No Resources to Learn?

One day recently, I was wistfully thinking about how great it would be to do a Ph.D. in computer science. But then I wondered - unless I wanted to get into hardcore research, which I don't, why couldn't I learn things on my own?

In fact, I recently started learning a few skills online and I am having the time of my life doing that. The kind of learning material and content available is unbelievable, and most of it is free or very affordable. And the irony is that we take it for granted.

Just before I graduated from Wharton in 2007, I ganged up with a few 1st and 2nd-year students so that we could 'clandestinely' share some of the study material from Wharton courses via an email list. Today most of that material is available online free, and we don't even bat an eyelid.

Campus learning is a fun experience. No doubt about it. But if our goal is just to learn, the online resources available are so good that we are living in veritable heaven.

Finally, we have run out of excuses for being ignorant. If we still don't learn things, it is totally on us. Staying dumb is a choice.

  

-Rajan Singh,B.Tech-IITK,MBA-Wharton

Inspiring

Been born deaf since birth, everyone was really skeptical towards me, yet

I graduated with a Masters in Computer Science in USA recently and it is unforgettable moment. 

My college not only gave me knowledge but also access services that treats me equally with hearing peers. 

I also am glad to make friends especially deaf that help me gain confidence and be proud of my own identity.

Lastly, I can’t wait to get started as a Machine Learning Engineer at fashion industry next year and its position is luckily to align with my passion.

That is happiest moment of my life ! Hard Work pays off.

-P Priyanka

I am glad I did these.....

1. Took calculated risk in career when life was comfortable and it paid off
2. Spent time on making few good friends instead of making hundreds casual friends.
3. After leaving home always tried my best to spend time with my family. Planning to visit my home and parents each month next.
4. Invested more money on personal growth like learning new things, traveling then saving on mutual funds.
5. Planted guava and mango trees in our backyard. It makes you grateful to our ancestors who have planted so many trees of whose fruits we are relishing.
6. Hitchhiking (traveling by using minimum expense). Making friends in a new place and staying with them. Asking for lift and traveling. The best trip was from Mathura to Agra through a horse cart.
7. Tried my best to stick to the values and character taught by my parents. Often it has saved me in tricky situations.
8. Traveling with my mom each time on Mother's Day.
9. Guided four young village boys to become entrepreneurs by setting Medium scale dairy Farms.
10. Reading the book The journey Home: it opened up various dimensions in my life : spirituality, traveling

-Abinash Mishra

One aspect of being Rich that Poor People are Oblivious to....

The power of the growth mindset and proven wealth creation strategies.

Most poor people assume that rich people “got lucky”.

They assume that they were born into wealth or had a “million-dollar idea” or somehow had some sort of advantage that they didn’t.

Sometimes, this is true.

Generational wealth is a real thing…

…But most millionaires (88%) did not inherit their money, they were self-made [source].

The simple truth is that most poor people don’t want to accept that getting rich is a decision.

(Unless you happen to be born somewhere without internet access or under an oppressive dictatorial regime).

Becoming rich requires a lot of things…

 

Hard work

Leadership

Self-improvement

A wide array of skills

…But everything that is required to become wealthy can be learned and developed.

And THIS is what most poor people miss.

I don’t care where you’re from, what color your skin is, what genitalia you were born with, or what your sexual preference is.

You CAN become rich….if you develop a growth mindset and follow a proven wealth-building strategy.

The growth mindset is simply the idea that the brain is malleable. That you can learn anything, change your brain, and step into new patterns of thought and behavior.

You can LEARN the skills required to become wealthy and you can learn how to become the type of person who attracts wealth into their life.

Without this belief, you’re screwed before you even begin.

However, if you believe that you can become wealthy…

If you believe that you have what it takes to learn a marketable skill, build a successful business, and manage your money effectively, you’ve already taken your first step to riches.

