Where are you going with this, Aakash? - #1
Hi, You are probably wondering where am I going with this newsletter thing. Fair point and I can assure you that I am asking the same question myself. Going through life, I have realized that meaningful connections can happen in the most random ways and I am a strong believer in the fact that you are just one decision away from a completely different future. Hence, this is me opening a new avenue for meaningful connections, to connect with you awesome people and see where it goes. And since my net worth only has few commas right now (not as many as I would like) and I haven't hired an assistant yet, the replies come directly to me. So, this is your golden chance to have a direct conversation with me before I hire a team of people to manage my inbox. (Don't tell me this isn't your lucky day!)
Hi,
You are probably wondering where am I going with this newsletter thing. Fair point and I can assure you that I am asking the same question myself.
Going through life, I have realized that meaningful connections can happen in the most random ways and I am a strong believer in the fact that you are just one decision away from a completely different future. Hence, this is me opening a new avenue for meaningful connections, to connect with you awesome people and see where it goes. And since my net worth only has few commas right now (not as many as I would like) and I haven't hired an assistant yet, the replies come directly to me. So, this is your golden chance to have a direct conversation with me before I hire a team of people to manage my inbox. (Don't tell me this isn't your lucky day!)
I want to start with a Charles Bukowski quote that resonates with me at a deep level, still introspecting why, but it does.
“If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.” ― Charles Bukowski, Factotum
Now I understand that we are living in 2019 and talking about Charles Bukowski might land me in trouble, so, I want to clarify that I do not condone his actions or philosophy as a whole but some of his writings are golden.
Let me try to unpack this briefly.
The reason this quote resonates with me is because I have felt the same - that when you commit yourself to something, it consumes you. You become part of something bigger and you stop sweating the small stuff. You get in “the flow” and worldly distractions lose their power. To get to that point, it takes a combinatorial mix of passion, dedication, discipline, and skill among others and passion is something you can’t fake. I know some seed-stage founders who are already over their companies/ideas, it’s going to be hard for them to stick to it in the long run. The passion is hard to generate on-demand and is mostly a result of the alignment of your values and goals to what you are doing but once it’s there, you can light up a whole town with it.
The good news is that you can reverse engineer passion. Find things that feel like work to others but play to you. This simple heuristic will help you find a passion where you will have a competitive advantage against anyone who is doing it for money, fame, or any particular reason. Here’s a recommended read which dives deeper into this.
I tend to go down philosophical rabbit holes, so, I will conclude this topic here before you hit unsubscribe.
Staying on the #ABL theme, here’s some good stuff to learn from.
1. Conversational Frameworks that I have found very useful.
This has golden nuggets like:
When listening, after empathizing, and wanting to help them make their own decisions without imposing your world view: “What would the best version of yourself do”?
and
"What was your past manager (or friend) like?" This determines how they'll talk about you in the future--whether they'll view you in a charitable light or not.
2. Catalyzing Success with Daniel Gross - Podcast.
This has golden nuggets like:
“The world we’re in today, there’s a shortage of positive feedback, especially positive feedback to the right people. It is scary, in my opinion, to read the amount of stories where greatness really started when someone kind of accidentally gave positive feedback to another person.”
and
“What separates successful and unsuccessful people, is these loops that they get stuck in. And I think the most important interventions — people don’t think about it this way — but the most important interventions basically change the loop. And certainly, that’s what we’re trying to scale up.”
3. "Everything in this world... was created by people no smarter than you" - Video.
Here’s a classic 60-second Steve Jobs video to remind all of us that everything in this world, was created by people no smarter than us. Pro-tip: Bookmark this and watch every 30 to 90 days.
4. The Day You Became A Better Writer - Article.
This is a short but a powerful read. This will change how you view business writing or even writing, in general, and probably make you a better writer.
Bonus learning - if you want to learn Game Theory through an interactive game, go here.
(Highly Recommended)
I hope you found something useful in this edition, feel free to forward and share this! Tweet at me with your comments, would love to hear them - @pathakaakash.
I love you all, keep going!
- Aakash
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Originally published on substack.