Ikigai - A Reason For Being

I am sure everyone of us has at some point or the other pondered on this most basic question - what you should be doing? And the following Japanese concept explains it in and out - Ikigai.

If you are at that intersection called Ikigai then you are destined to succeed - sooner or later.

1. What you Love?
2. What you are good at?
3. What the world needs?
4. What you can be paid for?

Very often we start with the first question and probably figure out the second but miss on the later two which causes a lot of anguish later down the line. Do proper research, answer all of them and then you will hit bulls eye if you are standing on Ikigai.

If you haven't found that intersection ... keep looking ... don't give up.

As far as I am concerned, I am exactly where I want and looking back taking those tough decisions and risk has played out extremely well for me. You bet I have a story to tell ... :-)

Nihilism - But Then What?

Came across a new philosophy -

Nihilism - the belief that nothing in the world has a real existence.

But the real question is, even if it is true, then what? My point is, even if life on earth is meaningless or probably just a fluke of nature, we still have a choice. Either to be sad about it or revel with joy for this amazing experience.

I am inclined to choose the later ... day in and day out ...

But sadly, too many people spend their time in the hope of finding a meaning. It's like trying to reach a destination only to realise that the journey was the real fun.

Pass The Moment

So we were in a unique situation. It was my usual daily 3 hour baby sitting shift. And we were out of food. I mean no biscuits, no fruits, no chips, no dinner/lunch/breakfast - completely out of food. And Aana-Yana wanted me to rise to the occasion. I did and very creatively made an omelette that was in their stomach in 5 minutes. But boy! I got so much praise and love for the same from my dear daughters. I can't put it in words. It was totally worth cherishing. You see -

Either you pass the moment or the moment passes you by! ~ Maddy (That's Me)

Making a quotable quote ... There is a lot of truth in it.

The Monk Moment

The Monk Moment - Many great entrepreneurs have had a moment when they have lost everything. Monks create this situation intentionally through "Vairagya" when they give up all money and possessions. Many entrepreneurs end up in the same situation unintentionally.

Elon Musk lost $180M and was in debt in 2008. Seven years later, he's worth $13 billion, but he'd be ready to risk it all again. Steve Jobs lost his entire Apple fortune by 1994, betting it on NeXT and Pixar. In 1995 everything turned around, he sold NeXT to Apple, Pixar to Disney and he passed away an icon. Walt Disney mortgaged away his entire fortune in the 1950s to build Disneyland, against everyone's advice. He too went from giving up everything to becoming a legend. Each bet everything material they had on something invisible - their purpose and vision.

Monks call the state that comes after giving up everything "Moksha" which means liberation from the illusion. We're not alive until we know what we'd die for.

I'm not saying great entrepreneurs are monks, but they do have 'monk moments' when they lose everything.

Many of the greatest entrepreneurs unintentionally find themselves in this state by betting everything on their dream. Maybe you're in this place right now. It is a place of pure power. When you have nothing to lose, you have infinite potential.

That is provided you don't focus on what you've lost, but on everything you have to gain. That's when everything turns around. As Walt Disney said "I don't make movies to make money. I make money to make movies".
That's the paradox of entrepreneurs having a 'near-death' experience where they lose it all. Steve Jobs wrote:

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

What mission is so important to you, that you'd be ready to clear out the old and make way for your new?

Be Kind

I really enjoyed the walk today with Shiku. She took the lead here, decided our course, destination, route and stops on places of interest. I am not talking about a world tour but a small walk around Bandra West in the evening. It was lovely and rejuvenating. We kept strolling across traffic, hospitals, talking our heart out and making each other laugh. Since we had no wallets and a little bit hungry we were constantly on a lookout for places accepting PayTM. We stopped at Natural's Ice Cream where Shiku took anjeer cone and I preferred walnut cone, but this was a take away for we kept walking while eating the cone. Next culinary stop was Zaffran where we had awesome, soft and tasty chicken tikka. We should do it more often. But something very interesting happened on our way home and this is where I justify the title.

We were having no wallet and hence no money. So we were looking for a taxi guy who will be willing to accept paytm and drop us back home. It was 10 in the night and we kept on getting rejected by one taxiwala/autowala after another. Nobody was accepting paytm when out of nowhere this sardarji appeared with a taxi. He said the same thing that he can't accept paytm but was kind enough to drop us back home. We were delighted. He offered to drop us free of cost. If you think about it - he had all the rights to judge us, deny us, humiliate us, but he was kind enough to offer us help and the transportation free of cost.

In return of the kindness, I thought of giving him something that he can't return in kind. So we kept talking during the journey and we figured out that he was really interested in learning how one can digitally receive payments. But no one was there to teach him. This was our opportunity to step up. We quickly took his mobile, downloaded the app, got the car stopped in a sideway and step by step got him registered. On top of this, we made the first payment to him i.e. of the taxi fare to help him understand how it works. He found it really easy and his happiness was so much visible in his face. This made us very happy for these little acts of kindness makes this world a beautiful place. Isn't it?

FYI ... His name is Rupinder.

Eternal Search

If you don't know what it is you are looking for you are never going to find it. You have to be clear on what it is you are seeking. There is a lot of truth in it, isn't it? Let me ask you a simply question -

What do you really want? Forget about comparing yourself with others. Forget about trying to figure out what others achieved. List out that one thing that will really make you happy. And go all in to achieve that one thing.

