Some people chase freedom.
Some chase success.
Some chase fame.
Most chase… something.

But one thing’s common.

Everyone’s figuring it out.

Kinda, going crazy even.

Entrepreneurs?
They chase a dream.
They are driven to add value in others’ lives. They solve problems not many think of.
However….
They have to skip birthdays, cancel family dinners.
Take calls while pretending to be on vacation.
They wake up every day to new fires — real ones. Existential threats.
They may not have a boss, but they do have investors.
They carry the burden of everyone’s future — team, product, users, society.

Solopreneurs?
Sounds cool: "I work for myself."
They own their time.
Many of them value freedom and break away from the idea of 40, 60, or 80-hour work. But talk to them….
They manage freelancers, juggle schedules, pitch clients, post online, stay visible, relevant, ahead.
They are the product, the marketing, the support, and the janitor.
A few bad days? No one’s seems to coming to save them.

Content creators?
One algorithm tweak and poof — audience gone.
Rest? Not allowed.
A few days off? No one knows you. Someone replaced you like yesterday.
Being obsolete is just one lazy week away.

9-to-5ers?
Don’t feel too safe.
As a leader, they’re a mini-CEO.
They write plans, strategize, build, code a bit, delegate to cursor or claude, deliver.
They’re part IC, part solopreneur, part content creator, part therapist.
Burnout? Always there.
Stressful. From dusk to dawn — just a different flavor.
AI’s coming for them sooner than later.

In this drill, we all spend years seeking happiness in future and lose the sight of why we started at the first place.

So what’s the point?

Every path is hard.
Every path comes with tradeoffs.
And every path, if not lived mindfully, leads to the same place — a restless mind, a tired soul.

I’ve played a few of these roles.
I’ve spoken to people who’ve walked all the others.

And here's the truth most won’t say out loud:

The happiest people aren’t always the most successful.
They're the ones who figured out how to enjoy today.

Not “one day.”
Not “after I exit.”
Not “when I hit 100k subs or $1M ARR.”
Not “when I get promoted”.

Just… today.

These people are rare but really, really happy.
Every Single Day.
Without any special occasion or influenced by external success.

That’s because..

They chose presence.
They chose peace.
They stopped outsourcing their joy to the future.

That doesn’t mean they stopped working.
It means they stopped believing that peace had to wait.

They also get bad days, but they let go and come back on track.

At its core, they understand each moment is disappearing.
It’s going away and so they try maximizing joy out of it.

Let me be clear.

Choosing peace is not a lack of ambition.

It’s the strongest form of clarity.

You can build, create, grow — and still be content right now.
You can chase a goal — without believing your happiness depends on catching it.
You can fall short — and still feel full.

Because maybe there’s no such thing as “failure” — just feedback, direction, and experience.
What looks like failure to you might be someone else’s dream come true.

So no matter what path you're on —

Just don’t forget to live.

Not in some distant future.
Not “after this launch.”
Not next quarter.
But now.

Because peace isn’t the prize at the end of the race.
It’s the reason you should run in the first place.

And me?

I choose peace.
Today.

Gourav’s Odyssey #5

This is an edition type of The Curious Soul’s Corner newsletter where I share my free flowing thoughts, curations and life outside work.

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

I know it’s been a while since I published anything—and I owe you that pause. But trust me, it was a conscious choice. More on that at the end of this article.

3-2-1

This story taught me multiple things which I’ll convey through 3-2-1 of today’s article.

3 Learnings (with action items)

The absence of proof is not the absence of truth.

The next version of you can’t be imagined from here. But it’s real. Just like the second baby believed in a life beyond the womb without knowing what it looked like, you don’t need to fully see what your ideas will become. These ideas still deserve faith, presence, and quiet preparation—because the next version of you already exists. You’re just growing into it.

✅ Action: Set a 30-minute block every week to work on an idea you believe in—even if no one else sees it yet.

It’s a full time job believing in yourself. No days off.

We are getting challenged in various ways, ranging from AI disruption and cost related downsizings at work to parenting at home — you choosing to slow down, switch careers, or spend time with family is resistance, not weakness.

✅ Action: Prioritize inner alignment over outer applause. That belief fuels longevity in tech careers and life.

Try again, but this time with gratitude towards everything.

The world feels volatile—whether it’s political chaos, economic swings, or personal instability. Gratitude won’t solve the chaos, but it will steady your steps through it.

✅ Action: Start each week by writing 3 things you’re thankful for—one from work, one from family, and one from yourself.

2 Pics

Just got back from an unforgettable trip to the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon—here are two snapshots that barely do the beauty justice.

1 Epiphany

I’m still in the process of making my life better,
Still deciding where I wanna be in the future.
But I know—
I’m already living a life I once never imagined.
So good it feels unreal.
A life I prayed for—
And yet, I got even more.

So no—
I can’t, and I shouldn’t, complain.

Instead of chasing happiness in the future,
Maybe I should start cherishing what I have now.

I should live in the present.
Practice stillness.
Be mindful.

Because anything that steals away my now—
In return for a promise of future happiness—
Is just a bad trade.

It’s like selling today
For a version of tomorrow
I never even asked for originally.

And if I keep believing that life gets better only in the future,
I’ll keep moving the goalpost,
Forever chasing.
Never arriving.

I stopped ‘consistently’ publishing my newsletter articles.

On purpose.

Not because I lost passion or discipline in writing —
But because I found clarity.

I ‘too’ had big plans—growth, monetization, selling courses, maybe even a startup.
But I was trading time with my family, missing the very life I was writing to celebrate, but in the future.

So I chose presence over pressure.
I chose the joy of doing what I truly enjoy, rather than chasing a dream romanticized by others.

I’ve come to realize that I can do anything and everything—just not all at once.

I still write—consistently.
I just don’t publish until it feels true to share.
No pressure, no dynamics, just peace.

Writing isn’t my second job anymore.
It’s my sacred space.

🤝 Let’s Connect

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

Gourav Khanijoe

When I’m working…I think about going out.
I think about enjoying time with family and friends.

But when I’m enjoying…I often think about work.

Often stressed about where I am going.

Relatable?

Most of us have physical freedom.
We move, speak, and live freely.

But look closer, and you’ll notice the invisible bars:

Our fears.
Insecurities.
Overthinking.
The constant urge to do too much.
FOMO and wanting to be everywhere and know everyone.

Mental stress is on the rise.
Our attention spans are shorter than ever.

Our software engineering jobs have our brains wired to be logic machines.

The never-ending flood of “grind 24/7” productivity hacks online forces us to squeeze every last drop out of every second.

This is NOT what the human brain and body are built for.

And most importantly, most of us have forgotten how to live in the present.

Life Is Short.

The average person lives about 30,000 days.

If you’re 30 years old, you’ve already used 11,000 of those days.

Reflecting as 2024 winds down

So, while we are here, how can we get the maximum happiness ROI on life?

How can we enjoy the moment, feel less stressed, let go of unnecessary things, and make our limited time on this planet count?

How do we truly free ourselves?

As I relax amidst Christmas and the holidays, I’ve been thinking about this.

So today, I’m sharing how I am changing things up in 2025.

I’ll use ‘3-2-1 format’ and cover top 3 things I am planning to change, along with 2 books I am reading and 1 proven idea for you to pick up to live with charm.

