I had recently moved in a new apartment with my parents as the old one was quite small for our family. The first look of the house was very appealing to me and the best part about the entire apartment is it’s balcony from which we can enjoy a splendid view, let me show you a picture of it.

So after spending a few days in the new apartment I had a random thought about how come there are people staying in a place next to the lake and isn’t it dangerous there and moreover to whom does that land belong to? So after a few days of research I found out that the 5–6 houses near the lake as shown in the above picture are of the people who had built the entire apartment that I and the others live in.Not only that, they had also built many other infrastructures in the locality and the builder had allocated that space for the workers to stay during their construction period but they still continue to live there till date. That is the moment when I realised how unfair life can be, waking up everyday and looking at what you’ve built, but not being able to enter the premises of that place is definitely heartbreaking.

I am definitely thankful for each an everything that I have.

Life is pretty tough and hard work is the only easy way out I guess.

Ciao!

  -Zaid Choudhary

{Blogger's Note: Hard Work is must but NOT sufficient Gain Knowledge, Learn from Experience of Others, Try ,Try, Try & Try }

Do you think this is easy?

Do you think life comes naturally to people?

Do you truly believe that most people are just happy?

Life is not that simple.

There are no people that are simply “cut out for it” just as there are none that aren’t cut out for life.

Life is a big, gigantic, messy ball of intertwined, knotted and clotted heap of shambles, and everyone has their own path to find, untangle and walk through.

No one said this would be easy.

But what choice do you have?

I mean, sure, you could end it all and take the easy way out. But what if that’s it?

What if there is nothing afterwards? Are you really willing to risk everything because you don’t feel cut out for living?

Everybody who has made anything of themselves did not do so easily.

Somewhere, sometime, in some way they struggled, even if they do not like to admit it.

Rarely anyone finds their purpose right away or a reason to live.

And that’s what counts.

It’s not what you achieve, not what purpose you find nor what reason you were given, but rather about living a life that you deem worth living.

But, truth be told, that is very unlikely to happen if you do not go out and create it.

You can say you are not cut out for it as often as you want, but it’s nothing more than a lazy excuse for not wanting to put in the work to create a great life.

Maybe you have experienced a lot of hardships, maybe you are too proud to get help, or maybe you just do not know where to start, but none of that is an excuse for lack of trying.

Waiting, complaining and wallowing in self-pity is not going to make your life any better.

And you are not special for thinking this way about life.

Countless people run through the same problems all over the world, thinking that life is pointless.

You are not the only one, not the first one, and definitely not the last one to feel this way.

But while you are wallowing in more and more self-pity there are those that accept it, that stand up, and that do something about it, for that is how you move on from this idea that has lodged itself in your mind like a parasite.

If you want to find out whether you are cut out for life or not then give it an honest shot! Stand up and do something about it!

It’s not going to be easy, but you can do it.

Go out and talk to more people if you are missing friends, find communities, groups and be the one that takes the first step!

Research jobs if yours is unfulfilling, talk to companies about what would make them hire someone in the job you want and then find how you can get that type of schooling and those qualifications.

And, if you are truly unfulfilled, then chase each and every joy, no matter how small, until you find something that you deem worth it.

Your life is in full throttle right now, you are not starting, you are in the midst of it, but what happens going forward is up to you.

Let me tell you just one thing though: Sitting around, whining about it, and wishing it were different will not create that life you wish for. You must do something.

You have the choice to change everything right now.

Figure out what needs to change so you would live an amazing life and then start to change those things one by one!

Take responsibility for your life.

Take charge.

And start living not just existing.

   

-Lukas Schwekendiek

Want To Start a Business But Have No Money?

 My friend Luigi wanted to start a business, but had NO money.

My other friend Mario also wanted to start a business and also had NO money to invest.

Whenever I met Luigi, I always found him complaining with a victim mindset, “I have no money today. Some day, I don’t know when, I will get started.”

Meanwhile, every time I found Mario, he was working on his idea, talking to people about how his service would benefit his clients and brainstorming his services every opportunity he had.

Weeks went by, and Luigi continued his complaining, “If I only had enough the money to start my business.” Luigi loved to “hide” himself behind his excuses.

It was impossible not to be inspired by the love and the energy that Mario radiated when he talked about his business idea.

Eventually, Mario found the way.

To answer your question, as an entrepreneur, what makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it?

Stop whining and complaining — START DOING!

“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done before.” — Thomas Jefferson

The difference between those who achieve something and those who don’t is determined by their ACTIONS — not by their current condition.

#BeBusinessSmart

  

  -Hector Quintanilla

Financially Struggling ?

Imagine catching a Coca-Cola top executive drinking a Pepsi-Cola!

That would be just priceless, wouldn't it?

