Suppose you're like me ( and I'm pretty sure you are), you pick up your phone and click-swipe-scroll-stream & click again. Our lives, in many ways, are an endless stream of clicks, scrolls and streams. We find bursts of pleasure by giving our minds the right amount of dopamine just when it needs it. But, try putting that phone away for a few seconds, and you feel a drag.. an itch. It's a feeling of longing for more, and as much as we won't admit it, it's an addiction. We need that swipe to feel happy, to feel satisfied.

I know that's how I feel at most times. I struggle with my screen time. Most days, it's over eight hours, and when I indeed restrict myself, I hit maybe seven. But, I do feel the sense of restriction... and it's very easy for me to fall off the edge and go overboard that one night only to wake up and see that yesterday was nine or even ten hours.

And just before I sat down to write this on a Friday night, I happened to check an excerpt from "Dopamine Nation" by Anna Lembke. And while I have dug into the effects of dopamine in the modern "internet-fueled" world we live in, she gave a slightly different way of looking at this. She speaks of a neuroscience discovery that states a fact, Pain and pleasure exist in the same spot in our mind. They're like friends on a seesaw in a playground. As we consume anything that gives us pleasure, the seesaw tips towards one side, but because Pain exists in the same place, it climbs onto the seesaw to tip the balance back to being level. That's why we feel the urge to watch/scroll/stream some more. Our mind feels the loss of pleasure. But when we give in to that urge, the pain side has to compensate again, and then we go back to that urge wanting more. And over time, you cannot stop because that's the only way to stop the downer.

That just sounded like drug addiction, didn't it? So what's the alternative? Anna says the solution is simple when you feel the urge, just take a break from a screen. Walk away from it. In a few minutes, the downer feeling will subside, and so will the urge. The balance needs one side to add more only when the other does the same. So when you don't watch/click/scroll more, you don't feel the pain/downer as much. Something to think about, isn't it... time away brings balance, time off-screen brings calm and resisting the urge reduces the itch to scroll.

Give it a shot, and see the difference. I know, I'm going to.

Weekly recommendations

We start off with an amazing chat between Ali Abdaal and Ryan Holiday ( this was my favourite podcast episode to listen to this week)

Then dig into the story of the app “Calm”

Switch on our reading lens to go under the hood at Netflix ( I especially loved this one)

https://www.theverge.com/22787426/netflix-cdn-open-connect

And then on an amazing episode of Song exploder we dig into the sound of the movie “Dune” ( Its a must watch on a big screen)

Self-plug

Then an interesting perspective on learning in this weeks Varun duggi show

And a teaser for my new podcast with the founder and CEO of LBB Suchitra Salwan. We dig into all things business, startups, content and beyond every week starting the 29th of November so dont forget to subscribe and listen ( I promise its going to be informative and fun).

✌🏽

But, we often don't notice their expression as they look down, right before they look up. That is often the most crucial part. When they're looking down, they don't see anything but the gravel on the path and their sweat trickling down on it. And as it drips for those few seconds, it's almost like their mind is moving in slow motion, and they reflect on all the steps they've taken to get to this point. To earn that sweat before they look up again. It's that moment that holds one of life's most essential truths...

"There is no action without preparation, and there is no preparation without reflection."

So, ever so often, we must take the time to reflect on what we've done or where we've been before we set out to prepare for where we plan to go. The last month has been that for me as I've taken time off from writing this newsletter. A mixture of reflection and preparation, the optimal cocktail for anything we want to do in life. And a constant fuel for everything we create. So, don't forget to reflect on your time, your actions and most importantly, your sweat... its the fuel that, if burnt right, will light up the path to where you're headed.

It’s good to be back :)

Weekly Recommendations

* Will Smith has his memoir out (I’m two chapters down and it’s fantastic) but he also has an amazing YouTube Original series out, which is one of the most insightful pieces I’ve seen in a long time ( new episodes release daily)

* Garry Tan had a great chat with Nik Sharma on DTC marketing. A great watch to dig deeper into the revolution that is D2C

* Naval ravikant and Chris Dixon talk to Tim Ferris about Web3, NFT’s and so much more

* Followed by a great article ( a good follow up to the above episode) to read on NFT’s and a thousand true fans

https://future.a16z.com/nfts-thousand-true-fans/

* And finally, MKBHD talks to Colin and Samir.. need I say more?

Self- Plug

* One of my favourite “Varun Duggi Show” episodes on making goals seem less scary

* And the 150th episode of ‘Advertising is Dead” with the awesome Pooja Dhingra.

✌🏽

p:s - The Book is out in Jan and you guys will get a sneak peek very soon.

So today, I will be sharing a piece from a journal entry I wrote a few months ago. It stood out as I was going through what I put down over the last few months, and I felt it warranted a share because I truly believe it gave me a moment of profound clarity.

" We often go seeking the new. It's our instinct to look for greener pastures, to find solutions for all our problems and to fill the gaps in our lives by venturing towards newer spaces. We don't realise that, at most times, the true answer to what we seek lies in the things we've taken for granted. So, ever so often, we should revisit, reconnect and re-engage with the things that were once core to us, that surround us and are all around us but have blurred from our vision over time. Therein might lie what we seek."

What we have around us can complete us. We just don't realise it often enough. So, take a look around.. What you see and sense might surprise you.

Weekly Recommendations

➡️ We kick off with an article on something we all do but finally have a term for thanks to this article - “ Revenge Bedtime procrastination “

➡️ Then a beautiful piece from the Atlantic on the difference between Hope and optimism

👉🏽https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/09/hope-optimism-happiness/620164/ 👈🏽

➡️ It seems to be a thing for creators focussed on specific spaces reflecting and rebutting things about them. Nathaniel Drew digs into how self-help brainwashed him,

➡️ Then in a weird segue, MKBHD gets into the full self driving rollout from Tesla

➡️ Google is how we search. But, there are some looking to change that and Reid Hoffman speaks to one such (ex-google) founder on his subscription based search engine and what it may give consumers that Google has failed to

➡️ Then a Fascinating look at humanity and our relationship with alcohol ( In full disclosure I bought the book but am yet to read it)

➡️ And in my Self-Plug for the week, I tap into helping you figure out your authentic Humour style ( check the link in the show notes to do the quiz to figure your style as well).

✌🏽

The story comes from the answer to a straightforward question

"Why do you exist?"

And the answer could define your narrative, its success and also determine how satisfied you are with it. Guy Raz, in his book "How I built this" puts it eloquently when he says,

"The story must explain at a fundamental level why you exist. It is a story you have to tell to your customers, to investors, to employees, and ultimately to yourself. "

It is such a fundamental question to refine and focus on. If the answer is built on a foundation of reflection, passion, and an innate need to work on it in the long term, it will bring success, deep satisfaction, and happiness. And in times when the day gets clogged with things to do, interests become many and varied, and new bright shiny objects demand our attention leading to our sense of clarity becoming blurred, Ask yourself this simple question. An honest answer built on reflection can help you find clarity for a lifetime.

Weekly recommendations

➡️ Daniel Ek talks about many things but his whole download on bits & atoms is just 🤯

➡️ Kara swisher talks to Jeffrey Katzenberg and digs into the failure of Quibi and the state of play in the media landscape and Hollywood.

➡ Casey Newton one of the most high profile journalists to move to Substack writes about his first year on the platform

➡️ An article that speaks to many of the questions I’ve been trying to answer in recent months.

👉🏽 https://www.economist.com/1843/2016/03/02/why-do-we-work-so-hard 👈🏽

➡️ At the risk of sharing too much ‘Colin & Samir’, I couldn’t help but share this feature on Mr Beast and the sheer scale at which he’s playing

➡️ Andrew Huberman digs into the science behind focus ( I need more of it than most because I lack it in loads)

And in this weeks self plug dropping the links to two episodes from the varun duggi show

➡️ My chat with Vishnu Kaushal on authenticity and relevance

➡️ And The “Indifferent Spectator test” which I believe all of us need to take

✌🏽

And it interestingly got a largely positive reaction ( actually, it was almost entirely a positive reaction). And that was heartening. It's also because I have been referred to as a “productivity guru” a few times in recent times, and ( apart from the fact that I shudder at being called a guru), I'm actually not a very productive person. It's something that doesn't come to me naturally, and in recent months it's been tough to stay even reasonably productive. I am, however, an "optimiser", which is a word I prefer over productivity. I Optimise what I do every day with one single ( or rather dual) focus in mind "Happiness" and "Satisfaction".

I am often behind schedule on things, putting it together last minute, terribly inefficient with scheduling or planning things and more often than not filled with a need to slow down, empty my mind and recalibrate. It's chaos that only makes sense in my head, but it makes me happy. It's my system, and it works for me. That is the essence of how I look at optimisation over productivity. It's not about getting the most results out of your time. Instead, it's about getting the most happiness and satisfaction out of your process.

It's not for everyone, but I think it's important to find systems that don't over-focus on the result vs the process and how much you enjoy it. And the slowing down part ( as I will do over the next few days) is one of the best parts. As Ryan Holiday puts it in one of my all-time favourite books, "Stillness is the key",

"Your job, after you have emptied your mind, is to slow down and think. To really think, on a regular basis. Think about what's important to you. Think about what's actually going on. Think about what might be hidden from view. Think about what the rest of the chessboard looks like. Think about what the meaning of life really is."

So, the next time someone talks to you about productivity as the be-all and end-all, maybe randomly throwing in the concept of optimisation might be a fun spanner to throw in the works.

Weekly recommendations

➡️ Starting off with a deep dive into the unique phenomena that is creators and boxing

➡Then a fascinating video on how Hypnotism came to be

➡️ A look into the new communities feature that might make twitter a lot more like reddit

👉🏽 https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/9/22664103/twitter-communities-bring-context-back-editorial

➡️ Tim Ferris speaks to The Founder of Dyson, Sir Richard Dyson

➡️ And a chat with the authors of a book thats definitely on my “next read list”

Plus, in my weekly self-plug.. I had an amazing chat with Varun Mayya on “Advertising is dead”

And I’d love for you to find your zone of genius as I dug into on “The Varun Duggi Show”

✌🏽

Over the last few weeks, I've been reading a fascinating book called "Two beats ahead" by Panos A. Panay and R. Michael Hendrix. It tracks a varied list of insights on innovation and creativity that the world of business, entrepreneurship or anyone in general, can take from Musicians and their process. And there is a line from this that’s so relevant to the feeling I spoke of above,

"Sometimes it feels like everybody wants you to stay right where you are. Everybody's always looking for a definition, a classification, a rule. They want to pin you down so they can understand you. They want you to make it easy for them. They want you to walk in a straight line. I say walk your own line."

- Justin Timberlake

Because let's face it, we are a net sum of our interests. we grow, we evolve, we find ways to find independence (both monetary and otherwise ) through the recipe that comes together to create us. In trying to conform to what the world defines as lanes to walk on or boxes to fit into, we don't just do ourselves a disservice but take away from the world what we can achieve for it by just being us. So don't fit into a lane. Walk your path, and the world will be better for it. 

Weekly recommendations

➡️ Kicking off this weeks recommendations with an interesting perspective on why the Late Night TV trend seems to be waning and dying ( I know we dont have that in India but many of us have continued to watch the US ones over the years ) .

➡ Then Zach Ramelan digs into how Creators shouldn’t get into the “Sameness” trap.

➡️Then the genius that is Daniel Schaffer shows some tips on how to create practical effects ( I love watching this kind of videos because I suck at shooting stuff like this)

➡️ Then a fascinating article on Li Jin the Investor Guru for some of the most popular Creators in the world ( if you get stuck behind a paywall try using reader mode)

https://nyti.ms/3BGPhRw

➡️ I’ve been trying to figure out NFT’s for a bit and got a bunch recommendations for stuff to consume on it via the amazing folk on twitter but this article is a good starting point.

https://bit.ly/2WJLFPR

Onto podcasts,

➡️ The first one tapping into “Solutions Journalism” and how it could hold the key to rebalancing Journalism in the public eye

➡️ and then Satya Nadella talks to Reid Hoffman on the concept of Re-founders and why businesses need them

And closing off with two self-plugs ,

➡️ I had a fabulous chat with Sameer Nair on the future of the media space

and I dropped a video on how one question changed how i look at fitness

✌🏽

➡️ Then an amazing episode of “The Seen and the Unseen” with someone I have the pleasure to call my mentor, Roshan Abbas.

➡️ Then Rich Roll Speaks to Steve Pressfield ( the man who wrote the ‘War of Art’)

➡️ David Perell writes on how we can embrace an athletes process and learn like an athlete.