Gourav’s Odyssey #4

This is an edition type of The Curious Soul’s Corner newsletter where I share my free flowing thoughts, curations and life outside work.

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

3-2-1

3 ‘Things’ I am planning to do more of in 2025 (with pics)

A. Savor everyday moments

Remember when you were a kid? Summers felt long and exciting.

Everything was new. Everything was an adventure.

Now?

Same alarm. Same coffee. Same grind for 8–9 hours. Same food. A little Netflix. Then bed.

Here’s the problem: The human brain stops recording these repetitive moments. We’re constantly looking ahead—waiting for the next big thing.

And in that waiting, we lose time forever.

This is called the “paradox of time”.

When our brains experience something new, it slows down time. It savor those moments.

But if our life is stuck on rinse and repeat mode, time flies by, and we’re left feeling empty.

Takeaway:
Start adding new, exciting moments to your day—even small ones.
A random brunch with your partner.
Break during the day to walk and clearing up the mind.
Small Adventures.
Learning new skills?

I took a morning break from work to go out and have that awesome holiday brunch before the Christmas holidays:

B. Small movements = Big health gains

Micro workouts.

10 push-ups here.
A quick walk outside.
Under the standing-desk treadmill for walk-n-talk meetings (see the image below, comment or reply to this article if you’d like to get its amazon link).

Nothing fancy. Hitting the gym 3 times (at least) would then seem like cheery-on-the-top.

If you are already doing that, push yourself further.

Your body isn’t made to sit for 8 hours straight, and these small movements add up.

These also help clear your mind and even make problem solving easier.

Takeaway:
Treat these as mandatory breaks, not “nice-to-haves.”

Fun target: Quite contrary - I am setting a fun goal to “Walk to Toronto” from Seattle. Haha, that’s just an analogy to say I’d like to walk/run/sprint/cycle 2555 miles in 2025. That’s roughly 15764 steps a day. That’s because I walked an average 9k steps a day in 2024 and I want to push myself.

Here’s how I am already doing it:

C. Let Go of unnecessary stress

A lot of our stress is self-inflicted.

That vague message your manager or peer sent? Maybe it sounds vague because slack is tone-deaf. It’s probably not as bad as it sounds—don’t overthink it.

Here’s another reason we’re so stressed: We try to be good at everything at the same time.

Great people strategically choose to suck at certain things so they can excel at others.

It’s called deliberate amateurism, and it’s a cheat code for less stress.

For the things you suck at, show vulnerability. It’s not weakness—it builds trust.

Lastly, and this one’s huge: Limit your life.

Takeaway:
I will try to limit myself, so that I am forced to focus on what matters.

Fewer things to buy.
Fewer people in my circle.
Fewer projects to take-on.
Fewer thoughts to stress about.
Fewer commitments and meetings.

This is how we can escape lifestyle inflation—the treadmill of always wanting “more.”

2 ‘Books’ I am reading

1 ‘mindset’ to bring joy to life

Paying close attention to relationships and friendships.

A well-matched rhythm with partner and a few good friends will make your life way better than any meditation app ever could.

Relationships doesn’t mean celebrating just those big moments (the big party, the fancy anniversary dinner). They’re about daily deposits.

Checking in. Helping a friend move. Meeting often, chatting, and laughing.

If you are not doing it, you are missing a lot.
When was the last time you showed up for a friend? Or did something extraordinary?

I bought house in expensive neighbourhood despite working remotely because my friends also live in that area and I wanted to live nearby. It’s the most important investment I did in 2024. What’s your excuse?

This Week’s Praise

Hemant is a Senior Software Engineer at Meta and the author of The Hustling Engineer newsletter, which provides actionable career growth tips for software engineers. His journey through top tech companies like Tesla, SAP, and Salesforce, culminating in a senior role at Meta, showcases his strategic approach to career advancement.

From Hemant, I’ve learned the importance of personal branding and related presence on multiple fronts. He actively engages on platforms like LinkedIn and his posts taught me how to present relatable content concisely.

His newsletter is a treasure trove of insights for engineers aiming to accelerate their careers.

More praises in next editions.

New Year 2025 Gift 🎉

As we step into the new year, I wanted to give back to the amazing subscribers of this newsletter. As my gift to you, I’ve opened up a few free 1:1 slots to connect personally. Whether you’d like to chat about career growth, leadership, or explore long term mentorship, I’m there for you. Check out the options here.

That’s all for today! Wishing you joyful holidays and an incredible start to 2025. Happy New Year!

🤝 Let’s Connect

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

Gourav Khanijoe

You may have heard the term - “His investment portfolio is beating the market” 🤔.

Let’s break this down.

“Beating the market” often refers to beating the performance traditional indexes like S&P500, Dow Jones, or BSE/NSE in India 🌍. These indexes, simply put, are average of top ‘X’ number of funds included in their tracking umbrella.

So, the dreamers dream about investing in right set of handpicked stocks such that that portfolio beats the standard indexes.

You may be surprised to learn that 75% of all the smartest money managers in the world, working 20-hour days, with huge research staffs 👩‍💻👨‍💻, powered by the most advanced computers 🖥️ and tools 🛠️, have NOT been able to consistently beat the market. Of the remaining 25%, most were just able to keep pace with the market.

Only a handful of the rest, like Warren Buffett or someone possessed with uncommon common sense like Peter Lynch, have been able to do that.

In short, you can’t consistently beat the market.❌📊

That's why, for long-term investing, index and mutual funds are best. Unless, of course, you enjoy gambling. Or, you have skills to book profits every time.

The difference between two? Mutual funds are actively managed by humans. Index funds are cheaper, as they are passively managed.

So, next time someone asks you: “Which stocks should I buy?” 🤷‍♂️

Drum roll 🥁… please…

You can answer: “All of them…or at least most of them…by investing in Index Funds.”

Investing regularly in index funds using dollar-cost averaging is key to long-term gains. Start early and hold your investments for the long haul.

Gentle Reminder: There is NO financial advice offered here. Gourav is neither a financial expert nor an advisor or promotor of anything. He’s sharing his own learnings and experiences.

But…there’s always a but…Your friend became a multi-millionaire by investing in the right stock or by staying put in the company’s RSUs and not by investing consistently in Index Funds 📊.

The thing about long-term index fund investing is that it should be like watching the grass grow. It’s boring and takes a long time for compounding to work. For a fast wealth generation path, you need to be ready to take some risks ⚠️ and invest in aggressive strategies and growth stocks 🔥..

Wait a minute, in the start, I told you that it is almost impossible to beat the market . Yes, it’s almost impossible - over a long period of time.

But a large number of people have done it on a short-term basis, and some people are doing it every second. I will cover this in the next set of articles. Stay tuned! 🎉

That’s it for today 🙏. If you are wondering, “What’s a Reflection Short?” read here. Access the full series here.

References

• Multiple Streams of Income

• The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

• The Intelligent Investor

Let’s Connect 🤝

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Use the below links if you want to connect with me.

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

It’s because only a few folks discuss actionable steps, making it hard to start. That’s where the "Money Playbook" comes in. Let’s break down the basics today and we will build solid grasp and derive actions over the course of this series!

Hiking for Mountains and Trees

I love hiking and marveling at the unique shapes of mountains and trees. It’s amazing how a few scattered seeds grow into such stunning sights.

Just like that, we can grow our own Money Trees—not just one, but many! Let’s explore the 3 wealth mountains you need to climb and how to grow Money Trees on each.