Ohh, I can't express enough how much I desired to accomplish this prank on my friend! Each time I invited him home for dinner or a family event, I made sure I had a Pepsi bottle ready. My goal was to find the opportunity to distract him, have him grab the Pepsi bottle, and take a picture!

I never succeeded; it was impossible! My friend was unbelievably loyal and proud to work for Coca-Cola.

Ever since my friend graduated college, he had been super lucky to find this job. That was almost 25 years ago. The opportunity to scale the corporate ladder in this corporation was huge.

My friend consistently exceeded expectations. With discipline and hard work, he found success and grew a good reputation inside the corporation. In fact, he was so successful in his area of expertise, that he recently was promoted to run a new division in the United States.

Then, the unimaginable happened!

Early in May, he called me. He was torn in pieces. I could sense a tremor in his voice. Devastated, he told me, “Hector, I don’t know what I am gonna do. I lost my job!”

With millions of restaurants closed and all social events canceled, the beverage industry has been tremendously impacted by the pandemic. His division was severely damaged. The company leaders were swift and decisive, sending hundreds of people in his area home.

He was included.

Coca-Cola laying off people? Really? Who could imagine that! I know he didn't. Personally, I never thought it could ever happen. I mean, his job was supposed to be probably one of the “safest” jobs I had in mind.

Now, to answer your question, in a tight economic time, what can middle class people do to stay middle class?

Today, the biggest problem my friend has is the fact that he has zero income. He lost his job, and his paycheck was his ONLY source of income, a mistake that nobody of us could have predicted.

What is the lesson?

In the words of Mr. Warren Buffett, “Never depend on a single source of income.”

Most members of the middle class rely on a single source of income. This is a HUGE mistake. The best way to secure this economic status is by diversifying risk.

Never trust your future entirely to a paycheck in today's rapidly-changing world. The risk of disruption is growing exponentially.

I’ve been guiding my friend on how to diversify and generate multiple sources of income. I’ll be revealing these experiences very soon to my clients and students.

#BeBusinessSmart

  

  -Hector Quintanilla

‘WISE’

‘WISE’

Wisdom and truth are rarely popular.

What is popular is rarely wise and true.

Let me state the words of wisdom from the stoic philosopher Seneca about the relationship between popularity and propriety.

"I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know, they do not approve, and what they approve, I do not know."

It takes trickery to win popular approval; and you must needs make yourself like unto them; they will withhold their approval if they do not recognize you as one of themselves. However, what you think of yourself is much more to the point than what others think of you. The favor of ignoble men can be won only by ignoble means.

… if I see you applauded by popular acclamation, if your entrance upon the scene is greeted by a roar of cheering and clapping, marks of distinction meet only for actors, – if the whole state, even the women and children, sing your praises, how can I help pitying you? For I know what pathway leads to such popularity.

I fully concur and endorse every word of Seneca.

Most people in the world are neither capable of nor interested in knowing the truth.

They lack the vision of life and seek instant gratification.

They clamour for lies that are pleasing to them rather than truth that is bitter to them.

They themselves support the wrong people and wrong ideas and then they criticize the very same person and ideas when that results into great miseries for them, rather than blaming themselves for their choices and learn some lessons from their mistakes.

Please read the following anecdote to understand this mystery.

Polyclitus of Sicyon, a famous sculptor, once worked at the same time on two similar statues, one in public and one in secret. For the later he consulted only his genius but for the former he accepted every bit of advice and would make every little adjustment or touch-up that his critics suggested.

After finishing both statues, he exhibited both statues in public, side by side. One statue was criticized, but that had been the fruit of his genius was extolled endlessly.

“Athenians”, said Polyclitus, ‘the statue you criticize is your work, and the one you so admire is mine.” [1]

If you have even the slightest desire to follow truth and acquire wisdom, learn to challenge the popular opinion rather than follow them because what is popular is rarely right.

Footnotes

[1] Practising Spiritual Intelligence

    -Awdhesh Singh

What is Computational Thinking?

There is a wonderful story circulated among physicists that illustrates the answer.

Johnny von Neumann was a great mathematician and a great physicist. So someone (I don't remember who) challenged him with this problem:

Two trains are 100 meters apart, moving towards each other. Each train is moving at 10 meters per second. A bee is flying back and forth between those two trains at 20 meters per second. Eventually the bee will be squished when the two trains crash against each other. When they do, what will be the total distance flown by the bee?

According to legend, von Neumann thought for a moment, and then said "100 meters".

The questioner said, "Correct. But now I know, from the quickness of your response, that you are really a physicist, not a mathematician. The mathematician would have calculated when each bee-train encounter takes place, calculated the position, taken the sum of those distances as an infinite series, and then summed the series. But a physicist would have taken a short-cut; the physicists would have realized that the bee was flying for 5 seconds at 20 meters per second, so it would have traveled 100 meters total."

