20 books to read in your 20s

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Tuesday's with Morrie

I chanced upon this book in 1st yr of college and I am so glad I did. It gave me a perspective that I hadn't had until then, about the significance of

The Subtle Art of not giving a F*ck

So much of our 20s are spent in caring about what others think of us. This book changed and challenged so many views around that. While I read this book in my last 30s, I wish it was there when I was

The Alchemist

This book introduced to me the power of belief. And I think that has stayed with

Man's search for meaning

This book, from the eyes of a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp, is about my favorite thing in the

20 online courses for your 20s

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Microsoft Excel - Excel from Beginner to Advanced

I LOVE excel and genuinely believe it to be one of the best pieces of software ever made.
So many of my life decisions are made on it and I think knowing how to use excel is an important life

The Complete 2021 Web Development Bootcamp

While I live with no regrets, hand on heart not knowing how to code is one regret I have.
The ability to convert your thoughts into a consumable product is nothing short of

The Complete Digital Marketing Course

The skill to reach audiences digitally, is going to be defining in the next 10-20 years.

While the platforms will change, the fundamentals

The Complete Foundation Stock Trading Course

In my 20s I frankly gambled my money away in stocks, thinking this is where "paisa dugana ho jata hai raato raat".

I took a stock trading course 7 years back and I wish I had 20 years

20 lies that the world feeds us everyday

A thread...

Lie 1:
If you don't settle in your 20s, you are gone!
This is the decade.
You don't get another chance.
Study fast, get a job, get married, kids, that car, that house.
Quickly!
Time's running.
Look at everyone else doing it!

Lie 2:
People who are poor are lazy.
People who are rich are hardworking.
It is your fault if you haven't made it in life.
Look at everyone else who made it.
There is nothing granted or gifted in life.

Lie 3:
Those in corporate jobs, are unambitious.
They have sold their soul.
They are addicted to the salaries.
They could have done so much more with their life.
But they decided to spend it working for someone else.

Lie 4:
Starting your own business is the surest way of making money.
You can never get rich earning a salary.
You can never get rich working for someone else.

A set of 20 books, to understand the world.

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1.
Hands down the most powerful, yet simplistic description of

2.
This book bravely attempted to answer the "Why" of human existence and I personally think did a commendable

3.
The most hard-hitting book I remember reading, where I found myself in perpetual

4.
If I ever write a book on life, this would be my inspiration. The simplicity and impact of the book held me in

My top books I read in 2020

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Almanack of Naval Ravikant
What a stunning and thoughtful compilation of @naval's work and words.
I predict that this is going to define a new industry - curating public content of thought leaders and converting them into

Waking Up: Search for spirituality without religion
@SamHarris provoked me through this book and offered me, an atheist, a lot to think about.
Pick up his works!

Psychology of Money
My most awaited book of this year, since the day @morganhousel announced his book.
A must read for all ages, especially those in their 20s.

I predict this to reach levels of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" over the next 10

Courage to be disliked
What a stunner! Challenges most of our tightly-held beliefs and I found myself nodding more often than not through the book.

Not for the

The art of cold emailing

A thread...

Cold emailing is the act of sending an email (or a DM) to someone who doesn’t know you (hence the word, cold!)

Every day I get 300+ emails, most from those I do not know, and a shocking number of them are poorly written.

Here are 10 things that work for emails that I reply to

1. A different (but not aggressive) subject line

Ask yourself, what is the most likely subject line that EVERYONE will tend to write.
And then DO NOT write that.

What works?
Personalization (I think Vidur and Uzma will love this)
Intrigue (This is when I first saw you)

What doesn’t work?
Common themes (Seeking investment; Job application)
Aggression (Your content sucks - true story btw. It was used only to catch attention)
Buzzwords (AI/ML startup by Stanford founder)

2. The salutation

It is crazy how this small thing is so impactful.
How do you start your email?

