esteem or false self. Ultimately, however, this makes it impossible for them to be completely real and transparent.

2. An inability to be truly vulnerable

Because of their inability to understand feelings, their lack of empathy, and constant need for self-protection, narcissists can't truly love or connect emotionally with other people. They cannot look at the world from anyone else's perspective. They're essentially emotionally blind and alone. This makes them emotionally needy. When one relationship is no longer satisfying, they often overlap relationships or start a new one as soon as possible. They desperately want someone to feel their pain, to sympathize with them, and to make everything just as they want it to be. It's a form of codependency, except they have little ability to respond to your pain or fear or even your day-to-day need for care and sympathy.

3. Lack of boundaries

Many people lack boundaries or cross other people's boundaries regularly, but among narcissists, this is status-quo behavior. Narcissists can't accurately see where they end and you begin. They are a lot like 2-year-old. They believe that everything belongs to them, everyone thinks and feels the same as they do, and everyone wants the same things they do. They are shocked and highly insulted to be told no. If a narcissist wants something from you, he'll go to great lengths to figure out how to get it through persistence, cajoling, demanding, rejecting, or pouting. These are all common narcissist behaviors.

4. Perfectionism

You can spot a narcissist through their extremely high need for everything to be perfect. They believe they should be perfect, you should be perfect, events should happen exactly as expected, and life should play out precisely as they envision it. This is an excruciatingly impossible demand, which results in the narcissist feeling dissatisfied and miserable much of the time. The demand for perfection leads the narcissist to complain and be constantly dissatisfied.

-Jonathan S Perkins

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.

---

• 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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

Stay blessed and stay inspired!

-Rohit Malshe

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

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".

---

• 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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

• 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.

---

• 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.

---

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.

---

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

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

My Life Story: 5000 rupees to 500 crores (Last Part)

Read the first part here before proceeding below : First Part

After running the coaching center in Guntur for one year, I had to shut it down.

I moved to Bangalore in search of a job.

Within just one week, I got placed at Cisco.
At that time, I badly needed money, so I joined immediately.

The work was simple for me. Whatever task they gave, I used to finish it in just 1–2 hours.
But I never told them that it was already done.
I waited until the deadline and only updated when they asked me.
That way, I was free for most of the day.

I hardly went to the office.
I was doing everything from home.

Back then in India, GATE coaching was completely offline.
No one was teaching online. Coaching centers were the only way for students to prepare.

I began approaching different institutes. Slowly, they started giving me classes.
My remuneration was ₹3,000 per hour.
On weekends, I used to teach almost 10 hours a day.
Even during festival holidays, when students got long breaks, I used to travel.

For example—
During Durga Puja, students in West Bengal had 10 days holiday. I went to Kolkata and taught there.
Like that, I traveled across India, taking sessions in different cities.

But the coaching centers were small.
At max, I could teach 100–200 students in a room.

One day, I heard about an institute in Delhi.
There, in a single class, at least 500 students would attend at once.

I was excited.
If I got a chance there, it meant my teaching could reach more students.
It also meant recognition. And honestly—I felt it would be fun too.

I applied. A few days later, they called me.

They explained their selection process:
“You’ll get a 3-hour class for problem-solving.
There’s a break after 1.5 hours. If the number of students after the break is the same, and they continue to listen, then you are selected.
If the crowd reduces, you are rejected.”

This was the challenge in front of me.

All this I was doing while still continuing my Cisco job from home.

Now the big question—
Did I get the class or not?

I knew the rule. If students left after the break, I would fail the test and never get a class there. So, I had to make sure no one walked out.

I decided to play to my strength — Computer Networks.
After all, I was working at Cisco, and I knew this subject inside out.

I picked the most difficult concepts. And I made them so simple that anyone could understand.

When the class started, the strength was low. In a hall that could seat hundreds, there were only 40–50 students in front of me. It felt almost empty.

But something magical happened during the interval.