Von Neumann's purported response: "Oh, that's a clever way to solve it! No, I summed the series."

(For the series solution, and a graphic showing the story, look at Two Trains Puzzle.)

  

  -Richard Muller, Former Professor of Physics,UC Berkeley

Two Points

 Two points:

1. Most of what makes one a “genius” comes after birth. Inborn talent is yet to attain a formal proof of existence, and is usually limited.
2. Most people you call “genius” are simply people who work hard, become famous overnight because of a result they gained out of the hard work (a scientific theory, a company/product, an exam result, etc). People ignore their hard work and see them as “geniuses”.

Let me tell you a secret - NOBODY is a genius. There are people who work hard, and then there are people who lay on the couch and say stuff like “I can never be like them, they’re all geniuses and talented!”.

The term “genius” was probably invented to mask insecurity and laziness - it’s an excuse to justify someone’s mediocrity, sorry to say.

So you got your answer - work hard. Real hard. Talent is like a intercept - it matters initially, but it’s the slope that will make you win in the long run! See everyone you call genius - they work REALLY hard despite being “genius”. Why do you think they do that? Because they know what it takes to become a genius - and won’t give up on that.

  

  -Kalpit Veerwal, 360/360 in JEE MAIN

The Biggest Advantage For a Serious Aspirant of the Civil Services Exam

 The biggest advantage for a serious aspirant of the Civil Services exam is that by the time you finish the syllabus even once, your knowledge base increases dramatically and your world-view becomes more expansive.

Therefore, even if a student does not qualify in the exam, numerous other careers become more achievable. This could include (not in order of preference):

1. The UN Civil Service
2. Global institutions such as the WTO, World Bank, IPCC, WHO etc.
3. The TATA Administrative Service.
4. NGO’s such as Greenpeace, Oxfam, HelpAge etc.
5. Journalism- print, television or internet.
6. Independent think tanks such as Takshila, ORF, Centre for Civil Society etc.
7. Higher education, possibly via the path of Research Assistantship.
8. MNC’s, by supplementing your education with an MBA.
9. Returning to your original stream in graduation.
10. Politics, especially at the grass-root level.
11. Social activist, author.

The point is that even if one door shuts, it is not an indicator of your potential or abilities. No learning ever goes to waste. As long as you stay optimistic and willing to work hard, there are many, many career opportunities that can yield even more success and satisfaction than the Civil Services.

  

  -Brijendra Singh

Motivation f****d up my life for 15 years straight.

Motivation f***** up my life for 15 years straight.

I’ll tell you the story of what happened. Although what I’m going to tell you worked with me, it is proven to be scientifically wrong.

In the late 90s I was fat kid.

A really fat kid. To be specific I was one the 3 obese kids in a school of 300 hormone filled judging assholes.

I was from the 1%, not the Lamborghini-riding, chick-banging 1% you hear in the news, I was at the bottom of the hierarchy, ground zero. That time sucked…big time.

Back then I had a simple idea of how life progressed. How positive change happens. This idea was force-fed to me by movies and cartoons from the day I was born.

“I’m Fat because I’m waiting to get motivated”

So what exactly is Motivation?

What exactly is it that you’re waiting for?

I kept waiting for a long time..years passed. I was not motivated and the result was exactly the same. I was still fat.

Then one day, I asked myself a question.

What’s the difference between Motivation and Excuses?

I didn’t read any journals or papers or googled this thing up.

I answered the question by myself.

I realized that motivation is an excuse and excuses imply that I’m slacking off.

I read this before, I don’t remember where but it makes perfect sense.

If a pretty poster is all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind Robots will be doing soon.

Here’s the clear truth that no one wants to talk about.

Your mind is trying to keep you safe.

• Motivation = Change
• Change = Risk of Danger

Your mind hates nothing more than the risk of danger, so you’ll stay in bed.

The excuses come in the form of very well packaged nice and “positive” kind of words.

Words that will make you feel good about yourself.

Words that make you feel happy even when you slack off.

Making you feel good at staying comfortable in the safety and warmth of your bed sheets.

My life was transformed, but it wasn’t through these words.

• It wasn’t with Motivation
• It wasn’t with Talent
• It wasn't with Perfect Timing
• and it certainly wasn’t with Luck

You will never feel motivated to do the hard things in life. Motivation is not this Magical Lightning bolt that will strike you so you can move your ass and do the hard things in life that everyone else is afraid to do.

It’s not easy to have a good body, that’s why out of a 100 people only 3 of them will have a fit and healthy body.

Sorry to bring up bad news but if you'll wait for motivation you'll wait your whole damn life. Because of this simple premise:

Here’s how I did the transformation

I tricked my mind.