Hi Ankur / Hey Ankur / Good Morning Ankur / Dear Mr. Warikoo etc

Adding harmless emoticons helps (😊)

No one is going to do it for you

A thread...

As a founder, if you won't show up every single day, despite how you are feeling, or how the startup is doing or what the press is writing about you, or your cofounders not working out, or your product failing or your customers shouting

No one is going to do it for you

As a student, if you won't do things that scare you, that make you feel nervous, that challenge you, that intimidate you, that you have always wanted to do but never gathered the courage to

No one is going to do it for you

In your first job, if you are not going to make an effort to know how things have happened before and why, to meet new people, to seek help, to ask for feedback, to be patient with results, to not seek "impact" in the first month itself

No one is going to do it for you

If as a son/daughter you are not going to realize what your parents went through while growing up, that they want the same things from your life that you want for your self, that their path is different but there are reasons why

No one is going to do it for you

15 things I wish I was told, when I was in my 20s

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1.
Your grades in college are not going to define your life.
The first company you work for is not going to define your life.
Your first pay package is not going to define your life.

2.
Who and why you decide to spend your life with - is one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life.

Don't take it lightly.

3.
Don't go to college looking for a job, a title, a company, a function, a role, a salary.
Go to college looking for yourself.
"What am I good at?"
"What makes me happy?"

4.
This decade you will either drift away from your family or not be able to break from their shackles or realize they are extremely dear to you.

What will you regret not doing, when you are 40?

20 habits for your 20s

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Habit 1:
Smile at the mirror

20s is the decade of self doubt. Where we feel inadequate, incomplete, lost.

The simple habit of smiling at the mirror, makes me drop my emotions in that moment.

And acknowledge me, for who I am.

Habit 2:
Make your bed
Starts your day with a small accomplishment.

Growing up, the 4 of us used to sleep together in the drawing room, since it had a cooler.

It was my job to make everyone's bed.
It was the last thing I did every night and the first every morning.
Still do it.

Habit 3:
Take the first 30 mins of your morning, for yourself

Don't start it with your phone.
Or with a person.
Or with a book.
Or the toilet.

Just you, your thoughts, some lasting memory of your dreams.

You will appreciate the power of slowing down.

Habit 4:
Call people by their names

Few things makes a person feel included, than hearing their name in a conversation.
Remember, consciously, to include their names, as you speak to them.

You will earn their respect, their attention and their trust.

My Productivity Hacks

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Productivity Hack #1
Not try to remember anything

I consciously and obsessively try to NOT remember things.
So that my mind dispenses the least amount of energy in remembering tasks or even context.

Hence, I carry a notebook with me always.
I take notes like a school student
I put tasks in a calendar
I send myself emails in the future

My mind's energy should be spent in thinking.
Not remembering!

Productivity Hack #2
Document EVERYTHING!

At any point I have 3 notebooks
1. Ideas
2. Todos lists for the day
3. Meeting notes

And I write down things.

Writing helps tell the brain that this is important.
And it helps me not "try and remember" anything.

Productivity Hack #3
I put everything on a calendar

My calendar is my lifeline.
Everything is on my calendar.
Bills to pay, birthdays to remember, threads to write, weekly routines.

Ten 90-day challenges for your mind, body and soul.

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1: Structured thinking

Our mind is buzzing with thoughts.
But when we start speaking, we fail to structure them.

What is needed, is a way to pace our thoughts.

That is where writing helps.

Writing is the slowest form of expression.
When we write, we are not just thinking about what we wish to communicate, we are also selecting the most important thought from all other thoughts.

Write everyday for 90-days.
And always conclude with a "This tells me that ________"

2. Confident speaking

We get conscious when it comes to public speaking.
Even if we are confident of the content.

Record a video of yours for 90-days, on ANY topic.

Do not share it with anyone.
Review it, identify improvements and correct them the next day.

3. Sugar craving

Whenever you feel like having sugar, drink a glass of water and then have sugar-free chewing gum.