👉🏽 https://perell.com/essay/learn-like-an-athlete/

➡️ Sahil Patel ( @sahilypatel on twitter ) has put together a fabulous curated directory to understand everything around the Venture capital space.

👉🏽 https://www.becomeavc.com/

➡️ A video explaining the Keynesian beauty contest and how it can give us a deeper insight into the financial markets and how they actually end up working.

➡️ MKBHD is one of my favourite creators and this video running through how his intro videos are shot is a sight to see ( This new studio channel is 🤯).

➡️ Some videos just have a great emotional curve and this video by ‘Yes Theory’ is a great example of that.

➡️ And closing off with a chat I had with Ma Anand Sheela around the launch of her new book “By my own rules”

Have a great weekend everyone

✌🏽

I came across this tweet the other day, and it made me stop. Stop and think about the time before March 2020 and the world we're in right now. Life seems to have become this endless loop that we've forgotten to count. We follow the cycle of every day and wake up to start it all over again.

It also brought back many emotions of what could have been and what is across the world and in my life, work and everything in between. The feeling that this is how things are started to overtake my mind.

And at that moment, I turned to my daily practice of running through things I've highlighted, bookmarked, screen-shot'ed and saved to get back to for moments like this. And a particular quote popped up. This particular one has been one of the core drivers of keeping me centred over the last year and more.

"The Chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own"

- Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4-5

These lines always remind me about the reality of all our existence. We're a small cog in the overall machinery of humanity. And while every cog has its importance, the potential for greatness and ability to effect change, what is most important to remember is to focus on what is under our control rather than worry about what is not. And doing this shift in our minds makes us happier and more centred as individuals and allows us to do good for those around us.

Because our actions drive the world forward, not our worries and wishes, we can only act on what we can reach and control.

Weekly recommendations

➡️ Kicking off with an intriguing chat between Ryan Holiday and Brad Field connecting Nietzsche and entrepreneurship

➡️ Then an episode of my recent podcast discovery with the best name ever “Metaphysical Milkshake” digs into “being a good person”.

➡️ This is fast turning into a David Perell fan newsletter but his deconstruction of James Clears process for success is a great watch.

➡️ And a video we must all watch ( as hard as it might be) because its gives us the reality of our foreseeable future.

➡️ Closing off with a Self-plug episode of “The Varun Duggi Show” where I talk about how I create my Goal Board in Life by answering four simple questions.

✌🏽

"Human nature doesn't change. Even if history is an unceasing sprint toward the future, human nature doesn't change. Only the laws of physics are more predictable. What's happened in the past will happen in the future — again, again, and again. "

But, change is necessary. Not just to ensure we evolve and adapt to the world around us but to also find ways to define who we are inside. This very need drives many of us to reflect on how we can push back against this resistance to change that we all have. Often we have to action ourselves to change. Stuff we can add into the mix that doesn't just move us physically but mentally. Not just through habits like James Clear mentions in his book "Atomic habits" but also like Seth Godin puts down in his book "The Practice"-

"If you want to change your story, change your actions first. When we choose to act a certain way, our mind can't help but rework our narrative to make those actions become coherent. We become what we do."

Our reluctance to change also comes from our worry of being perceived differently by those around us. What will people say if I quit alcohol? Will they call me a recluse for switching off my phone?

Will I be judged because I've changed?

A great tool to beat this is to label them as finite challenges. We need to act ourselves to rewire our narrative in our minds and accept challenges we can speak about to the outer world to help soften the judgement we fear. ( This is an insight I got from a great podcast episode on the Rich Roll podcast, which I've dropped in the recommendations this week). In this episode, Andy Ramage the founder of "One year no beer", talks in-depth about how failing at a public challenge might be a more accessible gateway to change than terming it a lifelong change in the way we are.

I'm turning 39 today, and I've decided to challenge myself to be the fittest version of me, "Mind-body-soul", before I turn 40. And it already made it easier to kick off some long-pending lifestyle changes into my life.

So, what will you challenge yourself to change? And in challenging yourself, push aside your muscle memory to find a new way to move.

Weekly recommendations

➡️ Check out the full episode of Andy Ramage on The Rich Roll Podcast. Its a great deep dive into a nuance we often ignore on alcohol consumption.

➡️ Jay Shetty dropped a great episode on saying NO! ( something I’ve struggled with for a long time)

➡️ Then Scott Galloway talks to Adam Alter about Phone addiction ( Seems to be a theme this week)

➡️ One of my favourite recent discoveries Mari Andrew writes about Certainty in a time of uncertainty in her newsletter.

👉🏽 https://mariandrew.bulletin.com/994299754668608

➡️ And in a shameless Self-Plug, I dropped a video to kick off a new series I’m doing on my YouTube channel focussed on things I’ve highlighted in books I’ve read. Give it a watch.

✌🏽

And as I was going through my notes from books I've read in the recent past, I came across a highlight I had made in David Whyte's book "Consolations". A book where I have sat and soaked in the essence of the words after reading every chapter. Because that's the best way to feel the depth of the words he puts down

"Perhaps the greatest legacy we can leave from our work is not to instil ambition in others, though this may be the first way we describe its arrival in our life, but the passing on of a sense of sheer privilege, of having found a road, a way to follow, and then having been allowed to walk it, often with others, with all its difficulties and minor triumphs; the underlying primary gift of having been both a witness to and a full participant in the conversation."

So, let these words soak in a little bit and think about what you can derive from them because our ambitions and our perception of legacy can mean so much more than we think they do.

Weekly recommendations

➡️ Prof G has a great chat on capitalism that opens many insights to soak in

➡️ The Folks at Andreessen Horowitz dropped a great article on the Passion Economy and the future of work

👉🏽 https://a16z.com/2019/10/08/passion-economy/

➡️ And Nathaniel drew tries out Maya Angelou’s Daily routine

Self-Plug

I dropped an episode on how you can find true opportunity in your career by focusing on the gaps in the space you already occupy

✌🏽

( Also, I need to stop recording these late at night.. my voice isn’t holding up )

Starting off with,

➡️ One of my favourite Youtuber’s Peter McKinnon talking about how he’s evolving his short form video game to keep his essence alive as a creator yet stay true to what works for the format.

➡️ Ryan Holiday summarises his brilliant book “The Obstacle is the way”. If this summary doesn’t make you want to read the full book, I’m hoping my recommendation will.

➡️ A Great podcast episode with Guy Raz on finding resilience

➡️ And then dig into one of my recent podcast finds, “The happiness lab”. This particular episode digs into happiness lessons from Lao Tzu

➡️ Casey Newton interviews Mark Zuckerberg so there are no reasons for you not to listen in

➡️ and Tim ferris has a chat with Anne Lamott ( If you haven’t read Bird by Bird yet, you dont know what you’re missing)

➡️ There’s a great article on Amazons new fiction serials platform and how it can solidify their hold over the publishing industry

👉🏽 https://bit.ly/3i06yhh

➡️ In a new App/Product Recommendation, If you’re someone trying to record good quality audio from your phone download the Dolby On App . I highly recommend it ( also this is not sponsored and the App is free)

https://www.dolby.com/en-in/apps/dolby-on/

➡️ And finally a self-plug from me as I speak about how your career doesn’t have to Equal your passion on your purpose

➡️ And how taking a Brain detox might just be the best thing you can do for your mind.

Catch you guys next week

✌🏽

We all have plans in life, things we wish for, work for and aspire towards. But at most times, fate has other plans. Not all our wishes come true. That's a fact of nature and logic. 

Most times, when things don't go "As we wish", we all either spend our time cursing fate or accepting it. The journey from cursing to accepting is a transitionary period that varies from minutes to years depending on the gravity of the person's wish or mindset. Accepting our fate is something we've all been told is something we must practise. But what if there was a third stage to this progression for unfulfilled wishes.

"What you throw on top of a fire is fuel for that fire."

                                                    -Marcus Aurelius

Suppose you can progress from acceptance to loving what happens. To look at what fate delivers at your doorstep and say, " What has happened has happened for the best, and I don't just accept it, but I love it." To use every setback as fuel to do better, to progress further. To look at what positive every unfulfilled wish delivers and use it to make yourself better. Use every setback as fuel to go further, not stay static with anger or acceptance. To use it to channel greatness in you. 

The Stoics referred to this as ‘Amor Fati’ ( a love of fate). To turn the bad things in life into good things.

In the world, we live in today, with what has transpired and all the disruption around us, it's easy to resort to anger or acceptance. If we seek opportunities to build good on top of it all, we can help the world move towards the light.

What can you say Amor Fati to?

Weekly recommendations

➡️ Kicking off this weeks recommendations with a great deep dive into the creator economy from the Venture capital firm Signal Fire ( one of the most in-depth reports I’ve read till date)

👉🏽 https://bit.ly/36DLeIb

➡️ David Perell’s YouTube channel is his hidden secret. ( His twitter account is publicly known GOLD). His breakdown of the Casey Neistat phenomenon is a great starting point

➡️ The Behind the scenes story of the podcast “Call her Daddy” is by far one of the most drama filled I’ve heard from the creator space yet. (Popcorn worthy)

➡️ Meditative Story is one of my favourite podcasts to listen to before I sleep. A must listen on so many levels.. dropping a couple of my fav episodes below

Shameless Self-plug

➡️ I dropped a video this week ( and podcast episode ) on “How I’ve learnt to read more productively” . Give it a watch

✌🏽

Now, I've tried journaling many times over the years and never could make it a consistent practice, but now I find myself doing it in a flow that works both productively as well as effectively for me. 

And, this week, I thought I'd list out my key learnings about journaling over the last few months.

* It's a conversation with yourself. To say the things you want to say to yourself on paper. So that it's not just thoughts in your mind but structured sentences, it helps build clarity beyond anything else. It's not for anyone else to read. Don't write to impress someone else. Speak your mind.

* Write down things so you can clean those thoughts from your mind and move ahead. You write to forget many times ( because you can always come back to it if you want to remember)

* You also write to remember what you should repeatedly reinstate in your mind, almost like building muscle memory in your brain.

* Write down the questions you are grappling with in Your mind. Often they lead to the answers you seek

* You don't have to write every day, making it a consistent practice and not a mechanical one. Your Journal doesn't judge. It just listens. 

These are some learnings I've had through journaling in recent months. If you journal yourself and have learnings beyond these, I'd love to hear about them. You can either drop it in the comments or drop me an email.

Weekly Recommendations 

➡️ A Great collation of clips focussed on mental health from the Rich Roll Podcast

➡️ An episode on the story of Gimlet Media ( arguably one of the biggest early drivers of the podcast story as a global phenomenon)

➡️ Its a great Amit Varma episode (like every Amit varma episode). Enough said!

➡️ An article from December 2020 that still rings true when we talk about the creator middle class and the need to enable their growth.

👉🏽 https://hbr.org/2020/12/the-creator-economy-needs-a-middle-class

Self-Plug

The story in this weeks episode of “Advertising is Dead” has to be one of my favourites in recent times. So much to learn and imbibe from it.

✌🏽

They've always been the one thing I enjoy the most about the human experience. But the one aspect I discovered much later in life that is such a core part of a great conversation is “involved listening”. Because let's face it, we all focus on what we say and how we respond or just how clever or interesting we can make ourselves to be in the process of being involved in a conversation. And while we've all heard the line "Listen to converse", we haven't understood it. 

In his book "Think Again, " Adam Grant touches upon this in the best way possible.

"Listening well is more than a matter of talking less. It's a set of skills in asking and responding. It starts with showing more interest in other people's interests rather than trying to judge their status or prove our own."  

Because only when we're genuinely listening, showing interest in what someone else is saying and opening our minds to their perspective are we genuinely conversing. Otherwise, we're just talking. To converse, we need to listen, absorb and respond without judgement.

 It's also why the best conversations are the ones with the perfect pauses between one saying something and the other responding.

Weekly Recommendations

➡️ Quentin Tarantino goes on Joe Rogans podcast and the (almost) 3 hour long episode is one of the intriguing deep dives into the mind of a filmmaker who ( whether you like his work or agree with him as a person) is fascinating to say the least.

➡️ The Rise of BookTok might be a sign of things to come. And while we in India dont have Tiktok, this is a trend that might just be beyond platforms but might show something deeper in terms of books coming back in a major way.

👉🏽 https://bit.ly/2V1MZfF

➡️ I discovered Johnny Harris recently on YouTube and the information and how its presented is just 🤯

➡️ And while this is a self-plug I’m not going to call it that because it’s Amit Verma explaining the concept of the super-fan and its one of the best explanations of the topic that I’ve come across.