Those students who were listening went out and called their friends:
“Someone has come who is explaining Computer Networks in the easiest way possible. Come and listen.”

After the break, the classroom was overflowing.
Every bench was filled. Some students didn’t even get chairs — they stood the whole time, listening to my lecture.

That day, I got selected.

My remuneration jumped to ₹7,000 per hour. And now, wherever I got a chance, I taught. Sometimes even 12 hours a day. I didn’t waste my time on anything else.

You see, I also had a habit — I loved reading books.
Around that time, I read two books that completely changed my life:

1. Good to Great
2. The Innovator’s Dilemma

You may not believe me — but these two books helped me create a wealth of ₹500 crores for me and my family. They changed my thinking forever.

From those books, I realized the future is online.
Offline coaching would decline sooner or later.

At that time, YouTube was already popular in India.
But no one was using it seriously to teach.

I told myself: If the future is going to be online, I should be the first.
And I can proudly say — I was among the first to start teaching Computer Science on YouTube in India. In a way, you could call me the one who started EdTech in India.

I did my research.
I calculated how much money YouTube creators could earn.
I thought ad revenue would be high enough to sustain everything.
So, I recorded my Compiler Design and TOC lectures and uploaded them.

The response was huge. Millions of views.
But the money? Very small.

Maybe ₹50,000–₹80,000 in total from those videos.

I researched more. And then I found the reason.

YouTube’s payment depends on who’s watching.
If the audience is from the US or Europe, the ads pay much higher.
But my audience was mostly Indian students — young and preparing for exams.
They never clicked on ads. Ads shown here were different, and the rates were low.

That’s why the income stayed small.
I understood this was not the right way to earn money.

But one thing happened —
By then, I had already become very popular.

I was not earning anything worthwhile from YouTube ads.
Millions of views, but only a few thousand rupees.

So one day, I thought — Instead of relying on ads, why not charge for the full course?

That morning, I woke up early as usual. I recorded a simple YouTube video.

In that video, I said: “If you want all my GATE lecture videos for Computer Science, pay ₹10,000 to this bank account.” And I shared my HDFC account details.

At that time, my YouTube channel had only TOC and Compiler Design lectures.
The entire GATE syllabus wasn’t recorded and not uploaded yet.

Still, I uploaded that video and went back to my day.
I had an offline class starting at 9 AM.

Around 10 AM, during the class, I heard a notification on my Motorola phone.
I checked it quickly.

The message said:
“₹10,000 credited to your HDFC account.”

For a second, I froze.
Someone had actually paid.

I continued teaching, and then — ping!
Another message.
Again ₹10,000 credited.

Then again. And again. And again.

In just 3 hours, while I was teaching my offline batch, I saw more than ₹3 lakhs being deposited into my account. That moment changed my life.

After the class, I went straight to the institute owner.
I told him: “I don’t want to teach offline anymore. I will teach online.”

He laughed. He said, “Online won’t work.”
I smiled and replied, “It will. Wait and see.”

But still, I had to respect my commitment.
So I completed the offline syllabus for those batches.
Daytime, I used to teach in offline institutes.
Night-time, I used to record videos.

I slept only 2–3 hours a day. If you watch my early videos, you’ll notice — most of them were recorded late at night.

There was no platform in India to host online courses back then.
So I searched, I learned, and finally I discovered an open-source platform called Moodle.

I downloaded it, set it up myself, and built my own online course platform.

The videos were heavy — more than 1 GB each.
Internet speed was poor, and data was expensive.
Uploading was almost impossible from home.

Luckily, the person who is my wife today — back then she was my girlfriend and working in a software company — helped me.
I used to copy videos into a hard disk and give it to her.
She uploaded them from her office WiFi.

She actually hated her job.
But I kept telling her:
“Please just keep working for one more year. Trust me. After that, you will never have to work again.”
I don’t know where that confidence came from.
But I believed it.

That first day in 2013, I received 3 lakhs. And from that day until 2021, not a single day passed without money coming into my account.