Water fills your stomach.
Gum satiates your sugar craving.
Because you are chewing it, you can't have anything else.

90days and you won't crave for sugar anymore.

How I invest my money

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Last year when I stepped down as the CEO of nearbuy - I was a classic case of paper wealth with no cash in hand.

I had stupidly over indexed on equity, made terrible mistakes with money (see thread the end of this thread) and had no other income stream.

I realized the biggest mistakes I had made was investing in largely illiquid assets - startups and real estate. With extremely poor liquidity.

So while I had "wealth" I did not have any income.

The last year I have been working on changing that.

1. Term Insurance
A decade back I bought a term insurance plan for 25 years, for 10Cr.

Which means if I die in the next 25 years (by the time I am 55), my family will get 10Cr (over and above my ongoing loans).
If I don't die, I get nothing.

My logic at 30 was that by 55 I should be able to get to the 10Cr mark myself.
Until then I rely on an insurance plan.

This amount I believe takes care of all current and future needs of my family.

This gives me mental peace, should something happen to me ever!

25 immensely powerful life hacks.

A thread...

1. When speaking to others, try and notice the color of their eye balls.

This will maintain eye contact without you feeling awkward.
While making them feel heard.

2. Send emails to your future self.

It could be a task, a prediction, a thought. Compose the email and schedule send it for sometime later.

It is joyful when we have forgotten about something and then hear from our own selves.

3. Do not try to remember anything!

Write everything down.
Put things on a calendar.
Create a to-do list.
Use a notes app.

We over-estimate our ability to remember things!

4. Predict your future (and then laugh about it)

Every birthday, write down 2-3 predictions for yourself, for the next year.

And then next birthday, go through them.

Over 3-5 years you will be amazed at how inaccurate your predictions were!

17 books you can read in one go

A thread...

1. Eat that frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time

Simple, powerful book to help you manage

2. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Story of a lawyer, who is jolted by a sudden illness and realizes the true meaning of life thereafter.

3. The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

The book explains how by understanding and learning to control our subconscious mind, we can welcome a world of prosperity, happiness and

4. Think and Grow Rich

One of the most conclusive books on understanding money, and a simple one to start with, at that.

11 reasons we procrastinate

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1. We think we still have time

One of the biggest reasons to postpone what we have to do, is this sense that there is still time left for us to get it done.

This isn't entirely bad, as long as "last minute work" doesn't affect us emotionally.

However, it can play havoc if our estimate is wrong, or it causes anxiety last minute.

Break down the task into smaller measurable tasks.
Add up the times it will take.
Add some buffer.
The sum is the estimated time you will need.

Now compare it with the time you actually have.

2. We have a LOT of options

We just don't know which one to pick.

FOMO takes over.
What if we pick the wrong one?

Creativity takes over.
The ideas just keep coming.

Sit with each option and imagine the future consequences. Eliminate them, basis what you don't like.

3. "I don't have time"

You have a lot to do.
So it becomes easy to procrastinate what, in your head, isn't urgent.

But it could be important.
Classify your tasks into urgent and important.

The most important things in life, will rarely be urgent.

41 observations about life, in the week I turned 41.

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1.
It is easy to respect people from a distance.
True respect is when you get to know them, and still respect them.

2.
People assume that a verified Twitter profile is someone smart. Ironically, the blue tick says, "this person is EXACTLY who they claim they are"

3.
Your guides, your mentors, your managers are not there to fix your mistakes.
They are there to guide you, so that you are eventually able to see your own mistakes.

4.
Not every problem needs to be solved.
Some need to just be heard.
Just be felt.
Just be empathized with.

5.
The only success for a company is when it raises money from customers.
Not investors.

Congratulating a founder on raising money is like congratulating a chef on buying vegetables.

6.
Sometimes, stepping away from a relationship is the best way to save it.

7.
When you share your failures openly, you instantly take away all power that the world had over you.

8.
Work becomes most joyous when you are working with a set of people you would want to spend time with, even beyond work.