✌🏽

Starting off with

Two of my favourite YouTubers. Peter McKinnon ( my go-to YouTuber to learn how to shoot stuff, vlog and basically most things) talks about something he did for 30 days that helped him focus and build a habit

& then Nathaniel Drew ( a YouTuber whose channel I turn to especially when I’m in the mood for some calm content) . This particular video also led me to a beautiful book which I’ll write more about below.

The Book he speaks about in the video above is called “ Consolations” by David Whyte , a deeply self-searching book where he describes some deep perspectives on words we use every day like Anger, Joy, Silence, Ambition and more. Its a great book to have especially when you pick it up from time to time and read a chapter at random. Dropping a link to that below.

👉🏽 https://amzn.to/3xUCg4Q

Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words

Another Book I’ve started reading ( I read different books simultaneously at most times ) is “The multi-hyphen method” by Emma Gannon . It’s something I personally relate to as someone who likes to have multiple things as “What I do”

👉🏽 https://amzn.to/2SYjw5L

Dropping an article about her as well

https://www.forbes.com/sites/karineldor/2020/04/14/why-a-multi-hyphen-career-is-critical-today-according-to-emma-gannon/

Next onto Podcasts,

Nilay patel talks to Satya Nadella on the business of windows. I always enjoy hearing Satya Nadella speak for both how he’s evolved Microsoft as a company but also for how he is as a leader

Then a conversation with Jay Clouse , who hosts a lovely podcast called “Creative elements” where he speaks to creators of all kinds on their mindset, journey and how they’ve grown in the space.

And closing it off with a podcast i listen to often before i go to bed “Meditative story”. I loved this episode with David Duchovny.

Mandatory Self-Plug:

I went on Anshu Mor’s podcast for a fabulous chat on.. basically everything. Its a fun listen.

And I dropped an episode on bringing your mind to a state of flow on “The Varun Duggi Show”

✌🏽

It's called the process of elimination and identity. He writes

" The first step that leads to our identity in life is usually not I know who I am, but instead I know who I'm not. Process of elimination.

Too many options can make a tyrant out of any of us, so we should get rid of the excess in our lives that keep us from being more of ourselves. When we decrease the options that don't feed us, we eventually, almost accidentally, have more options in front of us that do.

Knowing who we are is hard. Eliminate who we're not first, and we'll find ourselves where we need to be."

It's such a simple yet straightforward way of figuring out who we are. I've often struggled with putting a label on who I am, and as I've tried this method, it's helped me peel away at what I know I'm not.

I hope you're able to do the same, and as the layers peel off, feel both clearer and lighter about your own identity.

Weekly recommendations

I know I share too many things that Ryan holiday says and does but this one is a fabulous watch. Its made me think about how I read and while i dont think I’ll do this word for word there are definitely things to pick up

I love J.J.Abrams and this chat is another reason why. That’s pretty much it. He’s awesome.

I use the app - Calm quite often during the day and this interesting article about its rise as a platform is a definitive read for sure.

👉🏽 https://bit.ly/3zx324Z

Shameless self-plug

I spoke to Ronnie Screwvala and Vicky kaushal this week on Life long learning, upskilling, non-linear thinking, storytelling and so much more. Its my favourite chat in recent times and i’m sure you’ll love it.

✌🏽

I was reading an excerpt from her latest book, "My Inner Sky" ( I can't wait for it to be delivered to me later this month), and it spoke of something I think we all need as a concept. She talks of the difference between "Present thinking" and "Positive thinking" and why Present thinking might be what our mental health truly needs. Let me explain,

The last year and a half have been a rising and falling tide of emotions for the entire world. We've all been through this together yet in such varied different ways and states. In this difference, while things have gotten better in some places, others have gotten worse, while some lives have bounced back, some are still struggling with a deep sense of loss. And as the usual tropes of "Positivity" swept in around us from time to time, asking us to stay positive and that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter by the day, many of us struggled to embrace that emotion. That's where Mari's perspective on current thinking makes so much more sense.

She says that to stay resilient, she needed to embrace how she was feeling now rather than embrace positivity that wasn't in her vision set. To be honest with oneself and explore one's emotions leads to a sense of relief and allows for renewal to become a possibility. As she puts it

" Present thinking brought beauty and goodness into my life, whereas positive thinking just made me feel like I was choosing the wrong emotional state."

So, embrace how you feel at this present moment and allow yourself to feel and heal as you genuinely can.

Weekly recommendations

Kicking this week’s recommendations is a fabulous look back at the phenomenon that has been “Keeping up with the Kardashians”. A show that didn’t just change television & the concept of celebrity but pop culture and world culture in so many ways

READ 👉🏽 https://lat.ms/3wf7kvy

Next, a fascinating look at “Radical” Gardeners in NYC ( A phenomenon im told is prevalent in many cities in India as well)

And then i revisited one of my favourite episodes of the Tim Ferris show where he talks to Malcolm Gladwell ( arguably one of my all time favourite writers)

Shameless Self Plug

I spoke to Shashank Mehta the founder and CEO of “The Whole truth foods” on my fitness journey and how its helped me evolve.

and then i had a conversation that i can only describe as “All ♥️ “ with Rytasha Rathore on the Varun Duggi show

Catch you guys next week

✌🏽

"NO"

we worry about how the other person would react, how this might affect us down the line "what if they hold a grudge or this turns out to be an opportunity missed in hindsight ?". In our need for social acceptance and surrounded by a world that constantly believes in sharing and being open, we often worry about setting boundaries and making a choice to shut the door on something or someone. 

In her book "reclaim your boundaries", Nedra Glover Tawwab writes about how a two-year-old can very clearly say no, but as that two years old gets older, adults start telling this very kid that it's not nice to say no and to quote her 

"From a very young age, we're told that our boundaries are not nice or kind, and then as adults, we have issues setting boundaries."

So, maybe it's time to embrace the essence of what that two-year-old understood ( not literally, of course) and be mindful of how packed your schedule already is to say yes to one more thing or be true to your feelings and make that choice to say no. Because let's face it, If a relationship or equation can break because of a NO, it wouldn't be a YES in the long term anyway. 

So, maybe next time, ask yourself 

"Do I have the headspace to say yes to this, and is this essential?" 

Weekly recommendations

This has to be one of favourite threads from David perell, by far one of my favourite “Twitter-writers”. It also might be my growing interest in philosophy in general,

Then Two great podcast episodes, First an insightful look into our insecurities in Adam grants podcast “Work Life”

And then a fabulous “Best-of” episode from Reid Hoffman on moves for post-pandemic success!

Self Plug

Also, dropping some self plugs on my musings on the future of the entertainment industry

And a clip from my chat with modern poet Yahya Bootwala

Quote of the week

We jump at the chance to judge strangers. We would never do that to ourselves, of course. We are nuanced and complex and enigmatic. But the stranger is easy

- Malcolm Gladwell from Talking to strangers

✌🏽

Listen

Starting with Anjali Sud and the story of how Vimeo pivoted to reinvent itself. It's a great listen and lesson in how to pivot a business.

Sleep has always been the one thing I'm terrible at optimising. But, as I've started to dig into the science of sleep, one name has popped up consistently, Matthew walker, and this chat Rich Roll had with him gives a broad pov on why sleep can be our superpower.

And to wrap up the listens, I'm putting down one more piece I've been trying to dig into more, running, and this bite-sized clip on how running can transform one's life might just have pushed me to take this on more consistently.

Read

* One of the most interesting stories I’ve read in recent times has been about creators who’re using YouTube shorts to scale their followers by substantial levels & this article digs to Brandon Baum’s journey to becoming a YouTube millionaire

https://www.tubefilter.com/2021/05/13/youtube-millionaires-brandon-baum/

* Our lives have many "What if's" and reflecting on them could lead to some interesting thoughts... I won't say more and spoil this fabulous piece from the New Yorker.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/21/what-if-you-could-do-it-all-over?utm_campaign=likeshopme&client_service_id=31202&utm_social_type=owned&utm_brand=tny&service_user_id=1.78e+16&utm_content=instagram-bio-link&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&client_service_name=the%20new%20yorker&supported_service_name=instagram_publishing

Watch

MKBHD, aka Marques Brownlee, talks tech with Sundar Pichai.. you don't need more reasons than that to watch this video.

There is so much more beyond the surface in the Apple vs Epic games Trial. The Verge does a fabulous in-depth video on what’s beyond the surface

And to close off my recommendations, I'm dropping the link to a song that's been my happy place over the last few months ( this specific version is only available on YouTube) hope it gives you some happy vibes as well

Catch you guys next week

✌🏽

But it's one mindset definition that he speaks about in the episode that got me thinking. It separates those with a Mercenary methodology from those with a Missionary mindset and what that difference could mean for the career journeys and leadership journeys one could have.

So how do we differentiate them. A mercenary is typically a leader who has a clear focus on making money to generate wealth for themselves and their companies' bottom-line. It also means aggressive speed is their core focus, along with a razor-sharp, almost authoritarian style of driving their vision ahead. They focus on their competitors, think opportunistically, and build hunters out to get what the company needs.

Missionaries, on the other hand, are driven by passion. They're running a marathon, looking to create long term value for their employees and their customers (often at the expense of their bottom line). They operate as coaches and mentors to their team of farmers driven by values and an obsession with contributing.

A large part of the business world has always consisted of mercenaries, but what the world needs today is many more missionaries. Where does your Mindset genuinely lie in the meter of mercenary to a missionary? And what will make you shift that ever so slightly in the right direction to build what tomorrow requires?

Weekly recommendations

This week’s recommendations are great to learn from.

1. Starting with a deep dive conversation Guy Raz had with Marc Lore on his entrepreneurial journey

?si=t7sj995yT6ubfdQ_9-hUXw

2. Then Kara swisher talks to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel about the spree of announcements they just made making them immediate competitors with Tik Tok.

?si=R_hA_jpUSKC9fOlyIaOwjA

and closing off with a fabulous chat between Garry Tran and the Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on cryptocurrency ( super apt time for this )

Self-Plug

I had a fascinating chat this week with Shyatto Raha the founder & CEO of Myhealthcare on how technology is going to be core for healthcare to evolve for the future. This is part of a series of #FutureForward sessions i’m hosting for Upgrad & LBB. Some deep insights in this one.

Quote of the week

Dreaming with your eyes open means being alert to challenges but refusing to let them stop you.

-Ronnie Screwvala ( “Dream with your eyes open”)

✌🏽

But that's not what this weeks newsletter is about. I've been going through a period of introspection as a creator and a professional. I was questioning every aspect and trying to understand what should be changed and what shouldn't. And while I'll pick up the professional part another day, I'm going to address the creator part today. I've tried a ton of stuff as a creator. In fact, I got myself so muddled up and twisted in recent times ( I'm guessing the languishing hasn't helped) that I was questioning more than solving.

That's when a simple exercise helped me out,

I took a sheet of paper out and wrote four simple questions on it:-

* What do I enjoy?

* What don't I enjoy?

* What makes me want to quit ?

* What else do I want to create?

I sat down with these questions and spent the night putting down points. I then let it be and picked it up in a few days and tried to unpack what I'd put down and make any changes my mind was telling me to. And after a couple of weeks of doing this, I finally managed to find some clarity amidst the fog engulfing my mind. 

So, did this exercise take away the feeling of languishing? Not entirely, but it did help me find clarity in a muddled mind. Give it a shot and see if it helps you too.

Weekly recommendations

* Adam Grants Article on Languishing and why it may be the dominant emotion of 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html

* Seth Rogen has written a book!! About his life!! And he’s on Conan O’Brien’s podcast to tak about it. And its by far one of the funniest podcast episodes I’ve ever heard.

?si=VugnKBNRScyEYkDUuyp-_g&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A3u26tlz7A3WyWRtXliX9a9

* In my weekly “shameless” self-plug, I made a video about what I’ve been doing as a creator over the last year.

Quote of the week

”Our own life is the instrument with which we experiment with the truth”

- Phil Jackson ( Sacred Hoops)

✌🏽

And I got a fascinating insight while reading an excerpt from "Four lost cities: A secret history of the Urban age" by Annalee Newitz. Annalee digs into the history of our Urban past to give some insights into what the future might hold as we battle a pandemic, grapple with the changes technology is driving into us as a society and also try to understand how our connections with each other as humans may be changing beyond what we can truly understand. What I've read so far has been fascinating.