1. The Investment Mountain

This is the most familiar mountain, where you invest in stocks, index funds, mutual funds, or other traditional assets.

Growing a Money Tree here requires patience and consistency. Use this Three-Step Process:

• Screening and filtering (finding the right seeds, aka, growth stocks)

• Timing in (waiting for the right weather, aka, when markets are low)

• Timing out (harvesting at the right time, aka, when enough profits are made)

The Investment Mountain is the easiest to start but demands a long-term, disciplined approach.

2. The Physical Asset Mountain

Owning Real Estate; Gold; Expensive watches too (??) that grow in value over time.

Building wealth here requires some upfront knowledge and effort. Use the 80/20 principle—focus on the 20% of strategies that yield 80% of results. Your Three-Step Process:

• Finding (the right seeds, aka growth potential areas)

• Funding (watering them with the right resources, aka maintenance)

• Farming (using the right amount of compost to nurture growth, aka nice tenants)

It’s a tangible and rewarding way to grow wealth but takes some groundwork to get started.

3. The Business Mountain

This is the hardest mountain to climb, but it has the most potential for exponential growth. Growing a Money Tree here requires skills, grit, and a strong foundation and the success formula isn’t a 3 step process. Instead, it deserves the full expansion of the MONEYTREE acronym:

• M - Build multiple income streams for safety before starting your business.

• O - Create an outstanding business that generates value and income for life.

• N - Start with nothing or negligible expenses—focus on action, not lavish setups.

• E - Be employee-resistant—small, agile teams minimize costs and risks.

• Y - Choose a business idea with yield potential, even while you sleep.

• T - Trend and timing matter—pick a business relevant to today’s world.

• R - Aim for resilient income, not just linear returns.

• E - Build something for everyone’s daily use, ensuring consistent demand.

• E - Stay fueled by enthusiasm—if you hate what you sell, you’ll never succeed.

In future episodes, we’ll explore exact actions to take to grow your wealth in each of these categories.

That’s it for today 🙏. If you are wondering “What’s a Reflection Short?” Read here. Access full series here. Stay tuned for more episodes and subscribe now!

References

• The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

• Make Epic Money

• Multiple Streams of Income

Let’s Connect 🤝

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Use the below links if you want to connect with me.

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

Paul wants to travel the world. Sam wants to build his dream startup. Sara wants to go skydiving. Rajesh want to spend time with his kids.

One common denominator?

You’re want to have freedom to control your life the way you want to do what you love.

That’s what toddlers do. They’re free all day and can control what they want to do—play, poop, sleep, eat, whatever. Sure, parents set some limits for their safety, but you get the point.

To gain control of your life, you need time. That’s why even if you have a lot of money but no time, you’re not rich.

Gentle Reminder: There is NO financial advice offered here. Gourav is neither a financial expert nor an advisor or promotor of anything. He’s sharing his own learnings and experiences.

We’re taught that full-time jobs make us rich. It gives us money, not time—because you’re trading time for cash. To truly grow, learn to earn with your mind, not hours.

Key Learning: Ultimately, you want to have money and the time to spend it wisely, giving you true control. That’s when you’ve truly bought happiness with money—by having the control in life.

Here’s How to Do It:

1. Stay in your current job and use that time-for-money trade to invest and build safety nets and assets.

2. Use extra time—early mornings, nights, weekends, holidays—to build your business.

3. Optimize over time to make it more efficient, so you no longer need to spend a lot of time on it. That’s when you shift from active to passive income.

Passive income is a system that earns you money with minimal effort once set up. Start with these ideas now:

1. Creating Content

   • Active: Create YouTube videos, newsletters, or Instagram reels. Earn via sponsorships.

   • Passive: Once published, views, ads, and affiliate sales generate income continuously.

2. Online Courses

   • Active: Build and market your course. Earn from live sessions.

   • Passive: Record and automate it to generate long-term revenue.

3. Selling Products

   • Active: Market and sell handmade goods like carpets, managing every detail.

   • Passive: Automate your business with the right hires and systems to focus on decision-making.

Start small, stay consistent, and let your efforts pay off while you sleep! 🚀

That’s it for today 🙏. If you are wondering “What’s a Reflection Short?” Read here. Access full series here.

References

• The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

• Make Epic Money

• Multiple Streams of Income

Let’s Connect 🤝

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Use the below links if you want to connect with me.

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

This is an edition type of The Curious Soul’s Corner newsletter where I share my free flowing thoughts, curations and life outside work.

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Unpopular Opinion

Don’t listen to productivity gurus telling you to stick to a fixed schedule.

Why? Because you can’t control everything. Check this out:

Day 1: You start strong—wake up at 5 AM, feel great, and sleep on time, ready for the next day.

Day 2: Still on track. Wake up at 5 AM, feeling good… but then your kid gets sick that night, and you end up sleeping late.

Day 3: The cracks appear. Because you slept late, now you wake up at 7 AM instead, miss the gym and feel bad. Sev2 bug at work pulls you into stress during the day, unexpected guests came home in evening and you end up sleeping even later.

Day 4: You try to wake up at 5 AM again..but fail. Snooze till 6am, wake up with sore eyes, heavy head. Drag yourself through a challenging workday, get tired and sleep early.

Day 5: Because you slept early, now you are back to 5 AM.

Barely, but on track again. :)

The reality of routines is: life happens. It's nearly impossible to excel at parenting, attend to friends and family, build habits, and stick to a perfect routine all at once.

Life doesn’t adhere to rigid schedules, and sticking to one isn’t always practical. Emergencies happen—kids get sick, work demands spike, or unexpected events disrupt your plans.

And you know what? That’s okay.

Adaptive Routines

The goal isn’t to follow a perfect schedule every day. It’s to stay intentional and adaptable, so you can make progress even when things go sideways.

Instead of rigid schedules, focus on principles and systems that adapt to your reality.

Here’s what works for me:

1. Define the Success of Your Day and Embrace Uncertainty: I define one key task each day that makes it successful, even if nothing else gets done. If an emergency arises, I simply swap it with the task that took over. This way, I stay focused without stressing over unavoidable events.

2. Declutter, Don’t Overload: I constantly focus on removing and automating tasks rather than adding new ones. I prioritize heavily.

3. Leverage Intense Waves of Focus: Real progress happens during focused, deep work. I work in intense waves when my brain is at its peak performance, and rest when I feel exhausted. I don’t fight against your natural rhythms.

4. Downtime: I build in time for rest and downtime. Taking a break from the routine is just as important as following it.

5. Bounce Back After Slipping: When I break my routine, I get back to it as soon as possible to avoid breaking consistency.

6. Use Mechanisms, Not Just Intentions: Don’t rely on willpower—build accountability mechanisms. For instance, I moved my mentoring sessions to early mornings, which naturally pushed me to wake up on time for the gym.

3-2-1

3 ‘Pics’ of life outside work

November is a month of memories for us. My birthday, our wedding anniversary and many more Indian traditional events occur in this month before we get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I don’t mind breaking my routine to cherish these moments. :)

Talking about interruptions in routines. A deadly 'bomb cyclone' hit the Pacific Northwest. It brought high winds and devastating damage. We had a power outage for more than 2 days in Bothell, Bellevue, Redmond and some parts of Seattle (Washington).

