We’ve all been there: seven browser tabs open, a half-written email staring us down, and a smartphone buzzing with a “quick” notification—all while we’re supposedly “locked in” on a high-priority project. We call this multitasking, and we wear it like a badge of modern productivity. But here’s the cold, hard truth: your brain isn’t a supercomputer capable of running parallel programs; it’s more like a spotlight that can only illuminate
(The Luck We’re Given and the Luck We Create) Ultimate Luck Let’s do some fun maths: What is the probability of us, as Homo sapiens, being born in this world based on basic biological and historical estimates? It is a biological lottery. For that sperm to win, our parents had to meet. Going back in time, their parents had to meet too. 8,000 generations had to line up for us
(A model for attention and agency) Imagine three circles around your life: one you control, one you can influence, and one that remains untouched by your worry. Opening Scenes of Misplaced Attention Coffee Shop I am sitting at a corner table sipping filter coffee. I see a bunch of men in their forties and older discussing animatedly the latest in Tamil Nadu politics—actor Vijay winning the election, fan clubs, youth
(Why chasing success never feels enough—and how to step off the treadmill without quitting life) This series documents the ideas, mental models, and practical lessons that helped me learn skills and build habits over the years. These insights come from people and ideas I’ve encountered over the years. The path was anything but linear. It involved trial and error, false starts, and long stretches of inconsistency. I don’t aim for
Why effort matters—and why it’s never the whole story This series documents the ideas, mental models, and practical lessons that helped me learn skills and build habits over the years. These insights come from my parents, teachers, colleagues, friends, and from books and blogs on self-improvement. The path was anything but linear. It involved trial and error, false starts, and long stretches of inconsistency. I don’t aim for perfection. I
Most of us have owned a version of our unused treadmill. It might be a guitar gathering dust, a DSLR locked away in a cupboard, or a course we started with excitement and quietly abandoned. We didn’t lack motivation—we lacked an understanding of how passion actually works. Most of us don’t fail because we lack passion. We fail because we expect passion to appear before effort, struggle, and competence. In reality, passion is
This series is my attempt to document the ideas, mental models, and practical lessons that worked for me while learning skills and building habits over the years. These lessons came from my parents, teachers, colleagues, friends, and from books and blogs on self-improvement. The path was anything but linear. It involved trial and error, false starts, and long stretches of inconsistency. I don’t aim for perfection. I go off track
Why does getting started feel so hard, but continuing later feels almost effortless? Why does discipline feel painful while habits feel natural? Understanding this difference changed how I approach learning, health, and personal growth. This series is my attempt to document the ideas, mental models, and practical lessons that worked for me while learning skills and building habits over the years. These lessons came from my parents, teachers, colleagues, friends,
Early in my career, I believed the right book could fix almost anything. Experience taught me otherwise. This series is my attempt to document ideas, mental models, and practical lessons that worked for me while learning skills and building habits over the years. These lessons came from my parents, teachers, colleagues, friends, and from books and blogs on self-improvement. The path was anything but linear. It involved trial and error,