The most insightful part for me was a perspective that, while seemingly simple, holds so much weight for all of us to dig into. It's around the collapse of civilisations. We've all read about the fall of Rome and the decimation of many ancient cities and connected cultures. In all of these stories, the word "Fall" can be misleading. It insinuates that it's an endpoint or a complete stop. We don't take into account that it's never an end. It's a phase of transformation.

Every turning point in history has led to what can be termed as "Civilisational transformation". When we change our way of life while still remembering aspects of the before times but evolving for the future at hand, it never really is a reset or a fresh start. What defines the future is what we choose to take with us as traditions and memories to influence the future and what we choose to leave behind to get blown away in the dust of time.

What are you going to hold on to? And what are you going to let blow away as we look to a time after all of this moves past us? ( Let me know in the comments below or drop me an email)

Recommendations

I’ve been trying to get my writing back in a flow and have been pushing myself to get back on the wagon. This thread by Julian Shapiro did ring true in my mind.

Megha Rao has to be one of my favourite finds of 2020 ( I realised i was late in discovering her but couldn’t help sharing her fabulous podcast nonetheless)

?si=8bC0usQEQlGLkxmVe_7A6Q

Quote of the week

“Pursue what’s in your heart and the universe will conspire to support you.”

- Rich Roll ( Finding Ultra)

What am i up to this week?

Next weekend I’m hosting my first 2 day workshop on how to bring out ones inner creator to help achieve ones professional & Creator goals. It’s something I’ve been working on for a while and if you fancy spending 5 hours over a weekend jamming with me on it click the link below, I promise it’ll be fun.

https://insider.in/unschooled-with-varun-duggi-be-more-interesting-as-a-professional-by-activating-the-creator-in-you-may-kommune-2021/event

✌🏽

* One of my best podcast finds in recent times has been “Founders Journal”, where Alex Lieberman the co-founder and executive chairman of “Morning brew” shares what is in essence a daily diary of a founder shared with the world.

?si=XxALG53PRJGppum5Y0Hmtg

* In a time like now, Adam Grant digs into how people can navigate Career turbulence ( also if you haven’t read his new book “Think Again” you must!!)

?si=APAcvpB4RXCo4r0KYiRI_Q

* Josh Constine has a fabulous Substack newsletter/podcast and in this edition he digs into a ton of stuff around the creator economy with Patreon CEO Jack Conte.

https://constine.substack.com/p/how-the-creator-crisis-forced-artists?r=7nuen&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy

I rewatched this TEDx Talk by Taika Waititi and as always you always find new things to take in with him.

* Shameless Self-plug : I put out a video last week on how i’ve been dealing with feeling overwhelmed over the last year ( hope it helps some of you)

Quote of the week

"Some people were deceived by Hitler and others were not. And the puzzle is that the group who were deceived are the ones you’d expect not to be, while those who saw the truth are the ones you’d think would be deceived."

-Malcolm Gladwell (Talking to Strangers)

✌🏽

And then I went onto social media, and Twitter wasn't its usual stream of information and randomness; Instagram wasn't all content creation & fun... there was a drastic change in the social media airwaves. Where there were one creators and tweeters, people with one-liners and business insights,... there was now an endless stream of people highlighting requirements and connecting resources. From Mumbai to Delhi to Jharkhand and UP.. this was the Indian internet waking up to say we're not going to let our own stay helpless and die, we'll stand up and do what we can, using those followers not for a dopamine rush but for holding humanity together, not to let it fall into the abyss.

From hospital beds to medical supplies, people putting together entire spreadsheets of ever updated and verified information, trying to find a way to save the life of someone they had never met but were helping because humanity lives deep within us, and we protect our own when we have a common battle to fight. Food resources were being assembled for those who needed it. Volunteers were heading out to help those they could. People were breaking down and taking breaks for their minds to tune out the doomscrolling for a few minutes before diving in. No form of false positivity, jingoism , whataboutism or noise was diverting the collective soul of this lifeline we call the socially connected internet.. and while this piece has been written in past tense, we're still in the middle of it.

We're still trying to push through while so much around us crumbles because if not now, then when?

The social internet might be called many things, but after this battle is done, no one can ever say it's a shallow representation of humanity and doesn't have a soul. On the contrary, it just might save whatever humanity is left around us and tweet us towards a brighter day.

Links

I'm posting a few links to resources I know will continue to be updated

Ground zero twitter search for Covid

https://covid19-twitter.in/

covid meals for India

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wu80sP5tq2k9bfxjuzUfRORxPDf07gUALfLMrOv-YEI/htmlview

hemkunt foundation to donate for oxygen supply aid (and beyond)

https://hemkuntfoundation.com/donate-now/

Ongoing fundraiser's related to COVID-19 distress

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eiobgyrl8iz-R1Dz7c4R5pzzzkuZLBj99vaC7T_UeVo/edit

Quote of the week

Being human is given, but keeping our humanity is a choice. What's your choice?

- Kevin Carter

stay safe everyone, help where you can, amplify, connect and when u can take the vaccine.

She talks about how her Psychiatrist explained depression to her. He said

" Depression is like when you fall and scrape your knee, except instead of the cut being on your knee, it's on your brain."

And this led her to look at mental therapy the same way in which we all look at physical therapy, as a way to heal a body part taking away the stigma many associate with any form of mental health issues.

She also speaks of an insight on pain which I can't help going back to repeatedly. She talks about when she started training as a long-distance runner in college, where the gruelling regime made the pain a consistent part of her daily life. It would make her go to sleep in dread of what was to come. That's when she realised that,

Pain isn't something one can avoid in life. It's going to show up consistently. So the sooner we learn to shift our mental energy from dreading upcoming pain to accepting the fact that (as unpleasant as it may be) it is a part of our lives, the sooner we can learn to deal with it better.

And in the state we find the world around us, we all have pain showing up. This mental shift might be what we need.

Weekly recommendations

A fabulous thread on creating a consumer-centric marketing strategy from Alex Garcia

And Rich roll talking to David Goggins ( two true fitness legends in conversation)

Self-promotion

Starting this week, im going to be dropping links to some of the stuff I’ve been putting out in other platforms. You can scroll by it if you’ve already listened or aren’t interested but this is me just helping you get more of the stuff i create right in your inbox. ( I might put some stuff in before the wider crowd gets it in the future)

This week, I spoke to The amazing Da Rulk who’s trained some of our fav superheroes to be Functionally fit on how he drives purpose at the core of his perspective on fitness.

?si=BcM9eOKDSAO-beYedWPivA

& i also spoke to entrepreneur and podcaster Mansi Zaveri on how she’s built a discovery platform for parents & kids through a focus on building trust and depth of content.

?si=XhqwvjKLTSCJylgSg1fT_w

Quote of the week

“ It’s the matter of how we see the challenge in front of us and how we engage with it. Persist, pivot, or concede. It’s up to us, our choice every time”

From “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey

✌🏽

A coach training a team or an athlete for success, a trainer guiding someone at the Gym for optimal performance? Or Just someone running with a sense of direction and purpose. 

 Now pick some of the keywords from the above paragraph

"Success, Optimal performance, Direction & Purpose."

A coach or trainer helps build a system that enables those they train to achieve their goals by setting a system. This system also slowly helps create an environment that feeds or nourishes them physically & mentally to reach optimal performance. It also ensures that momentary lapses can be minimised by helping bring an individual back to the fold ( cheat days are required, and they're part of the system too). 

Now imagine using this same system with how you use social media. Most of us have spent a significant amount of time blindly scrolling through social media, consuming whatever has momentarily caught our fancy. And over time, this has taught the algorithms that drive these platforms to feed us the kind of content we consume. But what if we wanted stuff that was more positive? More educative? More focus on the things we want to consume at present, rather than what we have been in the recent past. 

The trick is to use the same training methodology with social media itself. It's a simple 4 step process. 

* Put down a list of all the stuff you want your social media feed to be full of as content ( put 5,10 or more topics)

* Then put down all the stuff you see more frequently on your feeds. ( it might require you to scroll through your feeds a little bit blindly but take notes while you do)

* Start looking for the kind of content you want more of and start liking, commenting or sharing more of it. And scroll past anything that you want less of in life.

* As you do this, the same way it is in the Gym or as an athlete, you start seeing more and more of what you want to see and consume. It’s a gradual process.

The longer you stick with it, the better your feeds become. It's enabled me to make my feed a well trained, informative, productive and motivating stream of content. And like any athlete, I have my cheat days, and then I quickly come back to correct its flow. 

A simple persistent system can make anything perform the way you want it to, so train your social media feed for your benefit and happiness.

Weekly recommendations 

The Colin & Samir show is something I’ve discovered recently and there is so much to learn from the perspective they bring to creator culture that its a must subscribe. I actually got a ton of insights from this particular episode on video podcasts and ton of other stuff.

Note: This episode came out before the recent revelations of transgressions of abuse that happened under David Dobrik’s watch ( by him and his vlog squad) so watch this clip for the underlying insights and not Dobrik himself. Colin & Samir have put out a POV on the controversy as well which you should definitely watch.

And on the Hype around NFT’s , Kara swisher has a fabulous chat with the artist Mike Winklemann aka Beeple who sold an encrypted digital collage for $69 million.

?si=uBHGpRGISpuhWAU0Nrkz6Q

Quote of the week

”Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished”

- Lao Tzu

✌🏽

"In today's world, is the Content bigger than the content creator or is the creator bigger than the content?"

While this might seem like a loaded question and can be deciphered and interpreted in so many ways, it made me question a few things in my head and derive how this question can give every creator a way to balance her or his creation graph.

Think of a creation graph as a graph that shows your progress between the time since you started creating content and the success rate of each of your content pieces during that time ( your success parameter is something only you can set individually for yourself).

The mistake we make is that we expect we'll end up with

a) a big hit at the start, and that will lead to an ever-growing series of hits

or

b) mediocre levels of success which leads to long term mediocrity.

What I've come to believe ( especially in the modern context of content creation) is that in most cases, you will have one of the following two graphs,

c) you have an early hit when you start, and then over time, it tapers off as the novelty wears off, and you aren't able to beat that one big hit you had

d) you create for an extended period of time with minimal success, and then finally you have a big hit, and you end up being able to sustain that level with an eventual mild taper, but because of all the content of the past, you're able to understand what worked and keep yourself at a decent level of success

Of these two, while C) might seem like the better way to go with early success, it might just not lead to as much satisfaction as d) in the long term, and that's why I believe d) is what most of us should aspire to.

Because the beauty of having a period of low Audience numbers teaches you so much about honing your craft, understanding the mediums, truly gauging the audience and evolving over time. So, when we finally have that one piece that blows up we can use all we've learnt in being consistent and go back to the same process we've been following all along to learn and stick with our flow.

Building our creator balance graph for success means we need to learn what can bring about that balance, and while its amazing to let the content win in the short term, in the long term, the Content Creator winning is what will make both content and creator shine more.

Weekly recommendations

On “Decoder” this week Nilay patel speaks to the head of product at Twitter Kayvon Beykpour about all the recent product announcements and how he sees the platform evolve in the future.

?si=uopB4VHWRB2VLwCKmMiZdg

I Cannot get over Shaan Puri’s Thread on Clubhouse, part satirical and part forecast driven. It made me smile and think at the same time.

Quote of the week

“If you want to have good ideas, you must have many ideas”

-Linus Pauling

Ego depletion is a psychological concept that equates our mind, especially the part that focuses on self-control & willpower, to a battery with a limited daily charge. When we wake up in the morning, our willpower battery is fully charged, and we find ourselves having the mental strength to focus and not give in to things we shouldn't give in to. However, as the day goes on, this battery depletes, and we slowly lose the energy to withstand temptation, and the eventual dropping of our guard happens. It also shows why we end up being more cranky as the day goes on.

So, is there a way to not deplete the battery and reduce the volume of this stream of depletion? So the concept suggests that while the best solution to stem this depletion is a good nights sleep, another solve is having intermittent breaks during the day, even if they're short ones, to help this battery from depleting too quickly.

So, next time you see yourself going too back to back in the day, give yourself fifteen minutes or half an hour and help that battery recharge. It might just ensure you don't drain your will power too quickly and ensure that you still have some self control as the day winds up.

Weekly recommendations

Adam Grant in conversation with Malcolm Gladwell ( an episode that involves audio from a live fireside chat and a clubhouse chat) Just listen because its two supremely smart people having an enthralling conversation.

?si=LqxIIVcbQbSm68MghCDt6Q

A short clip of Naval Ravikant talking about how to get wealthy

Quote of the week

”when you doubt your power, you give power to your doubts”

- Diane Von Furstenberg

✌🏽

Or as he puts it

"The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It's not about any single accomplishment."

