20 books that taught me more than school and college ever did.

For those who can't afford, I am giving away these books for free (read below)

1/ Rework
by @jasonfried @dhh
The book changed me. Threw open a different way of looking at the world.

Remains my most gifted book of all times.amzn.to/3MBqdmb

I received an email recently which broke my heart.

(Trigger alert - this email can cause a lot of distress by simply reading it!) Imagine:
Salary of 1.2L pm + 20K pm from brother + 30K pm pension from mother.

BUT:
Has a 25L loan.
12L credit card debt.
Personal loan of 17L with 36K EMI.
Home loan of 70K EMI.

1995
I was 15.
Papa had just lost his job.
We were down to our last few thousands in the bank.
He went to the bank to withdraw 10K.
On his way back, someone robbed him of it. We plunged into chaos.
Financial debt.
Personal favours.
Collectors at our doorstep.

I remember days where ma papa would skip a meal, because we didn't have money.
Ma's salary of Rs. 1000 as a primary school teacher was supporting us.

Fat-free at 43!
How I shed only 10kgs in a year to get to this shredded look.

The 3T Model
1. Track
2. Train
3. Transform

(long post alert - you might want to bookmark this for future reference) 1/ Track

Track your calorie-in (how much you eat) and calorie-out (how much you burn).

An average adult burns/spends around 2000-2500 calories a day.
One can use a smart-watch/ring to figure this out.

However, our food intake is rarely tracked.
Which makes all the difference.

20 years back, at the age of 24, I got my first ever job.
It paid me Rs. 14,746 per month in hand.

In 2 years, at 26, I was earning 12L per annum.
Another 3 years, it reached 33L per annum.

Here is how it happened... In Mar '04, at the age of 24, I dropped out of my PhD program at Michigan State University and came back to India.

What made the decision easy was the 100% scholarship I was on.
There was no tangible loss of money.
Just the intangible burden of letting down everyone in my world.

Do you know which animal kills most humans every year?

If you are thinking wild animals — lions, elephants, tigers — no.
If you are thinking snakes — good guess, but not the right one.
If you are thinking mosquitos — great guess. That's #2.

Do you know what's #1? Humans :)

WE kill more humans than any other animal every year.
War, violence, fights, terrorism.

We somehow believe that the world is split into us and them.
And we feel that for someone to win, someone else has to lose.

8 things that parents kill within their kids

A thread... 1/ Kids are born with no other fear except that of falling.

Every other fear, they learn while living.
As parents we are largely guilty of instilling those fears in them.

Parents kill their fearlessness.

The best books I read in 2023

(giveaway) thread... 1/ How to do the work by @Theholisticpsyc

Been following Nicole for a while now and loved her book as well. Even in parts where I found myself disagreeing, I found myself challenged a lot.

amzn.to/3metoqa

Sold, 25,000+ copies of my third book in just 2 days, raking in sales of $125,000+ (Rs. 1Cr+) from 32 countries.

Best part?
We gave away a mind-blowing Rs. 73Cr ($8.8M) worth of value.

Here is how we did it... In Aug 2023, @AlexHormozi launched his latest book $100M Leads, in a grand online event.

I remember watching his magical performance, feeling inspired and awestruck in the same go.

And then my usual awesome question popped:
"What is this telling me?"

How to invest with a salary of Rs. 10,000?

4 ways:
1. Safe option
2. Medium Risk option
3. High risk option
4. The best option

A thread... 1. Safe Option: Fixed Deposits

Pros:
- Fixed rate of return
- Safe
- Low effort

Cons:
- Low rate of return
The last 10-yr average FD rate has been 6.05%
This means, post-tax this does not even beat inflation.

In other words, your money in FD will barely increase in value.

Boom! We @waricrew just hit a whopping 10M followers on social media!

In just 3.5 years, we raked in revenue of 70Cr ($9M), profits worth 15Cr ($1.9M), all while reaching an audience of 93M+ people.

Curious how it all came together? I share all that we do and learnt... In this (rather long) thread, I'll cover 5 aspects:

1. The outcome we've achieved
2. Our journey so far
3. How our biz is structured
4. The nitty-gritty of how we work
5. The lessons we've learned along the way

10 things that emotionally intelligent people DO NOT DO.

A thread… 1. They do not assume that the way they think or react to a situation is the reality.

They recognize their reactions are merely a reflection of their own biases and understanding.

9 Time Management frameworks I apply in my own life.

A thread... 1/
Measuring my time

At the age of 14, I started preparing for engineering exams, only to realize I just could not manage my time.

Worse, I had NO CLUE why.
If someone asked me - what are you busy with the entire day, I would not have an answer.

So I decided to track my time.

I turned 43 last week.
Here are somethings I would tell my 23yr old self.

A thread... Not all success is due to hard work.
Not all failure is due to laziness.

A lot of what will happen to you will be luck.
Just because it cannot be measured, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Every single time ISRO outdoes itself, places its stamp on the world, is applauded for its audacity and its frugality, all I can see is this... As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a space scientist.
An astrophysicist to be precise.

My dream was clear.
- Finish a PhD from the US.
- Work at NASA.

You just had a fight with your manager.

Your manager was rude, was shouting, and called you incapable and useless.
You are angry. Very, very angry.

And in that moment, you decide you want to quit this horrible job. Because every day is a struggle.

A thread... Every day, you are subjected to this ridicule. It isn't worth it. Nothing is worth it.
You quit.

Your family and friends are shocked. "You shouldn't have done this", they say.

Do they NOT see what you went through?
Do they NOT understand?
Are they blind?

The one thing that helps us win BIG in life, which few people seem to be talking about.

A thread... Consider this likely scenario.

As a kid and then a teenager, you were fed food cooked by someone else.
Usually your parent. Most likely your mother.

And 99% of the days, the food was great.
It was well made, the spices/salt were in order, served hot.

You loved it.
BUT...

A 5-step process to remember everything you read in a book.

A thread… There was a time I used to read books because I wanted to look cool in front of others.

Books whose names I could drop in a conversation, knowing it would draw awe and admiration.

But in my heart, I knew I was lying.

Imagine

You, assume yourself to be a male, are shouting at your wife/girlfriend in the middle of the market.
Almost getting physically abusive.

An observer, draws the courage to come up to you and says, "you do know you should be respectful towards women?" In that moment, it strikes you that this person is right.
You are being a jerk.
When you know you shouldn't.

It isn't the right thing to do.

The ONLY 20 books you will EVER NEED to read, on productivity and motivation.

A thread... 1. "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg

amzn.to/3XXkxIh

Mistakes I made in my 30s were dramatically different from those I made in my 20s.

Together, they are helping me live a better, wiser 40s decade.
Is this what is called experience?

A thread on my 30s mistakes... I prioritized pedigree and impressive resumes when hiring, overlooking their interpersonal skills.
Assumed their degrees would guarantee success.

As I progressed in my career, I've learned it's not just what you know, it's how you connect with people that truly defines success.