Are you Free?
Set free in 2025, 3-2-1, Praise for Hemant, and more!
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
What a beautifully introspective and actionable post! Thank you for sharing these thoughtful ideas Gourav!
Great post. Thanks for reminding about deliberate amateurism. I hadn't heard the term but I came to a similar realization this year.
About the paradox of time, I want to add that when you live a new adventure time flies far during the moment, but in hindsight it feels long (looking at photos and stuff). Covid pandemic is a great example of time filled with routine which felt slow in the moment, but not memorable in hindsight -- remember saying "last year" to 2019 in 2021?