This idea does ring true in so many ways, A goal sets a goalpost for us to achieve, but that makes it both a finite target for us to reach and something we can quickly give up on. It's the difference between saying I will publish a novel (goal) and I will write every day ( system), I will lose 10 kgs (goal) I will workout every day & live a healthier lifestyle ( system)... all these things when looked at seem less ominous as systems than as goals. Especially on the days, we lack motivation.

I go through this a lot, especially with writing. As I sat down to write this, I lacked any form of motivation.! it'd been a long week, I was tired and lazy (I'd also had a beer and watched the season finale of Wandavision), but I had a newsletter to put out, and so I sat down to write.

If I looked at this from a goal pov over a system pov, I'd have struggled with what I'm writing. Because goals set benchmarks, but systems make you commit to a process. They pull you over the line even when you lack motivation. They do this because they put you under less pressure to perform.. all you have to do is write something. And even if it's terrible, all you have to do is refine it rather than staring at a blank page waiting for something to flow. Just figure an idea to share. It doesn't have to be long, just something that gives value to the person spending five minutes reading it.

So, next time you lack motivation.. go through the motions. Worst case you'll suck, but at least you would have gotten something done.

Weekly recommendations

As I’ve been considering a regular Vlog, I started re-watching Casey Neistat and i realised that many people dont know about him ( that shows that i’m old) and I couldn’t not share two of my fav videos by him talking about his process , but check out any of his videos.. they teach you so much.

Also listen to this fabulous chat ( its got a part 2 coming up) that Reid Hoffman ( Founder of Linkedin) had with Bog Iger ( The “Till recently” CEO of Disney)

?si=bPavKvSkQgGboJmGzONzaw

Also, my new podcast “The Varun Duggi Show” drops next Friday.. do check it out. Subscribe by clicking the link below ⬇️

https://linktr.ee/varunduggi

Quote of the week

”You should be far more concerned about your current trajectory than with your current results” - James Clear

✌🏽

His books Originals, Give and take and the newly released Think again ( which I've just started to read) have constantly made me think and re-think many preconceived notions that I've had. (His podcast Work-Life is fantastic too). I especially like his perspective on how he brings his background in organisational psychology ( "the study of how to not make work suck", as he puts it ) and in a truly engaging form connects it to the broader human experience. 

A concept he spoke of recently when we came on Dax shepherds podcast " Armchair expert" is something that stuck with me and made me think again. He referred to a study by Phil Tetlock on how we cant base our decision-making and judgment on us being rational creatures instead of basing it on how we engage socially. 

The way we think and how we talk depends on our attitude relative to the people who matter to us. And so, to put it in a more straightforward sense, when we're not thinking or behaving rationally, we often end up talking and acting like either

* A preacher,

* A prosecutor, 

* or A Politician.

When we're in preacher mode, we communicate as if already convinced we know the truth and that all we have to do is convince the other side to share our faith. 

When we're in Prosecutor mode, convinced the other person is wrong, and we're on a mission to prove them wrong to the best of our abilities. It's a classic "you're wrong, I'm right" scenario

And when we're in politician mode, we're a lot more flexible because, unlike the above two ways, here we're trying to win the approval of those around us, but many times this flexibility comes for the wrong reasons and, as such, doesn't take us down the right path

So think about your default, and next time you feel your self behaving like either of these three in passing judgement or making decisions, Maybe consider turning to your rational side instead. 

Weekly recommendations

* The Podcast episode in question.

?si=_eQFDs2wQou0yvnq9WLyqQ&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A6kAsbP8pxwaU2kPibKTuHE

* A friend suggested i read this newsletter on both the future of Clubhouse and some interesting insights on Spotifys recent announcements

https://stratechery.com/2021/clubhouses-inevitability/

* SELF-PLUG ALERT, I started a YouTube channel! And apart from a new podcast that’s slated to start on March 12’th called “The Varun Duggi show”, I’ll be posting insightful clips/shorties from a ton of my past podcast episodes. You might also see some of the concepts discussed in recent newsletters in video form.

Quote of the week

”I’m like everyone else- I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does”

The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho

✌🏽

Sound familiar?

Welcome to feeling the spotlight effect

The spotlight effect is a term used by social psychologists to refer to the tendency to overestimate how much other people notice us. In other words, we tend to think there is a spotlight on us at all times, highlighting all of our mistakes or flaws for all the world to see.

In most cases, this feeling is led by our personal biases about ourselves and how people look at us and further accelerated by our own experiences in the past. It ends up being incredibly daunting for those of us who suffer from a lack of confidence in ourselves. In many ways, we see in others what we feel about ourselves and our ability to do things and our need to question the decisions we've taken in life. 

I spent a large part of my adolescence feeling judged for how I dressed, talked and looked. I continually looked at everyone around me with the constant feeling of being under a microscope focussed on everything about me. It's a feeling of being the guy who happened to fall out of his window naked and tries to figure a way back into his apartment while being surrounded by a sea of people on the street.

But, how do you pull yourself out of this? How do you take away this feeling of constantly being put in the spot.? 

Here are 4 ways that have worked for me in the past:

* Learn to block out everyone around you. Imagine you're the only one in the room. Just close your eyes for a few seconds and take a few deep breaths and bring yourself to focus solely on yourself. ( sometimes headphones help)

* Observe how people react to you, and you'll realise most times, they're not even bothered to focus on you, and even if they are, they're not half as focussed on you as you think they are. Realise, digest and remember that fact.

* Put yourself in their shoes and imagine what they must be feeling about how you look and think about them. This sense of realising that you're most probably on the same boat is a significant balancing factor.

* And always think about "what's the worst that can happen?" (this one is my personal favourite), and once you do think of it, it somehow doesn't seem as daunting as the unknown consequence you feared so far.

So, next time you feel like you're in the spotlight. Take a breath, look around and think about the worst that could happen. It might be the best way to ensure it never does.

Weekly recommendations 

* I recently judged the podcast category of the “Next big creator” awards for pepper content and one show stuck with me more than any other because the content was just so pure and beautiful.. This episode on demanding perfection from children was just ❤️

?si=gYZ9DkkWRnG_ZpveoudGfA

* It’s been a while since i shared anything by Scott Galloway ( sacrilege!) so heres his newsletter piece on “the algebra of wealth” 👇🏽

https://www.profgalloway.com/the-algebra-of-wealth

* For anyone who’s wants to go deep science and dig into science based tools for daily life check out Huberman Lab ( check the channel trailer below)

Quote of the week

”Not taking things personally is a superpower”

- James clear

✌🏽

It gave me an interesting perspective on how we all connect with other humans around us. She deep dives into how the strength, quality and structure of our connections matter more than their size, and how this also defines what kind of a network structure blends into our own personality best.

She defines most humans traits into three broad categories,

We could be an Expansionist, the popular ones! Constantly meeting new people and expanding our network. This type doesn't shy away from networking, they revel in it, and it defines their personality and their relationship with everyone in their ever-expanding network.

We could be a Broker, someone who spans different social circles. Someone who's jumped streams in their career and dabbles in a diverse set of interests and topics ( many on a surface level and not deep dives). They revel in meeting people from diverse backgrounds and derive insights, information and creative inspiration from them.

Or one could be a Convener, a person who guards, grows and maintains a closed cluster of relationships. Who derives strength from an intertwined, anchored set of connections built on the foundation of trust built over time.

These got me thinking ( firstly that I can't wait to read the whole book) and understand my networking type ( I'm pretty sure I'm a broker). But more so made me wonder what i can derive from understanding my kind.

What kind are you? ( some of you might flutter between two types )

Think about it and put it down in the comments below

Weekly recommendations

Last week on Advertising is dead i spoke to the awesome Viraj Sheth ( CEO & co-founder of Monk-e). @nayanmohitkar does a good job of distilling the learning’s in his thread..

For anyone who needs music to write to, study to or just plain chill to .. i found this gem

?si=lx8nyHhhT06Jbo6WNkHpDQ

Weekly quote/excerpt

The world is changing at such a rapid rate

that it’s turning us all into amateurs.

- Austin Kleon ( From the book “Show your work”)

✌🏽

Now when I say content, I don't just mean stuff like YouTube, Netflix, etc. I'm also referring to the time you spend scrolling through Instagram and Twitter, playing your favourite games, reading a book/newsletter/article or any piece of content that pops up on your radar during the day. Not to forget the music or podcasts you consume and the stuff you share between friends and family on all those chat apps you use. 

Feels like your entire day doesn't it?!! 

Even if you went back a few years, the mix would have involved many more things ( stuff we did outdoors, hanging out with friends, etc.). But in a post-COVID world content consumption is at an all-time high and has become so integrated into human behaviour that while we might cut back on it over time, it's now more ingrained in our daily process than ever before. 

So one begins to wonder. " Am I just wasting my time with all this stuff I put into my mind?" Or could this be balanced to be a net positive for us as individuals? Because what we consume dictates how we're wired as individuals and it enables our heart, mind and soul to function, grow, bloom and balance themselves out. ( Statutory warning: too much screen time is wrong for you and your eyes) . 

I've come to believe there is a way; I call it our consumption matrix or "the balanced information diet". 

To understand it lets first segment everything we consume into three essential boxes.

* The heart consumes all the stuff that connects to our value system. All the things that affect how we feel about the world around us. And end up driving our emotions and reactions like the tides in the sea.  

* The mind consumes all the information that drives learning into our brain cells. Things that make us know about the world around us, whether real or false, fact or un-truth drive our understanding of the world.  

* The Belly is what we feed ourselves for pure joy, for that occasional binge, for moments to reset our mind and heart by letting them relax and not get overly stimulated. The stuff we most times consume when we need our entire being to rest and relax.  

The balance of these three help balance our heart, mind and soul. So whenever you feel out of sorts, overtly emotional, tired in your brain or endless sloth mode. Draw these boxes out and write down all the things you consume into them. Too much or too little of any one or more might just be disturbing your balance. So always gauge what you consume and make sure your information diet is genuinely balanced.

Weekly recommendations 

* A fabulous thread by @gaganbiyani on the underlying skills that help you succeed at anything. I’ve re-read this a few times and its so insightful that i might just keep going back to it from time to time.

* A great prelude to the launch of Adam Grant’s new book “Think again”. He’s one of my favourite writers for the simple reason that he constantly makes me think 💭 with every insight he drives home in his books and podcast.

?si=yNAn3sFUTFyNxsqrqjKfHA

* Weekly Quote

“Our greatest strength is the exact opposite of narrow specialisation. It is the ability to integrate broadly”

David Epstein ( In his book Range)

So this week is all recommendations,...

* A Fabulous deep-dive between Scott and Ashwath Damodaran

?si=vMkpDVXRQhGXfMzi0OmLZg

( quick side note, Ashwath Damodaran is a genius.. listen to him on other episodes on the Prof G show)

* A great compact run through on the entire scenario from the Verge

* And a bunch of articles that gave me varied povs on the whole scenario.

https://qz.com/1963440/a-reddit-wallstreetbets-user-on-why-he-bought-gamestop-stock/

https://www.fastcompany.com/90599179/robinhood-gamestop-class-warfare?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-fastcompany&utm_content=later-13977119&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram

https://www.wsj.com/articles/keith-gill-drove-the-gamestop-reddit-mania-he-talked-to-the-journal-11611931696

https://www.wired.com/story/the-big-short-gamestop-meme-stock/

(Seriously watch the big short if you haven’t )

What do you think? Does this show a trend of internet mobs taking over main stream institutions ( beyond politics) and what do you think the effects will be?

put your comments below and lets bounce some thoughts!!

" What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important." -Dwight Eisenhower 

And then in 2020 something changed in many of us. In the middle of all the disruption to the way we lived and worked something significant happened, we looked at the word "prioritising" in a new light. It brought a whole new and pertinent angle to how we look at what we spend our time on. But before I get into that lets first understand the Eisenhower matrix,

The Eisenhower matrix is a popular decision-making method made famous by the Late President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower. Apart from a whole range of accomplishments in his life, he was well known for being one of the world's most productive people. And one of the tools he used was something called the Eisenhower Matrix. 

The format is simple, Take a box and split it into four quadrants reading  

* Do it

* delegate it

* schedule it 

* delete it

mark the columns 

* Urgent 

* not urgent

and the rows 

* important 

* not important 

It'll look something like the diagram below. 

Now look at any task you need to do, any decision you need to take and place it in the quadrant it indeed pertains to. While this method is far from foolproof, I feel it hides a more in-depth insight. And if we list all the stuff we do in a day, all the things that pop up to take our time and every time something comes up or even requires action imagine its place in the matrix and help it bring some clarity to your decisions. It's worked for me and added three core lenses to the way I look at my life.

