And the decade is near its end, already. As I reflect on the decade with so much of gratitude, listing down some of my learnings that has shaped my life!

#1 : Nothing is permanent. People, Feelings, Situations. We always think and believe we’ll hold on to things forever, but everything is fluid and transforms as it’s destined to be.
#2 : Things that we yearn for - Holidays, Homes, Cars bring momentary happiness. What makes you happy everyday is a purpose that you believe in, and seeing that purpose take shape.
#3 : There is no substitute for hard work. There is never any short cut. Short cuts give temporary results. Hard work builds the foundation.
#4: Unclosed Loops come back and haunt you. Years, sometimes decades later, but they do.
#5: It needs far more courage not to fit into society’s definition of a good life, than people think. Misfits need to convince themselves that they are having a good life to themselves far more than to others.
#6 : Role of luck is underrated in our conversations. From the people you meet, to the situation you are in - luck definitely plays a role. Realising this, has definitely made me a humble person.
#7: We take life for granted. Having witnessed 3 cancers in my family last decade, I realised how simple things like having a dinner out can be a dream for people who don’t know what’s in store for them the next day.
#8: No matter what situation we are in, being grateful restores faith and faith is what is always needed.
#9: A heart to heart conversation solves most of the problems.
#10: Resolutions don’t need a Monday or a 1st to start. They can start the moment you are determined.

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So, as the #MegaMillions jackpot reaches a record $1.6B and #Powerball reaches $620M, here's my advice about how to spend the money in a way that will truly set you, your children and their kids up for life.

Ready?

Create a private foundation and give it all away. 1/

Let's stipulate first that lottery winners often have a hard time. Being publicly identified makes you a target for "friends" and "family" who want your money, as well as for non-family grifters and con men. 2/

The stress can be damaging, even deadly, and Uncle Sam takes his huge cut. Plus, having a big pool of disposable income can be irresistible to people not accustomed to managing wealth.
https://t.co/fiHsuJyZwz 3/

Meanwhile, the private foundation is as close as we come to Downton Abbey and the landed aristocracy in this country. It's a largely untaxed pot of money that grows significantly over time, and those who control them tend to entrench their own privileges and those of their kin. 4

Here's how it works for a big lotto winner:

1. Win the prize.
2. Announce that you are donating it to the YOUR NAME HERE Family Foundation.
3. Receive massive plaudits in the press. You will be a folk hero for this decision.
4. Appoint only trusted friends/family to board. 5/
Brief thread to debunk the repeated claims we hear about transmission not happening 'within school walls', infection in school children being 'a reflection of infection from the community', and 'primary school children less likely to get infected and contribute to transmission'.

I've heard a lot of scientists claim these three - including most recently the chief advisor to the CDC, where the claim that most transmission doesn't happen within the walls of schools. There is strong evidence to rebut this claim. Let's look at


Let's look at the trends of infection in different age groups in England first- as reported by the ONS. Being a random survey of infection in the community, this doesn't suffer from the biases of symptom-based testing, particularly important in children who are often asymptomatic

A few things to note:
1. The infection rates among primary & secondary school children closely follow school openings, closures & levels of attendance. E.g. We see a dip in infections following Oct half-term, followed by a rise after school reopening.


We see steep drops in both primary & secondary school groups after end of term (18th December), but these drops plateau out in primary school children, where attendance has been >20% after re-opening in January (by contrast with 2ndary schools where this is ~5%).

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1/“What would need to be true for you to….X”

Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?

A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:


2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to

- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal

3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:

Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.

Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.

4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?

To get clarity.

You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.

It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.

5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”

Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.