I started from the end, broke down my huge goals into very easy and safe tasks.

After I achieve these small tasks, I increase the dosage.

Back then I couldn’t run..

Instead of saying I’ll never be able to run a marathon this is what I did for 30 days.

• Day 1 goal: Run 500 meters.
• Day 2 goal: Run 520 meters.
• Day 3 goal: Run 540 meters.
• …
• Day 30 goal: Run 1200 meters.

This formula worked really well with me and I applied it to different paths in my life.

I’ll tell you a story of a man in the city of Croton, Italy. This took place more than 2,500 years ago. The same formula made him the strongest wrestlers and athletes of all time, there lived Milo of Croton.

Legends say he could carry a grown bull on his bare shoulders.

He was said to have achieved this strength by starting very early on in childhood, lifting and carrying a newborn calf and repeating the feat daily as it grew to mature bull.

Whether this is a legend or not. It makes sense.

Usually, this story is cited in the context of Progressive Overloading. But I’m citing it here as an anti-motivational story.

As each small task is finished you enter into a reward cycle and your brain gets fixated on dopamine, you feel better.

You grow as you push yourself forward

Not only do you feel better after each task but what happens over time is as you start to see yourself becoming the person that takes action.

“You start to see yourself becoming the kind of person that speaks even though your voice is shaking. You get out of bed even though you don’t “feel” good” (Robbins, “5 Second Rule”, 2017)

You build the skill of confidence and courage, you grow.

Trick your brain

One of the good books recently written on the same subject is The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins.

Your brain doesn’t make decisions based on logic

One of the topics she tackles is that 95% of the decisions we take are based on “How We Feel” at the moment we take the decision and feelings hold us back from risky decisions.

• Do you feel like making that cold call?
• Do you feel like getting up in that cold morning?
• Do you feel like making that 4th set of reps?
• Do you feel like having that hard conversation with your spouse?

The default answer will be a “BIG FAT NO”. Take control and leverage your brain to take action.

If I’ll bottom line this: Always remember motivation is complaining.

You will always feel motivated to do the easy things.

• It’s easy to be motivated to scroll through Facebook
• It’s easy to be motivated to eat a juicy cheeseburger with melted swiss cheese dripping from the sides.
• It’s certainly easy to be motivated to have sex.

This is easy, that’s why everyone is doing this.

7 years ago, two MIT economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee did a brilliant research to understand what are the skills needed for our new economy and what are the factors that will that affect the overall financial outcome of the individual, they wrote their outcome in their comprehensive book: Race Against the Machine

High Skilled Workers

The outcome of this research is that the new-market will only value Highly Skilled Workers, those who are doing complex jobs (i.e jobs that require “motivation” to do).

All other disposable low skilled positions will be automated by software or replaced by robots.

This is no joke, look at Singapore.

So if you are still motivated to scroll through social media yet “don’t feel motivated” to do the hard things, remember this..

The Robots will come for you. That’s motivating enough for me.

-Mahmoud El Magdoub

One Of The Most Damaging Advice Given to Youth is...........

 “Follow your passion” or the similar “Follow your dreams.” I’ve seen this advice lead people into paths in which they could not have productive lives or support themselves or families.

With this advice, many kids will choose to become professional athletes, and then fail. My daughter (Elizabeth Muller) once wanted to become a professional dancer. I think she is very glad now that she instead went to UC San Diego, majored in math and literature, and got a masters degree in international management. (She is now the CEO of our non-profit BerkeleyEarth.org.) One of her friends, in contrast, decided to become a professional bicycle racer (encouraged by her parents) and she now supports herself by selling and repairing bicycles. Nothing wrong with that, but I don’t think it was what she envisioned when she took this career path.

I suggest to children that before they set out on a career path, they consider what will happen if they are the 1000th best in the field. If your field is boxing, you will either be completely out of work, be a sparring partner, or (if you are lucky) be running your own gym. (Or, maybe, you’ll be an enforcer for some mob.) If you are a ballet dancer, it is unlikely that you will be performing; you will probably be teaching children how to dance ballet. If your field is physics or math, you will have very good income, have the respect of your neighbors (maybe they’ll think you are a genius), and a good diverse and productive life.

I suggest instead that you teach children to try to plan their future lives, to design their futures. They should approach it as they would a challenging homework problem. Learn more about possible careers, and what they are like. Don’t choose too early, since many careers (running Berkeley Earth?) are not obvious to a youngster. Get a broad education, and do a good job at it. Study hard and learn. Get familiar with the world. Beware of childhood passions; they are based on a limited experience, and may not be a good choice for a career.

  

 -Richard Muller   Professor of Physics, UC Berkeley