Don't be busy, be focussed

Don't just make choices basis what your instantaneous reflex tells you to do, stop a second, and consider what role it plays in your goals and priorities in life. And let that barometer guide you.

Don't manage your time, free it of clutter.

We do a ton of stuff that doesn't have to be done, scheduled or delegated in our day. It can be deleted. And in most cases what needs to get deleted is stuff like our time on social media or streaming a show. ( I'm not saying don't do it, remember that if something can be deleted, that's the first). 

Schedule life into your time as well., not just work. 

The more you move away from work and life as two large chunks in your day to time slots spread across your day, the easier decisions get made, and priorities for both get focus.

"The key to not feeling rushed is remembering that a lack of time is actually a lack of priorities."- Tim Ferris

So prioritise the right things and lean on the matrix if you think it'll help you. I know it has for me

✌🏽.

Weekly recommendations 

* Nilay Patel the Editor-in-chief at the Verge & host of the podcast “Decoder” Talks to the OG Tech YouTuber MKBHD on building a business & scaling your brand as a YouTuber .

?si=TYAlgbBAS9KCitJ1vILrNA

* If you’re interested in knowing more about Stoicism and want to learn more you have to check out @DailyStoic ( its been my go to resource )

The channel and all the books by Ryan Holiday are a gold mine to understand Stoicism better.

* @Readingroomindia ( a fabulous Instagram account you must follow) Uses the Test Win by the indian cricket team to explain the economic theory of “Sunk cost fallacy”

*

Now if you take a wider/Macro POV there are many things to infer from this... because for the longest time in the age of Tv & Cinema theatres we would talk about the individual movie and show titles, opening weekend box office returns...and analyse what would make a movie last long enough in theatres to break even. Suddenly, its a whole different ball game. It's all about volume now.

We log on to platforms and scroll through them for the volume of content they offer, we peep into some, we snack a little, we watch some and we binge some. But what is constant is the need to always have something to watch next! So the more a platform offers the more the chances of us sticking to their endless scroll loop.

What it has also bred is the revenge of the niche. Big ass movies have been the kings of the box office for ages, but on a platform.. while they might still lead one to log in ( or buy into the subscription) after that the niche players keep us there. It's almost like the main course inviting us in and the appetisers and desserts keeping us there till the next main course comes along. So niche is as important is a blockbuster.

Continuity was always a thing for series, we wanted to see what happened next. The streaming era extended that trend and made us binge season after season, but now we also want sequel after sequel... so if you can create a successful universe as a creator.. you might just be able to tell as many stories as you can within it as individual movies/or series and people will come back for more.. ( movie franchises aren't a new thing, but now they're blending into series more than ever )

and lastly, this is the time to be a creator but more importantly a multi-dimensional creator. Be a generalist, develop stuff across genres, platforms, mediums and mindsets. Explore every aspect of creative you can create, you have the opportunity and the tools available for free. Because a YouTuber or a podcaster are today's showrunners, filmmakers and creative all-stars. So if there was any time to dip your toes into as many ideas and create it's now...

catch you guys next week ( go below for my weekly recommendation)

✌🏽

@varunduggi’s weekly reco’s

* Read Haresh chawla’s thread on the digital opportunity in India. Very insightful in how the ride has shifted and where the entire market is moving.

* Listen to Guy Raz interviewing Tim ferris . A gem of an episode for anyone who wants to go deeper into the podcast space in general .

?si=Xez3etgWQhqoQM5SvKqSPg

* Check out LBB’s fabulous 2021 consumer & marketing trends report to see how consumers behaviour is evolving especially when it comes to locally evolved brands . https://lbb.in/trends2021/

" The little things"

(Quick side note, the virus isn't gone..so still, stay safe and wear a mask ). 

The little things,..smaller moments, conversations and stuff that is always put into the bucket of being small in relevance to our lives. And yet what I've come to realise as I've gotten older and have especially realised in recent times ( and especially in the year gone by) is that its these little things that make us and our lives truly whole. And many of these have passed by when we were staring at our phones or just stuck as unread messages or unchecked to-dos because supposed bigger things like our own ambition got the spotlight. 

But this year as we've been stuck in our homes it has been these very small things that have crept into focus. And that's why my entire list was centred around the small trips to the supermarket with my daughter, the times my dog would cuddle up next to me heave a happy sigh and sleep or that daily irreverent conversation on an old friends group, I remembered that morning ritual of brewing coffee when everyone is asleep, the sporadic word game with family online and sharing some nighttime tea & a little conversation with my wife every night. As I listed these out I was reminded of one of my favourite passages from one of my all-time fav books

"Take a ton of pictures, text your friend's stupid things,check-inn with old friends as often as possible, express admiration to coworkers, and every day, tell as many people as you can that you love them. A couple of minutes every day—the payoff is small at first, and then it’s immense."

Scott Galloway in "The Algebra of happiness" 

So, this year while you plan your life, your career, focus on your ambition and individual growth.. don't forget that its the little things that will compound your happiness over time and make you whole. 

✌🏽

Podcast/book/content reco-list

I thought I'd list down a set of recommendations from the stuff I've consumed in the year gone by... ( not everything would have come out in 2020.. but I don't think we live in a linear world anyway). So here goes..

Podcasts:

* Bill gates & Rashida Jones ask big questions. This podcast surprised me with its mixture of depth and warmth in what can only be described as a tightly bound conversation that covers all ends. ( Also Bill gates can be 😁 funny)

* Land of the Giants (Season 2: Netflix). This one kept me glued with its narrative of not just the Netflix journey but the various aspects around the company and the overall business of Entertainment.

* Inside voices. My find of the year, an almost serene dive into the minds of some of the most interesting podcasters around. ( It made me think about what my voice truly stood for )

* Meditative story. Another fabulous find, part storytelling podcast and part meditative prompter.. this podcast balances the two ends beautifully creating a truly alternative way into a mindfulness practice. 

* Bhaskar Bose. Truly the game starter in India's plunge into immersive audio movies, always listen with headphones on and just enjoy the ride.

Special mention: Fin shots daily. A fabulous daily driver for anyone who's been interested in financial news but always found it too jargon-filled. On-point and very informative.

Books:

* The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel. Give me a perspective on how I looked at both the role of money in the world and how I look at it in my life.

* Daringly Great: How the Courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent and lead - Dr Brene Brown. A true masterclass in understanding our vulnerabilities helps make them our biggest strengths. 

* Ride of a lifetime - Bob Iger. The career, the stories, the company.. need I say more.

* Post Corona - Scott Galloway. Prof G as always gives a Macro pov on the world as it heads to a post-COVID state and drills down trends, predictions and his inimitable takes on everything under the sun. 

* Talking to strangers - Malcolm Gladwell. Deeply informative as always with many a Moment when I had to pause and digest the stories and the insights.  

* Stillness is the Key: Ryan Holiday. Ryan holiday has brought stoicism into my life with all his books ( all of them are must-reads) but this one especially helped me through some of the toughest parts of the year.

Shows/Movies/Content in general:

* Ted Lasso ( Apple TV+).. this show was all heart and boy did we need it.

* AK vs AK ( Netflix). Let's admit it Anil Kapoor is a national treasure and Vikramaditya Motwane can never be put in a box as a storyteller.

* Virdas: Outside in ( Netflix). I came away from watching this journey that Vir went on this year with such a range of emotions that I was choked up in happiness and genuine heart.

* The Playbook: A coach's rules for life ( Netflix). 5 of the best coaches in the world drilling down their process and journeys.. I had my notebook out!!

* Song Exploder ( Netflix). To watch artists take us through the creation of some of their most memorable songs in a true podcast to visual series transition... Hrishikesh hirway just brings the vibes.. ( just watch the episode with REM to know what I mean) 

* The Mandalorian (Hotstar Disney+). I mean, do I even have to say why? The Force is strongest with this show.

Also, most videos that Ali Abidaali & Nathneal drew put out on their YouTube channels this year.

Special App mention - Readwise. Stores all your highlights from your kindle and also throws them ( and other generally highlighted portions at you every day). Great for people who don't remember the stuff they highlight like me.

Have a great 2021

✌🏽

Now the words managing and optimising can seem similar but have far-reaching differences in approach when it comes to time. Managing your time is often an exercise to get a varied set of stuff done while the world moves faster than we can most times handle and to optimise is to truly use it as a resource that is valued and used only if truly needed.  

"It's your time, be selfish about it"

-Satya Nadella

If 2020 has taught us anything or made us think about one thing, its to look at what we do with our time. It's truly made us think about how we spend our time and analysing if this is the most optimal usage of this most finite resource in our lives. It's made us question the choices we've made in the past about not just how we spend it but also about how we plan for what we believe is our future. And so planning for "when we're older" has suddenly become " I should use what time I have now on things that matter rather than putting it off for a future that I have no control over". 

Now, this doesn't mean.. we give up on our professional ambitions or that our careers suddenly take a back seat. It means we need to treat time as a resource that needs to be optimised for us... so it's not one thing you want to do vs the other, rather its what needs to be done now & by you vs what doesn't. So, I thought before we end the year I'd throw a framework at you that just might help you optimise your time and what you do with it. 

But, before we get to it let me tell you a story from my past, which will give you a necessary filter to apply to the framework. 

It was 2004-05 and I was sitting in the last round of interviews for what would go on to be my master's course in mass communication. The then director of the institute noticed that I had a slightly non-traditional background to be doing a course in mass communication. I had, after all, spent 4+ years pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering, I had post that (or rather towards the end of it) chosen to work as a promoter for a bunch of alco-beverage companies and even as a call centre executive for AOL ... and now I wanted to study Public relations ( i eventually switched that to audiovisual communication early into the course but that's a story for another day).. so he asked me a question which I'm guessing anyone seeking to find some sort of focus in me would ask 

" Of all the resources we have at our disposal, time is the most finite. So, aren't you going to waste the last 4+ years of it by switching streams from engineering to communications?"

to which I responded

" Everything we do in life, every experience, every action and reaction gives you something of value.. nothing is truly useless. So, the fact that my path has been different means my experiences have been different and what I've gained from them has been different. It gives me an edge over others, rather than a disadvantage "

So, never discount what your experiences have been, rather understand what the learning's from them are. ( this is an important filter to keep in mind while doing the following exercise )

Now, onto the framework...

Put down a table like the one below,

It'll have three columns... professional-creator- personal

Three rows.. what I enjoy, what I don't, what else 

Write down what you enjoy, what you don't and what more you want to do in your professional, creator and personal lives. ( Try to keep it to a maximum of 5 points each). This forms the foundation of the exercise. 

Now add two more rows to it, what makes you want to not do the stuff you don't and what do you need to make time for the "what else" stuff you want to do.

Take this sheet, run through it, edit it, scribble around it and most importantly digest it. The more true you are to yourself in putting these down the more you will be able to look at what to prioritise, what to delegate, what to quit and what to invest time in. Because not everything needs to be done right away or pushed to a time when you're ready to do it perfectly, not everything needs to be done by you alone, life & meaningful experiences don’t have to follow a designated/ liner path and everything personal isn't last priority. Happiness is a variable output of time optimally spent that we often forget about...so use this to understand how you increase your happiness index.

"More than your salary. More than the size of your house. More than the prestige of your job. Control over doing what you want, when you want to, with the people you want to, is the broadest lifestyle variable that makes people happy."

From "the Psychology of Money" by Morgan housel 

So, use this time before we hit 2021 to make this life board. It might just give you some perspective on how you can truly optimise your time and expand your happiness. 

✌🏽

How many different subscriptions have you had in your life? 

Now, I know that at first instinct your mind will scan all the video streaming platforms you've subscribed to, then some publications and stuff like that... But, I want you to think about this from a different lens...

What about school? College? Your gym or yoga studio membership? 

because if you think about it, all of these are things you subscribed to ( or rather your parents did in the first two cases). You paid a recurring fee to get a service in growing your capability set ( be it intellectual or physical). And these subscription services gave you content in a live/physical space that enabled your personal growth in what can be called a Grouped content ecosystem. Your content was delivered to you in a group setting with many others... So, while it gave you value it wasn't necessarily customised to you and your needs. That's where Personal tuitions or personal training came in.. but still, you had to go to the place of activity in most cases or the person delivering the content had to come to you ( which reduced their window of scaling up their subscription base.) A trainer can only go to a limited number of clients in a day.