2 ‘Pieces of Content’ I am consuming to learn New Stuff

1. Million Dollar Weekend: A book that, in a simple, modern way, tells all about starting a business, without wasting time.

   

2. Data Engineering Concepts from dataengineer.io bootcamp by : Because AI and ML needs training data and I need to learn how its plumbed through. If you also want to learn it, use coupon code “GOURAV” and you will get 25% off. :)

1 ‘Black Friday’ deal I am buying into

Ninja Espresso & Coffee Maker & Barista System (25% off): Because Software Engineers deserve the upgrade :)

This Week’s Praise

Anton is an R&D Team Leader and the author of the Leading Developers newsletter, a must-read for engineering managers and team leaders. His content offers sharp, actionable strategies for leading dev teams. It's a valuable resource for folks looking to improve their leadership skills.

From Anton, I’ve learned the art of smart brevity—how to cut through the fluff and get straight to the point. His writing is a masterclass in delivering value with precision, a skill that has transformed how I approach my own newsletter. Anton’s work is a goldmine, subscribe to his newsletter, if you haven’t.

More praises in next editions.

Must Read Articles

1. Staying Calm When You Want to Disappear by and

2. Finding my joy by

3. Why and How to Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn by

4. 28 Year Old Staff Engineer @ Google by

🤝 Let’s Connect

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

Gourav Khanijoe

Reports of Wall Street speculators committing suicide were spreading across NYC.🤐

Abraham Germansky, a multimillionaire real estate developer and trader, lost everything. His wife reported him missing.🪦

Meanwhile, Jesse Livermore, another millionaire at the time, made $3 billion in one day because he bet stocks would decline.

“You mean we are not ruined?” - his wife asked. 🫣

“No Darling, I have just had my best-ever trading day”. - Jesse said. 🎉

4 years later. Jesse was full of confidence after his 1929 blowout, made larger bets backed by increased debts, and ultimately lost everything in the stock market. ❌

His wife reported him "missing," and later they found that he took his own life. 🪦

Common trait? Both Jesse and Abraham excelled at accumulating wealth but struggled to maintain it.

Making wealth is one thing.

Keeping it is another. 🫨

Gentle Reminder: There is NO financial advice offered here. Gourav is neither a financial expert nor an advisor or promotor of anything. He’s sharing his own learnings and experiences.

What does it mean for Techies?

Fast forward almost a century. Today’s Big Tech Software Techies are one of the most elite groups, earning millions of dollars in a relatively short period. 🚀

That’s why they must manage their wealth rightly. They must learn to keep and grow their monies. We must not let emotions and greed destroy it. 😈

Personal Example: I learned this lesson the hard way. When the crypto market was going down in 2023-23, and my Coinbase shares were tanking 📉, I sold a whole lot of my old RSUs at a very shitty price thinking it may become a penny stock. No one can time the market, but it was a fearful sell that has cost me $1 million at today’s price. 🔪

Skill to learn: 👉 Be both optimistic and paranoid about money. The hardest skill to master is staying consistent and thriving on steady growth, as wealth-building is more about managing emotions than analyzing charts and patterns. 📈

Do this:

1. ✅ Be paranoid in financial planning: “You plan for good, God laughs..” - Plan for the worst. A great financial plan can only work if it can survive the worst reality. Save for 12 months of expenses and put it in High Yield Saving Accounts.

2. ✅ Control Emotions: “Buy low, sell high” - Tough thing to do despite being so intuitive. We should not sell when the market is going down, but we often also don’t sell when the market is going crazy high, thinking

   1. We’d lose the opportunity of “more growth”.

   2. We don't know what to do with the cash after selling.

   3. But remember this: if that cash helps you avoid selling during a crash, you'll save much more.

3. ✅ Be Optimistic: Don’t panic by downturns. Embrace them. Use Dollar Cost Averaging during downturns. Sticking around during hard times and giving time for compounding to work is the key.

That’s it for today 🙏. If you are wondering “What’s a Reflection Short?” Read here. Access full series here.

References

• The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness

• The Total Money Makeover Updated and Expanded: A Proven Plan for Financial Peace

• The Intelligent Investor

Interesting Reads

• My Investment Rebalancing Process by

• Break Society's Money Rules If You Want to Be a Quiet Millionaire by

Let’s Connect 🤝

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Use the below links if you want to connect with me.

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

I had an insightful chat with Sitesh on his podcast. I shared my journey across companies of all scales and how it shaped me. Tune in to satisfy your curiosity about career changes, adapting to cultures, or find inspiration!

Justin Bieber is one of the world’s most popular music artists. He has it all—Grammy awards, over 150 million albums sold, and a massive social media following. 🎤✨

Yet, Justin opened up about his struggles in an interview with NME.com:

“I am struggling just to get through the days... You get lonely... People see the glam and the amazing stuff, but they don’t know the other side. This life can rip you apart.”

This experience isn’t unique.

We, as software pros, seem to have it all. We have high-paying jobs, loving families, and good friends. We also have some savings. Yet, we still feel unhappy. 😔

Negativity and burnout are common on platforms like Blind. In the race to become a 10x techie, we lose it all and become 1/10 at life.

Since returning to Seattle from a life-changing spiritual retreat in Dallas, I've been reflecting on the powerful insights shared. The retreat was led by my guru and attended by top tech leaders and engineers. The discussions on happiness deeply resonated with me

Today, I’m sharing what it means for the tech world to practice spirituality and the key strategies it offers for understanding and finding happiness in the moment.🌱💻

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Today’s article is bit different but I feel its important to take a step back and think about inner-engineering.

Spirituality 101. What is it?

The best thing about spirituality is that you can define it for yourself!

There is no fixed religious school of thought tied to it. That’s why:

However, you are free to choose a religious tool, refer to a scripture, or knowledge if you want to.

It's a personal, broad concept. It seeks meaning, purpose, and peace in life. It also seeks a connection with something greater than oneself. 🌍✨

Here are some key aspects of spirituality:

• Self-awareness and inner growth: Reflect on your thoughts and feelings. It will help you understand yourself and the world.

• Connection to a higher power: This could be a connection to God, the universe, or a sense of greater purpose or meaning beyond the material world.

• Mindfulness and presence: Often using tools like meditation or mindfulness, which help us stay present and find peace. 🧘‍♂️

How can it help Software Engineers and Managers?

Spirituality can help bridge the gap between high performance and personal well-being. It helps resolve conflicts at work and within.

As a personal example, I used to be aggressive and defensive when people questioned my methods. I’d often complain and find faults in others, not realizing I was doing no good to myself.

I started practicing spirituality a while back. Now, when I face tough times at work, I can take a step back. I analyze the situation from a new perspective. I handle it peacefully and, most of the time, I am happy within. 😊

How do I find happiness within? Read on.

Destination Disease of Happiness

At the retreat, a Senior Tech Leader at Capgemini asked a question

“With growing challenges, expectations, and layoffs, how can we find happiness in our everyday lives?”

We often fall trap of thinking:

I’ll be happy if I could land that dream job at a top tech company, or
I’ll be happy once I am done with this project, or
I’ll be happy once I get promoted to senior engineer or manager.

These are just illusions. Chasing future goals for happiness is like trying to debug an endless loop—it never stops. 🔄

Answers from the Retreat

What is True Happiness?

Whatever we do throughout our lives, we do it for the ultimate goal of happiness.