The bottomline is - you should know what you want, otherwise its an eternal search.

Toy Story

If have a toddler at home, you must have felt what I am feeling now. Well, its not just another toy story. This is about the havoc that toys tend to create in your life and how important it is to get rid of them as early as possible. Infact, don't buy them in the first place. I am sure many an eyebrows are raised by now. But please don't judge me just yet! Hear me out -

1. The global toy industry market size is of roughly US $85 billions. On an average you spend $500 per child per year on toys. That is equal to Rs. 35000 for a span of at least 15 years. Isn't it burning a hole in pocket.
2. You think that it will bring joy to your toddler and hence in turn to you. However, babies have very little attention span and they get bored very easily. This makes you buy new toys again for momentary pleasures that is not going to last. And burns a still bigger hole in your pocket.
3. Imagine what you are teaching inadvertently to your children. Having a lot of toys make them needy, greedy and with low attention span. And these habits have a tendency of growing into the person your toddler will become.
4. Coming to parents and especially mothers, somehow buying toys help them fulfill their own desires of being a righteous and rich parent. They think this is the least they should do. Also, it happens very often that you get competitive with other parents. Your toddler will definitely come back home narrating how that other kid's dad gifted him/her the latest dancing bunny on christmas. Would you like to be left behind?
5. Gifting is always a ritual when you meet friends and family. And buying an appropriate gift for an adult is so difficult. But guess what, having a child makes everything so easy. It may happen that people will bring gift for your children on your birthday. Cause it is easy and they will never reject it and it looks good and they get free approvals and entry.
6. Now having a toy is good. But having a lot of them requires you to do proper space management. So you will end up buying wardrobes and cabinets and wall mounted racks. Additional cost and space in your home.
7. Also, most of the toys get dirty very soon. They get stains of food and digested food (after vomiting). So you have to constantly clean those little pieces of the puzzle. Afterall, you are responsible parent and would not like germs to get your children.
8. Toys have a strange way of creating a mess. Because you will find them in every corner of your house. After all, children like to move around. But they end up destroying the zen and tidiness of the house.
9. The least unmanageable units in this world are toys. They come in little pieces. Each one of them is unique. If you lose a piece you lose a set. Good luck buying new one if your kid is hung up to it. 
10. It leads to frustration and fights among parents, since they try to manage this seemingly doable task repetitively until they give up and their house looks like a garbage bin. The most important and limited thing in life is time. Just imagine the time and energy you are putting into managing toys. It is never going to come back. 

Is it really worth it? Their are better ways of teaching and learning. How about inter personal skills? How about being social? How about playing with you? The fact of the matter is even the kids will appreciate your time spent with them more than your time wasted in managing toys. And it is not their fault. You think toys will keep them busy, but in the process, you might get substituted.

My two cents. Don't buy new toys. Have a minimalist approach. Have only that one toy that your baby is crazy about and donate the rest. Teach them how to put their toys back to their place. It is not worth your precious time and you are simply trying to fulfil your own desire for someone who can be taught into living on simple means - your baby.

Giving Time

I read this quote somewhere and it didn't make a lot of sense - Happiness doesn't result from what we get but from what we give. So I decided to test this out. The whole idea revolves around giving. But giving what - money, blood, knowledge, consultancy or time? I had to make a choice. And I decided that I probably am required to give the most precious of those thing, which certainly is time. Come on, it is the only limited entity in this world for every living soul.

And the opportunity came knocking on the doors. Jigar sent a forward about a requirement to work as a volunteer to help Visually Challenged Students (VCS) write an exam. And being a yes man, I jumped on it. This was a 2 hours of exam and I got in touch with people like Abhishek, Mangesh and Hanni (from Pearls of Vision with one of the sweetest voice). Basically, I helped Mangesh give an online bank examination. My responsibility was to read out the questions and choices to Mangesh and help him understand the question and then mark the choices.

And after two hours - the feeling was truly heartwarming. Later, I got in touch with Hanni and came to know more about Pearls of Vision. This opens up a whole new opportunity for me to help people around. I think I would next try to give my knowledge and help these guys to come up with a technologically improved reachout program for managing volunteers - better.

Best ROI

If I make an investment of Rs. 10000 in a mutual fund and make a profit of Rs. 1000 at the end of one year, my ROI (Return On Investment) is 10% annually.

ROI = (Gain From Investment - Cost Of Investment) / (Cost Of Investment)

It is quite hard to see by just looking at the equation, but it has got two entities out there - Investment and Time. It is the later I would like to concentrate on. Money can come and go. And you can have good years and bad years with your money flow. But one thing that can never come back is time.

So in effect, the best investment decision one can potentially make and expect maximum returns on, is by making an investment in themselves. Quoting legendary Warren Buffett here -

Invest in as much of yourself as you can, you are your own biggest asset by far.

I see a lot of truth in the quote. You will never get a better return on life than when you truly invest in yourself. Learn as much as you can. Don't take a job only to put the years on your resume. Do what you love.

I think I am going to put a considerable effort for a deep dive on Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning. I think it will be a good investment. Let's go all in ...