    -Andrew Ferebee

1. No Excuses: Be smart enough to understand we make excuses to keep ourselves safe in our comfort zone. Break free.
2. Invest your time wisely: Life is too short. Don’t take it for granted. Wasting time is worse than wasting money.
3. Travel more: Explore the world. Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.
4. Work on yourself: Focus on who you are becoming rather on what you are getting. Changing yourself is permanent.
5. Learn to say No: Say no to the demands of the world. Make yourself happy first and then think of making other people happy.
6. Your body is your greatest asset: A fit, healthy body is the best fashion statement.
7. Take charge of your life: You just can't let life happen to you, you have to make life happen. Don’t let others influence your life, always think your own thoughts.
8. Be self-aware. Self-awareness is key to self-mastery. It gives you the ability to break free from your patterns and grow. Look within.
9. Dare to dream big: Don’t be caged by the idea of mediocrity. Be willing to ask and work for what you really want.

-Rafael Eliassen

Passion or Profession

Passion, I believe, is a very strong and often misused word. Passion, by its very definition, is a powerful and uncontrollable emotion towards an activity. When you are passionate about something, you can go to extreme ends to pursue that activity. When you have a passion, you would spend your time doing that activity even without any goal in mind.

I like my profession. It keeps me on my toes and helps me keep challenging myself. But do I have a strong and uncontrollable emotion towards my profession? Would I go to the extreme ends just to consult more? Would I spend insane hours consulting every week even if there is no monetary incentive for me? I don’t think so.

Passion is close to madness. When you are passionate about an activity, you would look forward to that activity and keep thinking about that activity all the time.

While I consider my career as my top priority, calling my profession my passion would be doing injustice to the word. If there is anything even close to passion that I have experienced in my life so far, it is dancing. Dancing is the only activity I look forward to all the time, even without any goal in mind. I live through the week because I look forward to dancing over the weekend.

You do not always need to be passionate about your profession to perform well in your career. You can have a passion outside your profession as well, that rejuvenates you every now and then and helps you perform better in your profession.

 

-Rohan Jain

Why many Indians Want Government Job still in this Era?

Why most Indians are so much interested in investing in ‘Fixed Deposits’ which barely offer them interest rates to cover inflation, rather than investing in share market or mutual funds where they may double their money in short time?

The reasons is simple.

Indians trust banks to pay back their principle amount with interest while other investments don’t assure even the return of the principle.

Indians were highly excited after the Liberalization and Privatizations that started in 1991. They used to invest in Initial Public Offers (IPOs) and Mutual Funds in a big way. However, they got cheated of their money when these companies defrauded them. So many Indians have burned their fingers in stock market that they prefer to play safe and keep their money in banks.

Indians also tried investing in housing sectors and today millions of people have lost even their original wealth in the incomplete projects after a decade.

Most Indians have little faith in private sector companies. They know that these companies exploit them to the hilt and then throw them away when they get a better and cheaper candidate for the job.

Many private companies have closed in recent years making lakhs of employees unemployed.

Even in the recent slowdown of economy, over 350,000 workers lost their jobs in auto-sector alone since April 2019 itself.

Would you like to work for an organisation where you are not sure if you would be there next month?

However, unlike the private sectors, the jobs in government is secure.

Private sectors may close or run away, but the government is there to stay.

Once you are appointed in a government jobs, you are employed till your retirement unless you choose to quit or you are dismissed due to corruption.

You also have to work much lesser and often your salaries are much better than private sectors. For example, my official driver with 30 years of seniority used to draw more than ₹50,000 salary with all government benefits, while no one would pay even ₹15,000 salary to a private driver.

Hence, it is not surprising that most Indians still clamor for government jobs.

-Awdhesh Singh

No one cares about my Happiness And I Always Sacrifice my wants and needs................

Life is hard. Really hard. Finding my way takes grit and mostly means two things:

Making a distinction between what works for “everyone” and what works for me.

Finding the presence of mind to disappoint others in the name of standing up for myself.

People pleasing is disguised as generosity but really it’s avoidance. It’s constant, relentless escape from doing the hard work of not compromising myself.

The price is to not clearly understand who I am, to let people walk all over me, to feel full of bitterness and resentment and to wonder why I feel I am in the wrong life.

I am in the wrong life because if I people please I don’t understand how to set boundaries and constantly allow others to make decisions for me.

Love yourself. Love yourself enough to know you are worth not betraying yourself in the name of getting others to approve of you.