From school to top colleges, then to high-paying jobs. Then, marriage, kids, and wealth. All the hustle is to meet a single goal: to be happy! 🎯

It’s natural for us to seek happiness continuously because we are part of a perfect, blissful universal energy where everything functions in balance.

Take gravity as an example—it’s finely tuned to hold everything on Earth together. If gravity were to fluctuate even slightly, the consequences would be catastrophic.

True happiness comes from recognizing this balance and then striving to give it back.

In simpler terms—it's a state of mind to practice:

• Serving others and providing value 🤝

• Satisfaction and gratitude 🙏

What Happiness Is NOT

We conflate happiness with temporary pleasures.

• Happiness is NOT materialistic. Pleasures are. Happiness lasts, while pleasures fade sooner.

• We often look for happiness in the wrong places—material things or milestones. These excitements fade, and soon we find ourselves chasing the next desire.

When material desires aren’t fulfilled, we get distressed. When they are fulfilled, greed often takes over, creating more desires. 🛍️

How to do I practice Happiness daily?

1. I practice a tool called Karma Yoga

"You have the right to perform your duty, but don't let attachment to the results consume you.” - it says.

Simply put: Rather than thinking of personal gains every time, think of your work as a contribution to the society of which you are a part. 🌍💡

Personal Experience

When things are going well, I feel gratitude and enjoy the moment. When things get tough, I treat them as lessons and find ways to serve others in the best possible way.

When I push a major code update and it works, I take a moment to appreciate it. I resist the urge to worry about the next task.

When things go wrong, I see it as a chance to learn. This includes software incidents, project snags, and failed leadership tactics. Instead of complaining, I accept it and find ways to solve for customers.

2. I try to do Daily Meditation

Just as you need the right tools to work well—like a powerful IDE, automation scripts, or AI—your mind needs tools to stay sharp and focused. Meditation has become one of those tools for those of us in high-pressure careers.

There are different ways to meditate. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and try to focus your mind in various ways:

• Take deep breaths and observe them, or

• Imagine sitting in a beautiful place and appreciate nature, or

• Think of a godly image and serve it virtually.

Personal Experience

For a long time, I thought spirituality and meditation were things you started later in life—something for when you’re older and have more time.

What surprised me most was how this simple practice started influencing every part of my life.

My problem-solving skills improved. I became more patient and thoughtful in my interactions, whether in a code review or a meeting. 💡

My way of meditation relates to the third method: “praising the creation of this vast world.” I do it like this:

• I wake up early and, after sitting comfortably and closing my eyes, I begin to "zoom out" from the place I’m sitting.

• From my room to my house, to the sky, and to outer space—I visualize and appreciate the vastness of creation.

This simple, yet effective, approach helps me ignore small issues and take a broader view of life. 🌌

Shoutouts 🔊

1. The importance of having a career growth plan in the engineering industry by and

2. How to Scale an app to 100 Million Users on GCP by

3. 7 Tips for Killer Presentations by

4. How to be Influential as a New Hire by

5. Tips to become 10x better in Tech Interviews by and

🤝 Let’s Connect

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

Gourav Khanijoe

Today in this short and crisp edition, I've compiled several of my life and career learnings as one-liners that I use as guiding principles. These are organized into different sections, each representing various aspects of life.

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

I am humbled by the love and support you all are showing for my Reflection Shorts.

Software Engineering

1. Code is the most fragile thing in the software industry. Tribal knowledge, when documented well, is gold.

2. You're not judged on your skills if your outcomes are solid. The reverse isn’t true.

3. Never feel bad for not knowing things at work. Every company has complicated systems; no one knows everything.

4. Feel bad only when you don’t put in the effort to understand.

5. Staff/Principal Engineers don’t know everything, but they know how to know what they don’t know.

6. Hundreds of things vie for your attention, but finding time for deep work is key to making meaningful progress.

7. Be proud of getting rid of unnecessary code, services, and clutter in your architecture. Eliminate liabilities wherever possible.

8. Appreciate the OGs for the work they did. Complaining won’t help—fixing stuff would.

Professional

9. It takes a lot of effort to build trust, but breaking it takes only a second.

10. Clear communication is underrated and misunderstood. Deeply understand how to effectively communicate to make a huge difference in your life.

11. Stay away from people who drain your energy.

12. You can’t please everyone with your design. Aim for consent, not consensus.

Tech Interviewing

13. Leetcode isn't bad. However, engineers suffer due to the complex interview environment created as a result of it.

14. The issue isn’t Leetcode vs. no Leetcode; it’s the same Leetcode questions at every candidate level.

15. For system design interviews, you don’t need to know everything. Basics can do wonders.

16. Being humble and saying “I don’t know” can get you hired more than pretending to be all-knowing and smart.

17. You can’t fake behavioral questions; an experienced interviewer will catch you out.

Joining a new company

18. People aren’t impressed by your past learnings alone. Adapting to a new company’s culture is what makes you likable.

19. Congratulating a new hire is like congratulating a chef for buying vegetables.

Life

20. Not every attempted hit results in scores, but it builds your muscle memory.

21. You might think successful people have it all sorted. Reality? They’re as confused as you are.

22. Don’t measure your value by someone’s judgment in one place; you might just be in the wrong place.

23. There’s no long-term success without first achieving short-term wins.

24. More information doesn’t necessarily make you wise; it can make you stressed.

25. Develop long-term habits with small, consistent efforts.

26. Execution is more important than awareness.

27. Your to-do list will never be empty. Focus on completing the 1-2 most important and urgent tasks each day.

28. You realize the real multitasking power after having kids.

29. Your current situation is a net result of luck, hard and smart work.

Content Creation

30. Identify yourself as a brand, and others will too.

31. Share deep, witty, and brutally honest thoughts and stories.

32. Readers love hearing about your failures more than your successes.

33. Leveraging social media for marketing is crucial, but creating valuable content is primary.

34. Your unique, brand-new idea is a myth; someone is probably already working on it. What makes it different is execution.

Money

35. Comparison is the thief of joy.

36. Never hesitate to invest in yourself.

37. Don’t overthink purchases. It’s okay to buy things that bring you pleasure but spend wisely. Money buys pleasure, not happiness.

38. Money can only solve money problems.

39. Get rid of high-penalty, high-interest debts.

40. Learn about investments, but be honest about whether you have time for active management.

41. Using a third party to manage your money isn’t a bad idea if you lack the time. Opportunity cost is real if you’re too busy or lazy.

Shoutouts

1. How to find nearby entities? by

2. Entropy - Mental Model by

3. From Staff Engineer at Meta to Y-Combinator Founder by

4. "20% for tech debt" doesn't work by

5. How Netflix Uses Chaos Engineering to Create Resilience Systems by

🤝 Let’s Connect

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

Gourav Khanijoe

When life feels like a mess of to-do list items, I think about how someone else might be dreaming of the life I live.

A question often comes to my mind: “Am I just a lucky, privileged guy?”

Last week, in collaboration with , I shared my journey through struggles and how I overcame obstacles with dedicated efforts to change my life.

But isn’t it just that things worked out in my favor? Or, Did I work hard or Smart?

It's not just me. Many in the workplace experience Impostor Syndrome. It's the persistent doubt about whether their accomplishment is deserved or legitimate.

To understand what contributed to my journey, I researched and deeply reflected on the role of luck, privilege, hard work, and smart work. I discovered some guiding principles that consistently apply.

