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

A thread...

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.
9.
Managing time is about managing your energy.
Managing your energy is about managing your attention.

10.
Speed doesn't mean smartness.

11.
Parents are humans first.
They became parents later on.
12.
FOMO is not an investing strategy.

13.
Do not confuse calm people as those lacking fire.

14.
When we come to know WHY we are feeling fear, fear will disappear.
Because it has served its purpose.
15.
In life, most goals that we set for ourselves are simply desires.
We want to get there.
We don't really HAVE to get there.
So if we do achieve them, we feel great.
If we do not, we feel shitty.

Both feelings are not warranted.

Don't set goals.
Set habits!
16.
We have been living a life, trying to fill expectations, that have been imposed on us without our permission.

17.
Take criticism seriously.
But not personally.

18.
The purest form of creation is the one that is created neither out of fear nor with the willingness to share.
19.
You can make anything work!
You can do anything you set out to do.

But whether you do it with a smile on your face, or a frown, will define whether you serve as an inspiration for others or not.

20.
Problem is that we want everything tomorrow.
21.
To share what you have, is the best way to cherish what you have.

22.
At times all you need to know is that you are not alone in feeling what you are feeling.

23.
The world doesn't require one more template.
The world requires one more rebel.
24.
If you politely decline an invitation stating it is not a priority currently, and the other side gets offended, it is a sign you did the right thing!

25.
It is baffling how many people do not know the answer to the question
"How can I help you?"
26.
Never complain.
Even if it is the worst day of your life to date.

It robs us of our power.
It tricks us into believing that we don’t have any.
27.
You made it to top college. Or didn't.
You got a job. Or didn't.
You got married. Or didn't.

To the world, our life is just multiple events of success or failure.

To us, our life is what happens between those events.
28.
Most decisions in life are reversible.
But we assume them to be set in stone.
And obsess about whether we are making the right decision or not!

29.
You truly want to learn something new when you do not feel the need to tell anyone that you are learning something new!
30.
Sometimes moving out saves the relationship you have with your parents.

31.
Don't make your lack of preparation as an excuse to not start!

32.
Money, in the hands of the right people, is a good thing!

33.
Invest in a way that you do not lose your sleep.
34.
Just because something is cheap doesn't make it attractive to buy.

35.
Simplest way of building trust

Do what you say you will do!
EVERY
SINGLE
TIME

36.
The decision that will hurt you the most is not making one, while waiting to take the right one!
37.
The win that scares us the most is the one we win without knowing how we did it.
So we doubt if we can win again!

38.
We get scared in life because we do not attach probabilities to events in life.

We think all events have equal probabilities.
39.
Build a culture where people are respected for what they do.
Not what information they have access to.

40.
Nothing is worth it, if you aren't happy with where you are in life.
41.
The greatest joy in this world is your freedom.
Freedom to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, however which way you want to do it.
Sometimes, the presence of money grants you this freedom.
Sometimes, the absence of money sets you free.

Make your own choice.
I couldn't have imagined living this life even 2 years back, let alone 20 years back!

While I remain immensely grateful for it, and recognize the role of luck and privilege, it also serves a reminder to me
"It isn't over, until it is over!"
I remain a student of life.
Forever!

More from Ankur Warikoo

10 ways I am running my current startup differently from the ones before

A thread...

Difference #1
Bootstrapped as against raising money

https://t.co/RKWB3KfMZt was a venture funded company. We raised $43Mn from top investors, but I couldn’t give them a return that I would be proud of. In the process, learning how raising money works but also doesn’t work

My current startup is bootstrapped.
I do not intend to raise money for it.
It has been profitable from Day 1 and that is the way I hope it remains.

I have raised money from customers.

Difference #2
Slow and small

For the past decade, I was in the mode of fast and big.
Being fast was the only thing that mattered.
And you either go big or go home.

Today, I am taking it slow.
Slow to add costs, slow to take decisions that are irreversible.

I am patient because all good things in life take time!
How I created content in 2020

A thread...

Back in Aug 2016, I started creating content to share my experiences as an entrepreneur.
Over 3 years I had put out 1,200+ hours of content - posting every week without


Little did I know that something I started almost 4 years back would give my life an entirely new direction.

At the end of 2019, my biggest platform was LinkedIn with ~700K followers.

In Jan 2020, I decided to build a team that would help me with the content.

I ran a month long recruitment drive to hire a team of interns.

It comprised 4 detailed rounds - starting with my loved 20 questions, then an assignment, then a WhatsApp video round and finally F2F.

Through 1,200+ applications, I finally selected 6 profiles, starting March.

I am a firm believer in @peterthiel's one task, one person philosophy
So the team was structured such that everyone was responsible for ONLY one task

1. Content ideas
2. Videography
3. Video editing
4. LinkedIn (+TikTok) distribution
5. FB+IG distribution
6. YouTube distribution

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Where to begin?

So our new Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's stepfather, Samuel Pisar, was "longtime lawyer and confidant of...Robert Maxwell," Ghislaine Maxwell's Dad.


"Pisar was one of the last people to speak to Maxwell, by phone, probably an hour before the chairman of Mirror Group Newspapers fell off his luxury yacht the Lady Ghislaine on 5 November, 1991."
https://t.co/DAEgchNyTP


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Dalton School...Dalton School...rings a

Oh that's right.

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**Thread on Bravery of Sikhs**
(I am forced to do this due to continuous hounding of Sikh Extremists since yesterday)

Rani Jindan Kaur, wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh had illegitimate relations with Lal Singh (PM of Ranjit Singh). Along with Lal Singh, she attacked Jammu, burnt - https://t.co/EfjAq59AyI


Hindu villages of Jasrota, caused rebellion in Jammu, attacked Kishtwar.

Ancestors of Raja Ranjit Singh, The Sansi Tribe used to give daughters as concubines to Jahangir.


The Ludhiana Political Agency (Later NW Fronties Prov) was formed by less than 4000 British soldiers who advanced from Delhi and reached Ludhiana, receiving submissions of all sikh chiefs along the way. The submission of the troops of Raja of Lahore (Ranjit Singh) at Ambala.

Dabistan a contemporary book on Sikh History tells us that Guru Hargobind broke Naina devi Idol Same source describes Guru Hargobind serving a eunuch
YarKhan. (ref was proudly shared by a sikh on twitter)
Gobind Singh followed Bahadur Shah to Deccan to fight for him.


In Zafarnama, Guru Gobind Singh states that the reason he was in conflict with the Hill Rajas was that while they were worshiping idols, while he was an idol-breaker.

And idiot Hindus place him along Maharana, Prithviraj and Shivaji as saviours of Dharma.