Every single day, I got credited.
Minimum 3 lakhs a day.
At peak, even 30 lakhs in a single day.

Of course, I paid all my taxes properly.

Every single day, money was getting credited into my bank account.
All my financial problems were gone.

I paid all my taxes.
And my tax payments themselves started running into crores.
Something I had never even imagined in my life.

When I got ₹1 crore for the first time, you know what I did?
I went and bought a Mercedes Benz E 350 for ₹75 lakhs.

The next time when I got ₹2 crores, I bought a Mercedes AMG.
Then another time, I bought a Mercedes S Class.
And later, even a Mercedes A Class.

Not just cars — I also bought a Harley Davidson CVO for ₹50 lakhs.
Another bike, a Triumph Tiger 1200 for ₹22 lakhs.

I’m telling you all this, not to show off, but to admit —
I wasted so much money.

I used to roam in helicopters.
Stayed in the costliest hotels.
Traveled across the world.
I even did a full world tour — except for the USA.

They say if you have money, you don’t get time.
And if you have time, you don’t have money.

But in my case, life was different.
Since my content was recorded, I only had to do it once.
After that, I had both — money and time.

I fulfilled all my dreams.

In 2021, I sold my company to another EdTech at a very high valuation.
As part of the agreement, I was not allowed to teach or compete for 3 years.

So, for 3 years, I stayed at home.
I had money.
I had no financial worries.
I had done everything on my bucket list.

But I felt empty.
Life became boring.

Then I asked myself — What do I truly enjoy?

The answer was clear.
Teaching.

When I teach, I forget time.
When I teach, I feel alive.
When I teach, I feel happiness.

So I started teaching again.

God has given me everything.
Even without me asking… He gave.
Now I don’t ask Him for anything anymore.
I only thank Him.

And because God has blessed me so much, I feel it is my duty to give back to society.

God has blessed me so much, and I feel it is my duty to give back to society.
That’s why I created the Raudra Charitable Trust, through which we help poor students pay their fees and continue their education.

I’ve already decided — when age finally forces me to retire, I will give away 50% of everything I earn to orphanages, or I will start one myself. The other 50% will go to my family.
My dream is for my daughter to run that orphanage, continuing to help thousands of poor children long after I’m gone.

And when that day comes… I want my last breath to be in front of a blackboard.
I want to die while teaching.

Because whatever I am today…
It is all because of teaching.

My idol is Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
He died while giving a lecture.
I too want the same — a peaceful death while teaching.

ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् |
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय माऽमृतात् ||

Aum Tryambakam yajaamahe sugandhim pushtivardhanam |
Urvaarukamiva bandhanaan-mrityormuksheeya maamritaat ||

(This prayer means: release me peacefully from life, like a ripe fruit falling from the vine, free of pain, free of suffering.)

This is my life.

Before I end, I want to share my final thoughts —

👉 If you are born poor, it is not your mistake.
But if you die poor, then it is definitely your mistake.

👉 Don’t ever say that money can’t buy happiness.
It may not buy happiness directly, but it solves 99.9% of your problems.
First earn. Take care of your family. Live your dreams. Then think about the world.

👉 Don’t follow your passion blindly. Plan your life wisely.
Ask three questions:

What are you truly passionate about? (Something you’d do even if no one paid you.)

What comes to you naturally? (Your genetic or natural strength.)

What does the world pay for? (Your economic engine.)

The intersection of these three is your life’s work.

In my case:

Passion → Teaching

Natural strength → Explaining complex concepts simply

Economic engine → Students willing to pay for quality education

That’s why I succeeded.

And my last advice to everyone —

No matter how rich or successful you become,
Always remain humble.
Respect elders, bless juniors, and help the poor.

The moment arrogance enters your life, your downfall begins.
Stay grounded. Stay grateful.

I still remember where I came from.
And I’ll never forget it.

Thank you all for the love.

Jai Hind. 🇮🇳

Friendship Axis

Energy Management