-Dushka Zapata

1. Stopping trying to make things easier. Use discomfort as a compass. See number 2.
2. Doing really hard things. I ran 50km in April. Now walking to the bus is easier.
3. Letting go trying to control things. Your organs run without a single thought being devoted to them. Rather than overthinking everything, pretend it’s like your heartbeat and let it happen.
4. Cutting out negative crap. Negative food, negative people, negative news sources (all of the news). All cut.
5. Talking to myself. I write 750 words per day no questions asked. Even if I don’t want to. Most of it is talking to myself. I’m now my own best friend.
6. Less decisions. Ever been to an ice cream shop and struggled to make a choice? That used to be me. Now the first flavour that comes into my mind is getting devoured. I also threw out my closet and bought 3 plain shirts. No one ever says anything.
7. Sleeping more. No alarms. Earlier bedtimes. More naps. It’s a superpower. My awake time is 40x better when I’ve slept well.
8. Loving myself. Another superpower. We’re too hard on ourselves. Now I remind myself each day I love myself. Bad day? Look in the mirror. Into your own eyes. Tell that pretty face how much you love you.
9. Creating. Creation is setting the ideas in your mind free. Trade a portion of your consumption time for creating and you’ll start to see the world differently. Everything is inspiration.
10. Realising no one really cares. Go for a drive. Go for a walk. You see the old lady carrying her groceries? She lives a life as beautiful and as complicated as yours. Do you think she cares what you’re going to do tomorrow? Go and do your thing. No one will care as much as you. So you better make it damn good. Impress yourself for the sake of it.

Damn I love writing. I’m charged up. Be careful with number 9, especially before bed.

Time for me to follow my own advice. Number 7 here I come baby!

Zzz

-Daniel Bourke

Visualize this

Dear children,

Visualize this - you have grown up and want to buy a car. Which one will you buy?

There are many choices: Tata Nano, Alto, Honda City, Mercedez, etc.

Why doesn’t everyone buy a Mercedez? Because you have to pay a huge price for it.

But is that also not true for our life-dreams? We can have a small dream (e.g., become a clerk) or a big one (e.g., be the next Sundar Pichai - the Google CEO).

You can choose any dream you want - provided you can pay the price with your hard work.

When you are studying late at night and solving problems, you may feel exhausted. In those moments, tell yourself that you are paying the price for your ‘Mercedez dream’.

When you choose not to play video games or watch TV, and instead study or play outdoors, you are making your dream a reality, bit by bit.

Dream big. Pay the price today. Your car is getting ready to be delivered.

-Rajan Singh,IItian,Ex-IPS

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Clarification: ‘Mercedez dream’ is an analogy for your ‘no-compromise’ big life-dreams, whatever they might be. I am obviously not talking about an actual Mercedez car or even materialistic possessions.

What you choose as your life-dream, that is up to you.

No one believes in me.....

The lecturer threw away my register and said: 'Don’t come to me for extra classes, when you fail in final exams. Look at these guys, they are students, I can give in writing they will get a distinction in this subject, shame on you people'

I replied: 'Ma’am, kindly don't compare with me with anyone else, their marks are not my business'

She said: 'Get out'

I walked away, smiling at my friends, like a celebrity.

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The subject was genuinely tough and I couldn't get hold of it by them.

That lecturers words didn't hurt me, her words were only a symbol of her immaturity and judgmental attitude.

What did I do?

Nothing, I ignored that conversation, though didn't forget it. Also I studied the subject thoroughly, not one or two times but 5 times. Not to prove anything, but to clear the paper and to understand the subject in depth.

I scored one of the highest marks in that subject, but I didn't go to the lecturer to show her down, because she was irrelevant to me, giving her importance would mean that I would was a bigger fool than her.

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A year later, the same lecturer came to me (didn't call me) and requested me to select a group of students from our class to give interview in her husband's company, including those students whom she judged to be intelligent earlier, her husband was a senior Director there.

All this because I was the first to be placed, scored good marks, and was heading the placement committee as well.

It was then that I realise that people can easily lose and gain back hope in you, their views are not fixed.

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I will give just one tip-

When people lose hope in you, it's their problem, and their way of thinking and analysing things.

Never give them over-importance.

-Anubhav Jain