Today, I’m sharing these principles to help you separate noise from the signal when Impostor Syndrome strikes. They will give you a clearer view of your achievements and success.

👋 Hey there, I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

Thank you for all the support, love, and motivation on my previous article.

Guiding Principles

1. Luck And Privilege play a huge role in one’s life and career.

2. Smart work is the key but it isn’t possible without hard work first.

3. Find the balance between Imposter Syndrome & “Successful Man Fallacy”.

1. 🍀 Luck And Privilege play a huge role in one’s life

Luck — the random entropy of the universe showering unique positive situations and events on you from birth and beyond.

Privilege — an unearned, significant advantage like generational wealth that you are born with.

Yes, I was lucky. But NOT privileged. You must have heard this saying:

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

This is true most of the time, but sometimes favorable, non-privileged things happen naturally beyond your control.

There are things I took for granted but were sheer luck:

Personally:

• I was born and married into a loving family. 👪

• I was naturally good at academics and deep dive. 📚

• I am spiritually sound which helps me alleviate stress. 🧘‍♂️

• I have supporting friends who are always there for me. 🤝

• I achieved everything I worked towards without unsolvable setbacks. ✔️

Professionally:

• I had a knack for writing clean code and solving business problems. 💻

• My coding interviews went well and I didn’t get any unfair interviewers. ✅

• I was fortunate to have good managers who helped me improve further. 📈

• I did not face discrimination based on religion, color, or ethnicity at work. 🌍

I cannot imagine the struggles I would have faced without these fortunate traits and events. I call it God's grace or simply blessings.🙏

🌟 Key-Takeaways

• Luck factors can significantly impact one's opportunities and outcomes.

• I highly recommend you do self-introspection. Recognize their role to be more fair and empathetic to progress.

2. 🧠 Smart work is the key but isn’t possible without hard work first

I define hard work as applying brute-force solutions to problems.

Smart Work is about finding efficient and effective ways to achieve a goal. This is done by using existing knowledge, people, tools, and technology.

We, as humans and software engineers, often have the instinct to apply brute force when we first encounter a problem.

I still remember when I started my career and used to face a complex bug in the code. My first reaction and action was to throw hours of debugging at it by just reading tons of code and testing every possible scenario. However, as I gained experience, I started to recognize patterns and develop smarter approaches. I began using efficient debugging tools, taking thread and heat dumps, and writing automated tests. 🛠️

As I became a leader, I learned to delegate tasks and to teach. I also learned to force-multiply. In software engineering, this is a great example of smart work. So, I worked hard first and then became a smart worker organically.

🌟 Key Takeaways

• Hard Work:

  • It's necessary for building skills and achieving initial breakthroughs. 💪

  • It laid down the foundation for where I am right now.

• Smart Work:

  • Involves strategic thinking and leveraging tools and techniques to work efficiently. 🔧

  • As my experience grew, my ability to work smartly led to greater wins with less effort.

3. Find the balance between Imposter Syndrome & “Successful Man Fallacy”.

Imposter Syndrome is when people doubt their skills. They feel unworthy of their achievements, despite being capable.

The "Successful Man Fallacy" is a wrong belief. It holds that success comes only from personal qualities and actions, like hard work or intelligence.

Geoff Charles, a writer on Medium, described how different identities try to make sense of their circumstances in one of his articles:

When someone feels like an imposter, they might be acting as a Lucky or Privileged one.

But also, successful software engineers often credit hard work and smart thinking. Admitting that luck is a factor is difficult because it challenges their notion that they fully deserve victory.

When I read about Equalitarian, I found the answer to my question. My success wasn’t just luck; it was a perfect blend of hard work, smart work, and good fortune.

While I can credit my long hours of coding, continuous learning, and strategic moves, I must also recognize the role of access to education, great mentors, early opportunities, and supportive leaders.

This made me embrace the identity of an Equalitarian. I understood that my growth came from both my efforts and the opportunities I received.

❌ I worked hard throughout my next jobs, always taking on more work to get more responsibility, and rose through the ranks

✅ I got referred to another company. I practiced the interviews to get the job and built upon my brand on paper. I got mentorship from senior leaders because they liked me.

🌟 Key Takeaways

• Embracing an Equalitarian view helped keep a balanced perspective. It recognized the roles of hard work, smart strategies, luck, and privilege.

• I learned that not everyone has the same opportunities. This taught me to empathize with those who may be struggling. It made me a more kind colleague and leader.

Parting Note

To all Software Engineers facing layoffs and economic challenges, I say:

Shoutouts

1. The biggest-ever global outage: lessons for software engineers by

2. 3 steps to write messages that people will enjoy reading by

3. From Lead Engineer to Software Engineer II by

🤝 Let’s Connect

Sponsorship | Collaboration | LinkedIn | 1:1 Mentoring | Twitter

Gourav Khanijoe

👋 Hey there, fellow tech enthusiasts, professionals, and wanderers of the digital realm! 🚀

I am Gourav. I write about Engineering, Productivity, Thought Leadership, and the Mysteries of the mind!

In this edition, Let’s dive into our epic year-in-review, and decode the setting behind your best self in 2024. Let's make it a funky journey together! 🎉✨

Your engagement is what makes this community vibrant, so feel free to hit reply and share your thoughts, feedback, and ideas, or even just to say hello!

Today at a Glance

• Survey Question: What would you like to learn in 2024?

• Quote of the day: Prepare your Armoury!

• Main Topic: Year out, year in!

• Top 3 books I read in 2023

• 2 Fun-facts

• Did you know…?

• Must-to-read tweet storm before year-end

Survey Question of the Week

What would you like to learn in 2024?

I'm thinking about building a live, cohort-based course in 2024 to teach skills that I have learned in my life, the hard way. I have a passion for teaching and have mentored, taught, and consulted people on various topics. Now I’d love to teach you. Fill out this survey in under 1 minute, to help me understand the topic that you would like to learn.

As a thank-you for your contribution, those on the priority waitlist will be the first to hear when enrollments open, granting you exclusive access and discounts while securing your spot.

Your insights matter—let's create something extraordinary together!

Link to the Survey

Quote of the day: Prepare your Armoury

• Hard work is irreplaceable, however, reaching for ambitious goals needs a different approach. Prepare your Armoury, rightly catered for your battle - recognize the scale of your ambitions and equip yourselves appropriately for the journey ahead.

• For Software Engineering, this may mean pacing up with tech advancements like AI and learning the leadership qualities.

• In personal life, it could entrace advancing towards financial freedom, a healthy lifestyle, and cherishing relationships by enrolling under life-coach mentorship.

Main Topic: Year-out, Year-in!

A lot happened in 2023…

On a personal level for me,

A few Life changing events unfolded:

• I became the father to our first kid, a boy! 👨‍👩‍👧

  

• I became spiritual “while trying to understand the grand scheme of things” 🧘‍♂️

• I grew professionally by incorporating Emotional Quotient into my leadership style! 👑

• I started content writing and started this newsletter. ✍️

  
  All this materialized into reality, thanks to immense support from the most important person in my life - my wife! 👩‍❤️‍👨

But also there were some bitter-sweet moments:

• I got burnt out while trying to sustain a startup that I started at, as Engineer #1 and eventually quit because I prioritized other aspects of my life over it.

• Had to bid farewell to my closest friends - Sagar and Shubhangi, due to their visa issues in the USA.