This slowly started unravelling with the digital economy. Educational and skill enabling content through players like ( from an Indian context) Unacademy, Upgrad, etc.. as well as phygital fitness companies like Cure.Fit ( there are tons of international examples) were enabling the individual deployment of what were traditionally grouped content activities. And then... 2020 happened.

"Nothing can happen for decades and then decades can happen in weeks"

- Vladimir Lenin/George Galloway 

( there is a lot of confusion about who the above quote can be attributed to)

And suddenly, all the individual deployment players scaled up overnight. Because that was a( and is) the only way we could function. But, most of what I've said above is stuff you know... what you might have seen but not realised is the growth of another form of content that has scaled up alongside these that could change how we as human beings live, learn, work and grow. It's what I call 

The Intimate content ecosystem

What the scaling up of digitally enabled content deployment has given all of us is a toolset to learn, teach & propagate anything that we might feel might give value to others in a non-public format. The critical part being "non-public"

Take Podcasts for instance, while they're deployed across platforms.. listening to them is an intimate experience.. you feel like your immersed in the content ( or rather sitting on the same table as the hosts..) which builds what I can only call a sense of intimacy that other social/video platforms do not. You, listen and learn.. you create and project information for someone to plug in and imbibe. And as many podcast hosts have done build additional exclusive courses, events, content that are delivered behind a paywall.

 Another example is the resurgence of newsletters, to have something sent to you that informs you and makes you think and learn in your own time and mind in a cyclical manner which you also might have to pay for ( like a growing stream of paid newsletters do require) is built on trust and not availability.

Now add to these two the stream of learning/Edutainment platforms that allow anyone to impart learning's and skills across the most diverse topics from art to gardening, from music to mechanics, yoga to dance and from economics to comedy without ever having to leave their homes ( on both the learn and impart sides) and you can look at the intimate content ecosystem in its entirety. 

The simple layers of,

* Give the basics/general stuff (podcast/free newsletter) as free content 

* build communities ( social/ discord,etc) to whom you deliver value

* Put the deeper/interactive stuff ( Paid newsletters/Live sessions/workshops/courses) behind a paywall

the fact that everyone from google to apple is getting into these models as well as the stream of journalists& beyond moving to paid substack newsletters shows that the non-traditional learning/information space is one of the biggest opportunity spaces for individuals who are willing to spend time in building content that delivers tangible value to everyone who can consume it as individuals.

And in doing so also giving everyone the ability to build to learn and earn as individuals while imparting and receiving a bespoke set of skills and information that we opt in to without the traditional constraints of physical spaces and organisations. This unbundling of what were activities that were most times relegated to the category of "hobbies" or " side gigs" can become the very things we do full time. Because think about it, we all have things that we love to do outside of our jobs which we never felt would be anything beyond "stuff we like to do" now you can connect this personal narrative to your professional narrative and build value beyond the physical constraints that the world has had around us.

Welcome to the growth of the "intimate content ecosystem"

✌🏽

we're not!! And yet we spend so much time obsessing over and trying to bring structure to all the things that are connected to our lives.

We also spend a vast amount of time, consuming content that one can only term as "Productivity porn". I know a lot about this because I suffer from an immense need to consume this kind of content. Nothing gets my attention that a clickbait title like " 10 ways to..." or " How I..." or my Achilles heel " the secret method..". My eyes spot one of these as I'm scrolling through content and BOOM, you'll find me 2 hours later going deep down the rabbit hole of "someone who used minimalism to make their morning ritual a productive launchpad for their passion project", I'm exaggerating but you get my point ( although that does seem like a very interesting idea for a video).

We spend so much time trying to add structure and our mind which is innately irrational spends as much trying to fight the constraints of this structure and what we end up with is more time building structure and less time accomplishing the act itself.

But, we cant not have any structure right? So how do we find the sweet spot between the rational and irrational sides of our minds? The realisation I've personally come to is to not look at it as a structured act...like below

what it needs to be and this isn't a hack or a system but more a visual representation of a realisation is something like this ( this is how my goal board looks at most times)

because what we need is an Irrational matrix with rough edges, stuff thrown around, a scattered set of thoughts, pointers and things to do. This allows our minds to find it open for flexibility and yet not so out of control as to leave us confused.

to be rationally irrational is to be human, so why should a checklist or a plan of action be any different.?

Now that we've gotten the basic concept in place, let's think about how this can apply to how you do things from a macro point of view, to work towards the things you want to do and achieve...

The core

We all have that one thing we want to work towards and achieve, it's at most times a moving goalpost but there is always something which takes on the focus of being our North Star. And in the spirit of building a roadmap to achieve this, we give ourselves (most times) a linear set of steps to achieve this over time.

But, what if we applied the irrational matrix to achieving this goal? It'll look less like a roadmap and more like a galaxy... with a central mass ( our core focus), multiple stars ( our big ideas), planets, moons and other such bodies ( our interests, actions and scattered points of significance ). Everything plays a part in balancing the central core ( my science in this theory might not entirely be accurate but look at this more as an exercise to visualise ).

So, what does this mean? It means that we need to look at what we want to achieve as something that will eventually be achieved by a scattered set of acts we do along the journey, these will not have a linear flow at most times and will be scattered across the timeline of our lives.. but will eventually add up to the core that we want to achieve.

So, is it about big ideas and actions to achieve the goal? Or a set of smaller actions over an elongated period? The way to look at it is to do a scattering of both that adds up to bring balance to our goals (the core) and keep the process evolving and fluid because life at its most satisfactory and productive is organised chaos.

The beauty of being unproductive

A lot of what I've written about this week might seem like an exercise in being productive in an unproductive form. And in many ways seems to be counter to what we've come to understand as the way to work towards things. But as Tim Ferris once said

"Not everything that is meaningful can be measured"

and in a similar light, not everything that we work towards or do needs to be in a measured, structured, overtly-planned endeavour. There is a beauty to being optimally unproductive and its often not measured in progress but happiness & satisfaction.

So, spend some time being unproductive, irrational and unplanned this week. It might just help balance your core.

✌🏽

Think about that question and what it means to you, for many it immediately veers towards success in your career.. but there is more to success than just being successful in your career isn’t it? Because there is more to your life than just your career.

Let us take those two words, “your life” and “your career”. And let's throw them on a balance…

and as we do let's jot down what we truly want from our life and what we want to achieve in our careers. ( try to put down at least 3-4 points under each)

Take a moment to soak that in, see how one connects to the other. And then think of the fact that we often perceive our career to be our life and hence our career goals become our life goals, but in reality, what we do in our career is a means to achieve what we want in our lives and not the other way around.

And this in so many ways can redefine how you look at success, how you perceive what you want to achieve and what you have.

I guess I’m writing this specific thread a few days after “The Glitch” turned 11 because it's been on my mind as well. Success to me has always been about legacy, but as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realise that legacy is in many ways a simplistic narrative we build for our selves and try to shove so many things within it to make our selves feel better, what legacy truly needs to be is to look at all the highs and lows of your life, all the stuff you are grateful for, the things you regret and the things you leave behind for others and fit all of them into a simple equation.

Because while legacy is in many ways what we leave behind for others and how people perceive us in hindsight, if you haven’t gone through life with your highs and gratitudes outweighing your lows and regrets then your legacy can never be positive. So keep an eye on this equation, and use it to build your life strategy.. because a satisfied life leads to a satisfying legacy.

Beyond the cast: Journalism

This week on “advertising is dead” I spoke to Faye D’Souza in what has to be one of the most satisfying conversations I’ve had on my podcast so far. It’s satisfying because I’ve often felt that Journalism is the moral compass of the world and I’ve seen it veer towards a mode of being skewed away from its North Star. But more than anything, it is a profession I’ve always respected for its innate core focus of depicting the truth in the most palatable way possible to ensure we don't just consume the facts but mull over them, think about our role in the world basis them and drive a sense of responsibility in ourselves through them. And this weeks episode was satisfying because I saw my moral compass come back into balance post this chat and it made me think about my responsibility to the world around me and to use my voice for the right reasons and the right causes more often than I do right now. It also showed me that there is light at the end of the tunnel for the moral compass that is journalism and that light is shining brighter with people like Faye around.

Taking the Plunge

“When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubts”- Diane Von Furstenberg

We Often doubt our ability to fly, to be able to do the things we want to do.. this makes us overthink, over-prepare and in doing so overload our minds with things it doesn’t need. So remember that we all have an innate ability to achieve, and always look at a situation and ask your self

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

And let that guide when and how you jump, Rohit and I asked ourselves this question 11 years ago before we started glitch … it was post-recession, opportunities and jobs weren’t easily available but we felt confident that worst case we’d have to go look for a job if what we had set out to start didn’t pan out.. and if we didn’t get a job, we were sure enough ( maybe foolishly so) that we’d be able to survive one way or another. We built the parachute after we jumped off and it had some bumps along the way, but if we hadn’t jumped when we did, who knows we might never have jumped at all and would never be where we are today.

So listen to what Tony stark once said

“Sometimes you have to run before you can walk”

Catch you guys next week

✌🏽

Four weeks ago I took a break from my podcast

 (If you haven’t heard it and are still here,... I’d love to know how you found this and secondly, if you like this then you’ll love my podcast “Advertising is dead”)

So, yeah I took a break from my podcast after 100 weeks on the trot, and one of the reasons beyond just wanting to take a breather from the cyclical nature it had taken on for me was that I wanted to also take a moment to reflect, to look at what I’d done so far and think about any tweaks and evolutions I’d want to bring to it going ahead. And as I’m getting set to get back to the process with the #101’st episode that’s due this coming Tuesday, I wanted to share a framework that I revisited to bring clarity to my way ahead on the show. It’s something I’ve spoken about many times on workshops I’ve done ( i think I did make an Instagram post out of it sometime back) and in this case, I actually walked the talk and did go back to it like I’ve told people in the past and it was the best way to set a roadmap and also solidify the core soul of the show going ahead. 

So, I thought it would be interesting to share it with you this week, and also show you what I had initially filled in and what I filled in during the last few weeks for you to see how this can evolve. 

The framework is something I call, 

“stuff you need to clear out before you do the thing”

Before we start any endeavour it could be a creative project, a startup idea or just a thing you wanna do on the side it’s important to answer a few questions and put a few points down so your mind and flow are in the right space. This doesn’t just give you a way to start with a sense of basic structure but also more importantly a base level sense of clarity. 

It requires you to answer 4 questions,

* Why do you want to take up this project?

* Why are you the right person to take it on?

* What’s your unique voice/pov to it?

* What’s your perm-flex ( what are you never willing to change, and what are you flexible on with it)?

Now while this might seem basic and you might feel, “this is stating the obvious” what you’ll realise as you fill this up for yourself is that it doesn’t just make you think about the why and what… it also defines your commitment to the project. Because if you have enough weight to put the above down, then there is no reason why you shouldn’t do this and if there isn’t enough weight then you know this is something that needs rethinking. Check out my framework at the start of “advertising is dead”

But, this isn’t where it ends… now let us look at how I filled the same quadrants over the break from my podcast.

It is interesting isn’t it how some things have evolved yet some have stayed the same in essence. And while I was updating this I also realised I should have done this at 50 episodes and not 100 ( maybe for every 25.. but that might be overkill). But, most importantly it made me realise that we might ask our mind to keep our focus and commitment in check but sometimes it needs to see it on paper before it can print it into your subconscious. 

So, this week I  want all of you to take a swing at this for something you want to do (or maybe are already doing) and I’d love to hear what you came up with and how it worked for you ( you can write in to me at hellos@varunduggi.com).

Be sincere, be brief, be seated

This line by Franklin D Roosevelt is something I’ve gone back to many times. Whenever I feel like overstating my pov, stretching something longer than it needs to be and just to give my voice more space not because it needs it but because my ego feels like it requires it.. these lines help me get centered again. Because brevity has more power than we give it credit and if you can state something in the crispest manner then you don’t just get the point across, you also give it clarity and in many ways give it more weight because 

only when you don’t have enough to say do you say too much. 

This has especially helped me when I worry about my newsletter being too short, but then my larger question to you is .. is it getting the point across? 

Catch you guys next week 

✌🏽

Now, I do know that this has been glorified to a large extent by many but what we don't talk about enough is the level of anxiety and mental strain it drives into us as people because of a constant worry of being called out for being a “fraud” or “imposter”. And so in flutters “Imposter syndrome” constantly whispering at the back of our minds ... and in doing so driving a sense of fear and insecurity leading to us swinging away from risks and doing the exact opposite of our “you’ve gotta run before you can walk” mindset.

Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a "fraud".