• Sleep and health took a toll. I got out of shape. I also lost a lot of hair on my head! (This suggests that there might be many other silent issues going on in the body)

At the same time, World 🌎 spun crazily

• Tech World: AI took the main stage. Google launched Gemini. The VCs switched from Crypto to AI buzzword startups. Layoffs were the main villain for employees when CEOs pleased the deal for Wall Street.

• Finance: The stock market took a U-turn in the second half, thanks to the Fed’s shenanigans. Bitcoin at $42,000 now. Crazy huh? At least it’s not worth $1M as predicted. 😆

• Leadership: LinkedIn saw a huge inflow of great ‘leaders turned content creators’. Sam Altman and Satya Nadella created some show-ups for the world to watch in an already hyped ‘OpenAI space’.

• Geopolitical: The Israeli-Gaza Palestine war is giving heart-melting moments and an alarming signal to the world to rethink humanity.

Entering 2024…

What are you thinking as your goals for 2024? But, the first question is, Do you really need to think a lot?

While everyone would be telling you to think about multiple goals, I would say it’s a waste of time! You already know it doesn’t work that way.

The point is to avoid over-indexing on the quantity of “What”, rather focus on the “Why” and “How” parts of a few realistic goals.

For example, for the last 3 years, my New Year resolution as well as my goal for the whole year was to become and stay fit…but it collapsed like a house of cards. The missing link? Discipline and Tracking. Instead of obsessing over a laundry list of resolutions, this year, I am embracing a different approach. I am outlining broad aspirations, and my primary emphasis is on cultivating discipline, boosting accountability, and tracking progress, with a core focus on just two major goals!

Yes, just two major goals:

1. One major Professional goal - grow as a ‘Thought Leadership’ content creator with more than 10k subscribers across all platforms.

2. One major personal goal - gain control of my health by getting back in shape and lowering the shaken lipid levels.

If you are wondering what to choose as a personal goal, you can refer choose from this wheel of life (credits: Ali Abdal for the picture):

For tracking, and measuring progress, and feedback loop, I am following and would strongly recommend all of you as well to use Sahil Bloom’s Annual Planning Guide.

But why restrict ourselves to just one goal per realm? Why not entertain a few more?

Research attests that when confronted with multiple goals, our minds are prone to a multi-fold increase in the tendency to lose focus!

If the thirst for knowledge beckons, perhaps categorize additional pursuits as level 2 or minor goals. Yet, exercise caution not to over-index on them, for risking the loss of sight of our primary objectives.

Few more ideas for you:

• Aspire to ascend to a senior echelon in your software career by contemplating how you can shoulder more responsibilities, such as taking charge during on-calls, handling incidents adeptly, and contributing to the enhancement of system architecture and infrastructure.

• If your goal is to attain a state of profound health, consider framing your perspective around not merely shedding excess fat but eliminating ailments from your life.

• To cultivate flourishing relationships, embark on the journey of making deliberate "love deposits" — intentional acts that contribute positively to the emotional bank account of your connections.

In the end, acknowledge with a pragmatic outlook, that no single year possesses the magic to overhaul your entire life. However, adopting an approach marked by incremental steps, coupled with diligent tracking, accountability, and measured progress, can propel you steadily in the right direction.

Top 3 books I read in 2023

I’ve read over 10 books this year, but I want to share the top 3 books (click on names for Amazon links) that I loved reading the most.

1. Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data:
   Demystifying stats. It’s a stats 101 journey that's engaging and crystal clear. No need for a math degree—the book uses intuitive examples to highlight key concepts.

2. Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track:
   Being a fellow Staff Engineer, I personally resonated with its content. This was my second time reading this book after 2021. Even if you aren’t specifically targeting Staff+ levels, it’s a good guide on how to orient oneself as a leader.

3. Efficient MySQL Performance: Best Practices and Techniques:
   Bit of a niche skill to learn. Learn the internals of MySQL to run MySQL cluster in a cost and performance-efficient way. This book teaches you about indexing, query analytics, data access patterns, sharding, monitoring, and much more!

2 Fun-Facts

1. For every 1 million lines of GoLang code written, there are roughly 10,000
   error nil checks!

err != nil 

2. The year 1995 is further away than the year 2050.

Did you know..?

FAANG lost its luster, at least as per level.fyi 2023 report.

Must-to-read tweet storm before year-end

I am sure many of you have already heard, read, or explored the famous tweetstorm from Naval Ravikant on “How to Get Rich (without getting lucky)“, but I still want to share it in case you have missed it somehow.

A lot has been discussed, podcasted, written, appreciated, and shared about this tweet storm. It teaches you what would it take to become wealthy if you lose everything that you have and start afresh.

I can guarantee you that it’s thought-provoking and would give you a new perspective on money, wealth, financial freedom, building and selling ideas & products, leverage, and much more.

In case you missed my previous articles…

Why did I start this newsletter?

Why do we fall short Despite Intelligence and Skill Excellence?

The Art of Empowering Others with Influential Leadership: Spreading Joy and Happiness

Dispelling Career Advice Myths in the Tech World

How to apply Bhagavad Gita teachings to succeed at Work (without Stress)?

Let’s Connect

If we haven't crossed paths previously, I'd be delighted to receive a message from you! Don't hesitate to reply to this email and introduce yourself. I make it a point to respond to every direct message, email, and comment. You can also find me actively sharing on LinkedIn—let's connect:

🤝 Connect with me on LinkedIn

💪 Connect for 1:1 mentorship

Best regards,

Gourav Khanijoe

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

The Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the Indian epic Mahabharata. The battlefield of Kurukshetra was a central event in the Mahabharata. It was a massive conflict between two factions of a royal family, the Pandavas, and the Kauravas, over the rightful inheritance of the throne. Lord Krishna (Hindu God's incarnation) served as the charioteer and advisor to Arjuna, one of the Pandava princes, who was facing a moral and emotional crisis on the battlefield.

The atmosphere on the battlefield was tense and charged with anticipation with armies of both sides arrayed for battle, This battlefield setting served as a backdrop for profound spiritual teachings between Lord Krishna and Arjuna during a critical moment. It illustrates the relevance of these teachings in times of both peace and adversity. By choosing this setting, Lord Krishna addresses real-life complexities, including duty and morality. It offers wisdom applicable to personal development, ethics, and decision-making in daily life, including work and relationships. It emphasizes the importance of focusing on effort rather than becoming attached to outcomes, allowing individuals to navigate challenges and ethical dilemmas effectively - which Lord Krishna addressed as “Karma Yog”.

Decoding the Modern Workplace Anxiety Saga

In the hustle and bustle of today's workplace, stress often feels like that party guest who just won't take the hint and leave. Picture this: you're juggling more deadlines than a circus performer, trying to decipher job expectations that sometimes seem as clear as mud and attempting to sidestep workplace conflicts that pop up like surprise guests at a party. It's almost like we should start handing out stress-themed party favours, right? 🎉

And to add a twist to the plot, there's a favourite corporate game in town – layoffs. It's the way companies often sweeten the deal for Wall Street. With the rise of AI, things have gotten even more complicated, with machines seemingly writing better software than some of us. This means you're expected to be more productive than ever before to secure your place in the ever-evolving work landscape. That elusive six-figure salary might seem like a distant dream, and even when you achieve it, there's often little time to savour the victory.