I went through that for a large part of my teens and my early and mid 20’s (it does occasionally come back from time to time even now), I was always unsure, worried that I would just fall flat on my face and someone would turn around and tell Me... I wasn’t who I claimed to be.

👉🏽👈🏽

But that changed when I learnt that I could flip this around and make it the biggest driving force in my life. What if this very feeling of being an imposter could become your own personal superpower.? It requires some reflection, some rewiring and using another framework for your life. ( i think im going use that line a lot more)

Let me explain,

First, let’s start by making a list... what are the things that u believe are the things that you tell the world u know a lot about or can do effectively that you actually/ truthfully can’t. Let’s call this your Fraud list!! And don’t just write the thing... write the sentence

“ I’m actually very bad at managing teams & being structured in any form” ( yep, that’s one of mine... feels satisfying to put it down doesn’t it?)

Then think about all the questions you have about each of these things that you have wanted to ask but haven’t ( because u felt it would reveal you for the imposter you are ). List down the questions for each topic...

And here’s what u do with it.

· Read it.

· Read it again,...

· Learn to be honest with yourself that these are areas where u lack,...

· Always remember you can fool the world but not yourself!! You of all people can call your bluff!!!

Ok, now do the following:- Write down the things that u never worry about, the stuff you’re most confident of. The intersection of your fraud list and your confidence list is what can flip this around for you.

Look at both lists. And then the next time u are in a conversation remember this intersection,

· When it veers towards the fraud list. Focus on asking the right questions, let others answer and build on top of them. Surround yourself with smart people who you learn from constantly and can pose questions to.

· When it’s towards your Confidence list Sprinkle stuff from your fraud list. ( a fraud can become a confident only by actually learning)..so keep learning and use that slow process of learning, sprinkling and not avoiding to slowly move it towards confident.

· Always admit that you don’t know enough about something but still want to voice a POV. I remember one of my first ever meetings as an intern in MTV, I decided to voice my POV on a question while people more seasoned than I didn’t and when I was asked: “what do u know about this?” I said “ not enough but I do have a perspective” and that earned me some amount of brownie points... so make your ignorance your tool, not something you hide.

· And my personal favourite, state out loud that what you are voicing out loud could be a “stupid idea”, helps add some cushion to falling on your face.

And always go back to the lists. Always focus on the questions around your fraud list. Ask them.. and most importantly never let your mind fool itself because, in reality, it can’t. You know what u know and what you don’t.

So let the lists guide you to the flip.

✌🏽

p:s - pardon the quality of the illustrations, not my strong suite.

A few weeks ago I did a brief workshop on how being a creator can help your professional career and vice versa. And while I was preparing the presentation for that I kept going back to my childhood... I always had as one might put it a vivid sense of imagination. I spent hours with my toys coming up with stories and even episodes of a continuing narrative... and some times I would go on top of our terrace and imagine that the tiled roof above our house was a hill I had to climb to save a princess ( what I didn’t know then was that princesses don’t need saving, rather they might just save you as they do most times.). And so as I was trying to think of the right way to present my case I realized the root of this whole POV. And I’m laying it out here so that you can try it yourself..

So, let’s start with the basics...

We all have three animals within us from the time we’re kids,.. our career animal, our creator animal, and our soul animal. And for most of us in our early years the creator animal takes up most of our attention.. it makes us explore things that seem to have no consequence ( mine used to be to collect all forms of useless information, scribbling way, telling stories and just trying to entertain people around me doing the most random forms of costume and dance)  in what many grown-ups consider the “serious”, “future building” part of life… enter the “career animal” this takes on the stuff around the school, studies, exams, you know.. the stuff u don’t really want to do but do because you’re told it’s what u need as u grow up.. and the soul animal sits as the balance between these two opposing beasts.. holding our character in its grasp. 

And as we grow up, slowly but surely the career animal takes over.. and our creator animal lies in wait for weekends or late nights.. “off-hours” for extra-curricular activities as they’re called. So, while some are lucky enough to make their career animal and their creator animal into one hybrid beast.. most of us have always had to choose. But, I don’t think we need to… and actually think there is a framework to build a co-existent connection between both of them that can enable both to live and flourish in the same jungle/or farm that is our mind. And so while I’ve figured a way to align both, I wanted to share the framework for the same with you so you can do the same for yourself.

What follows will be a framework for you to figure how you can build ur creator side and have that grow your professional side as well.. and that circle moves both ways. 

First,

What did you love doing as a kid which you don’t get enough time to do now?

………………………………………………….

What are the things you’ve enjoyed doing as a grown-up which you keep wishing you had more time to do?

…………………………………………………..

Write as many as u can think of as first, in both the above questions. Then as you put them all down as a list.. pick only those which you would do for no money!! The things you would do just for the love of it. And from them just choose a maximum of 4 things.

That’s what you can call your “creator square”.

Now comes the most interesting part…

List down all the things you do in your career!! Not just what you say you do, but drill them down into the stuff you actually end up doing like making presentations, pitching ideas to clients, building creative ideas, working with data, managing/being a part of a team, etc. and from this entire list pick 4 which you believe will be crucial for your career graph to grow the way you want it to. 

This is what we’ll call your “career square”.

Now list both squares next to each other and take some time to see how each element in one square can help in your other square. This part takes some time to get a hang of so don’t rush it, mull over it, go back to your lists, revise the 4 in each square.. but eventually, you’ll see patterns of how one side can help the other and more than help can help the other flourish. 

So, give this a go, play around with it.. revise it from time to time ( as you find newer interests), and remember, this is to help balance your soul animal and not something you’re doing as a strict exercise. It’s meant to be evolved to suit you. So go build your animal farm :)

Keep a wide counsel but hear your voice first and last

This might seem like a weird line to put down after what I asked you to do above. But let me explain… It’s important to get a wider pov from the world around you, to understand what people think of things but that doesn’t mean you need to do what they say. What this collection of perspectives lets you do is get all the information you can to make your decision and remember… it’s your action! You !! So make sure the voice that initiates and the voice that decides is yours and no-one else because you and you alone are responsible for your decisions. So you do you.

Catch you guys next week & Have an awesome Diwali!

✌🏽

@vduggi

What comes to mind when you hear the word framework?

I’ll be honest, I didn’t use this word a lot till late 2019 and now it seems to be my go-to word in almost every discussion around content. So why is a term that has mostly been used for software development and industrial processes fast becoming the core of every creative and content exercise?

Let’s first take a step back and understand the modern creation process. The way I see it ( and in many ways have learned to see it) creation of all forms of creative and content in modern marketing isn’t a purely artistic or creative exercise, it has always involved a large number of logistical pieces that hold it together. And as the content ecosystem and what we create within it has become more and more complex, its made the process of managing the conceptualization, creation, and deployment of each creative or content asset ( consider an asset as any single piece of creative you create, no matter how big or small) even more complex. And add to that the advent of technology into each of these stages of the creation process and in came the term “ Framework”.

So, now that we have context.. let’s just google the word “Content framework” and see what pops up.

“ It’s a structured plan of attack on how you will go about creating content, why you’ll be creating it, for whom you will be creating it, and how it factors into the buying process”

Or as I would compress the above “ Your framework is your guidebook and toolset to create all forms of content”.

So, now that we know what it is,

how do you go about building it?

And how can knowing the build help you in your career and creation focus.?

There are three simple steps which can be used to build any framework..which could be to make a series of content posts for social media, a series of ads across all mediums, building out a long-form web series or even a film or it could include building all of the above over a period of time.

* Hoard data & Understand the Macro. At most times we look at every piece of content in a focussed silo. The most important part of building a framework is to take a wider POV.. start by looking at what practices and processes people follow ( not just in the same exact kind of content but look broader) collect all that information and distill it.. start with anything u can find and bring it down to what could really work for you., this process and building the knack for it takes time. So it’s fine if you end up following frameworks others have done and slowly over time learn to add your insights to evolve them in your own distinct way. This also helps you not just understand how to build a broad framework around anything but also makes you constantly store information in daily life that you could use for a framework you build tomorrow. No idea is original and neither is a framework.

* Build in a Tech backbone. Once you have all the information and a broad framework, see what tools modern technology allows us to make it better, make it more new-age, or just simpler. And this doesn’t have to be something that’s too hardcore, We live in a time when the tools we have at our disposal on the internet and on our phones allow us to do amazing things, use those if they make the process better and more efficient and honestly the way I see it these also make it simpler to explain to anyone under the sun. So maybe use Canva for design or use an iPhone for capturing certain kinds of footage in compressed areas or even come up with your own hack/”jugaad” which might just be the Gamechanger you bring into any framework.

* Test, recalibrate, create, and test again. The one thing we need to take away from software builds is the idea of always being in a developer beta mode. We create so much content that if we build our process framework to be a constant process of trying stuff out, putting it out there, seeing how it works, learning from it, and making the necessary changes to our framework.. then we ensure that we’re always updated to the needs of now as well as being far more efficient in our processes.. quality could fluctuate sometimes but that’s how you learn about what doesn’t work.. and in the larger lens of things, one failed piece of content can teach more than any amount of time used to perfect it.

so, this in a broad nutshell is how frameworks are built! Along with the nuts and bolts that help create and evolve them. And in this complex world we are all trying to navigate and create within, understanding how to build structure around the chaos of the ocean that is the modern content industry will make you the person who builds value for yourself by navigating everyone around u through its many waves and storms.

( ✌🏽I might do a workshop on building frameworks soon so a deeper dive then.)

Tough decisions

We live in a time of tremendous disruption and change, it’s making us question every aspect of what we do, how we do, and why we do as companies and individuals. And while most times the changes we need to make seem obvious if we look at it from a point of clarity.. we hold back, we procrastinate and we lose crucial time in making the changes we need to which can ensure we ride through the storm in front of us. And when you think about it, there is one primary reason why we don’t act.. tradition.

In his phenomenal book “Ride of a lifetime” Bob Iger says

“I know why companies fail to innovate, It’s tradition. Tradition generates so much friction, every step of the way.”

so, learn from your emotions to ensure every decision has heart in it, but don’t let tradition hold you back by trying to fool you into thinking that it’s your heart speaking to you, rather it’s just tradition telling you that things have always been done a certain way and that changing them will do no actual good and will anyway be too hard to bear. So, respect tradition.. learn from it but don’t fear changing it around in the way the situation demands.

The Force

One of my learning’s over the last 7 months of the pandemic is to find a few things ( it could also just be one thing) to be your anchor. It could be a basic morning ritual you build around making your coffee in the morning or your exercise routine, or just sitting in silence for a few minutes a day. We’ve never been more connected yet so apart as human beings and never so disconnected from our own selves in the barrage of stuff we let the world throw at us. So find a few things in your day that become your anchors, which help you spend time with yourself without plugging into anything else. This one act can make you feel more connected to yourself than you have in a long time.. because if you find the force inside yourself then the force emanates from you to the world around you. Or as Chirrut Imwe in Star Wars Rogue one said,

“I’m one with the force and the force is with me”

stay safe and catch you guys next week.

✌🏽

@VarunDuggi

p:s- please share feedback on what you liked and didn’t like about the newsletter, the one thing I really want to do is evolve this to be put together for you in the best possible way. and also apologies for the random beeps in between the audio-version, “software glitches” 🙈

a) subscribed but found the whole reading thing too heavy

b) thought it would be a fun thing to get in their inbox and what they actually got was a wannabe weekly textbook 📕 ( don’t we all really want that..NOT!)

Or

c) They never got what the writer was trying to either say, impart or just plain put across to them...

Because if you’re getting an extra email in your inbox 📨 the one question u should ask is

How is this helping me again?

And that’s why I’m doing a newsletter!!

To give back something to anyone who’s chosen to read this, to share some insights I’ve gotten to learn and to allow people to dig a little deeper into things I might not have gone deep enough into on my podcast ( incase you’re here without having heard my podcast “Advertising is dead, I wanna say “you’re 🤩 amazing ” and also please do look it up and give it a listen)

So what will you get from every edition of “Unschooled with Varun duggirala”

* Some things that will add a little extra something every week to your bag of knowledge for your work scene.

* Some stuff that might just make you look at the way you live your life a little differently ( or maybe not but it’ll make you think for sure)

* Some stuff you really need to consider to feed your soul. Because if there is one part we don’t feed enough that’s our soul.

So yeah, a little bit for work, a lil bit for life and a little something for your soul.

Because life’s too short to keep what you’ve learnt to yourself and I wanted to unschool some of the stuff I’ve learnt and share it with as many people as I can...

The first one drops this Saturday.

( also forgive any typos and point them out, I’m terrible at proof reading...as in lazy )

✌🏽