If you're fresh out of college, you'll need to work extra hard to avoid becoming the scapegoat of the dreaded Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) culture. Even if you're a seasoned pro, there's no escaping the demands to take on more responsibilities, deliver top-notch work, navigate office politics, and do it all with a smile.

By the time you're done with the day's grind, you're so physically and mentally drained that playing with your kids, going on a dinner date with your spouse, or catching up with friends seems more like a chore than a pleasure. It's a relentless cycle that can take a toll on both your physical and mental health.

You've probably asked yourself countless times whether it's all worth it. You may have even made resolutions to work only eight hours a day and not let the rat race consume you, but those resolutions tend to fizzle out after a day or two.

So, what's the solution? How can you avoid burning out and find a sense of balance in this chaos?

Enter Karma Yoga

The Bhagavad Gita, which dates back around 5,000 years (according to Hindu mythology during the time of the Mahabharata), has some ancient wisdom that's surprisingly relevant throughout the human race's history and even more in today’s modern workplace. It's not just philosophical musings; it's a practical way of life, and one of its facets is Karma Yoga.

Karma (Action) Yoga teaches us that it's not the work itself that stresses us out but our unhealthy attachment to the results. Imagine if you could put all your intellectual and mental faculties into the task at hand, without constantly worrying about the outcome. According to this philosophy, that's the secret to making work feel effortless.

God in the Bhagavad Gita reminds us that he/she only wants us to do our best in the present moment. It's a lesson we've heard before, but it's easy to forget in the chaos of modern life. So, Arjuna, as the Gita famously says, you have the right to perform your duty, but don't let attachment to the results consume you. In other words, rather than thinking of personal gain, think of your work as a contribution to society of which you are a part.

Wait what? I have a Mortgage to pay..

Absolutely, it's easy to dismiss these ideas as theoretical knowledge, especially when we have mortgages to pay, children to raise, and a world to explore, from Vegas to Alaska. We dine at fancy restaurants and acquire the latest gadgets to stay trendy, and thanks to Instagram, we jet-set around the globe to stave off FOMO (fear of missing out).

For many of us, work is all about the heavy paychecks and money, and that's the ultimate goal we're constantly chasing. How on earth can we let go of that? We're not running non-profit organisations, right?

Well, that's precisely what a shallow understanding of Karma Yoga might look like at first glance. But the truth is far from that.

Before talking about practical advice, let’s understand Karma Yoga a bit better. In essence, Karma Yoga revolves around three fundamental principles:

1. 'Minimalistic-being' for a Greater Good: Carry out your responsibilities with the aim of benefiting society as a whole, all while ensuring your own sustenance without excessive materialistic desires. A prime example from nature is a plant, which absorbs just the right amount of water and sunlight, diligently growing into a fruitful tree. Any surplus sunlight or water merely hampers its growth.

2. Give Your Best, Let Go of the Rest: Adopt a straightforward 'just-do-it' and 'do-good' mindset, without becoming overly preoccupied with weighing pros and cons. Much like a diligent student approaching their exams.

3. Embrace a Higher Power, Emphasize Service Over Acquisition: Acknowledge that sometimes the universe orchestrates events in your favour in other ways, but not necessarily as per your plans. This perspective prevents you from fixating on trivial matters while allowing you to appreciate the privileges you possess.

Thus, Karma Yoga suggests that if humans keep doing work for their own selfishness and not for the welfare of society, then no progress is possible in this world. This is evident from the extent of the progress we have made in technology due to the efforts of a few personalities who gave in all their best efforts without thinking of their personal interests. So, it’s about shifting focus from “self” to “service”.

Let's shift our perspective and explore a practical approach to Karma Yoga that keeps the pressure at bay and boosts productivity in a natural way.

Practical Tips

In the tips below, I am deliberately omitting exact excerpts from Gita to avoid bloating the core practical points.

Tip #1: Embrace Responsibility: Money as a Means, Not the End

If your sole motivation at work revolves around money, there's a risk of losing your enthusiasm when you discover a colleague earning more than you. Instead, approach your job with a heightened sense of responsibility, akin to how you engage with your family at home. Just as you wholeheartedly invest effort in playing with your children, even when fatigue sets in, channel that same level of dedication into your professional endeavours, contributing to the organization's success. Over time, your distinctive approach will capture the organization's attention, potentially elevating your pay grade above that of your colleague. Taking on more ownership and responsibility is also a key to get promoted onto senior levels at any organization. When you prioritize excellence, financial rewards naturally follow, a testament to the leverage you've created by becoming the best version of yourself.

Tip #2: Embrace Humility at Work

When you work solely for selfish desires and not to serve the company, you may find yourself vulnerable and constantly trying to prove yourself right. This inflates your ego and leads to conflicts at work, increasing stress. However, if you consider that you work for the greater good of the company, you'll become more open to others' ideas, reducing ego clashes and workplace stress. It's a win-win situation.

Tip #3: Treat Failures as Learning Opportunities

Whether you face setbacks at work or even get laid off despite your best efforts, view these experiences as opportunities to learn and grow. It's not the end of the world. Instead, you may choose to think of it as the organization's loss. Of course, if you lose your job when you're struggling financially, financial planning becomes crucial (a topic for another time). As long as you've built a financial safety net and put forth your best effort, setbacks are manageable. Keep pushing forward, and if you ever face failure, take it as positive feedback for self-improvement. Nervous tension won't help; it'll only cast you in the victim role and hinder your progress in life.

Tip #4: Let Go of Unnecessary Material Desires; rather donate stuff

We work for money to provide for our families and ourselves, but we often spend on material things that bring temporary pleasure, not lasting happiness. There's a distinction between temporary pleasure and happiness that we frequently overlook (a topic for another time). Is that luxury car that you bought last year giving you the same level of happiness today?

By practising this discernment, you can better determine how much money you truly need. This insight can guide you in choosing a job with the right balance between work and life, alleviating anxiety and succeeding with the right set of expectations. This doesn’t mean compromising for monotonous work. There are places that require work just right for your skillset and yet value employees’ personal lives.

On top of that, always spare some money from every paycheck or just old stuff at home (which you no longer use) to donate to a noble cause, that would embrace the divine sentiment that you are working for a social good.

Tip #5: Put a hard stop at work daily, to embrace Spirituality, Meditation and Gratitude

Now, you might wonder, does practising spirituality and gratitude mean we have to give up our regular work and act like saints? Not at all; that's not what the Bhagavad Gita is saying. Instead, it encourages us to raise our consciousness to higher levels while solving complex problems relevant to our profession. Meditation, a proven method for enhancing focus, can aid in this process. Thus, if you take meaningful breaks to meditate and enjoy in the moment, it acts like sharpening the saw. As you delve into spirituality, you'll realize how small you are in this vast universe created by a higher power. Any adversities you face won't seem insurmountable. Gratitude will naturally flow as you appreciate the basics: a place to live, food to eat, and a sense of belonging in the grand scheme of things. (Alternatively, you can follow an early morning routine to do that so as to not break the flow of focus in your work!)

So, there you have it, a practical approach to Karma Yoga that not only keeps work pressure at bay but also empowers you to be a workplace superhero. As a call to action, put reminders on your calendar with action items to keep you in check, in accordance with Karma Yoga.

Stay tuned for more insights and wisdom on this journey to a more balanced and fulfilling life.

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