Most people treat blood work the way they treat their car’s check engine light.

They ignore it. They wait. They assume if they feel fine, everything’s fine. And they only take it seriously when something breaks down badly enough that a mechanic — or in this case, a doctor — forces the conversation.

That’s backwards. And it’s costing you years.

The Hesitation Is Real — But It’s Also Lazy

Here’s the honest truth about why most people don’t monitor their blood work: it’s not that they can’t afford it, it’s not that it’s complicated, and it’s not even that they’re scared of what they’ll find. It’s that nobody ever told them it was their job to track it.

We’ve been trained to think health is something that happens to you in a clinic once a year. The doctor runs tests, reads the tests, and tells you if you need to worry. The patient’s job is to sit on the paper-covered table and wait for instructions.

That model made sense in 1985. It makes no sense now.

You track your investments. You monitor your sleep score. You watch your business metrics weekly. But the one dashboard that actually predicts whether you’ll be alive and functional at 75 to enjoy any of it? You look at it once a year, skim the “normal” column, and move on.

What Celebrities Found Out the Hard Way

Bob Harper was the face of The Biggest Loser — a man whose entire brand was physical fitness. He trained people for a living. He looked like a walking advertisement for cardiovascular health. In 2017, at 52, he had a massive heart attack and nearly died on a gym floor.

Afterward, doctors discovered he carried a genetic marker — Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a) — that dramatically raises cardiac risk independent of lifestyle. He didn’t know. He’d never been tested for it. His standard annual physical had told him everything was “normal.”

That’s the danger of only looking at the basics, and only when a doctor orders it.

Steve Jobs is the other version of this story. Famously, he was told in 2003 that he had a tumour. He had nine months where early intervention could have changed the outcome. He delayed. He trusted intuition over data. By the time he engaged fully with treatment, the window had narrowed significantly. The man who built the most data-driven company on earth ignored the most important data of his own life.

These aren’t obscure cases. They’re just the ones we know about because these men were famous.

The Reframe That Changed Things For Me

Your blood doesn’t need to be interpreted by a PhD. It needs to be monitored by you. Think of it like your business finances — you don’t need an accountant to understand your P&L at a basic level. You need to know: are things trending up or down? Are my decisions producing the results I expected?

Blood work is exactly that. A quarterly read on whether what you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, and how you’re training — is actually working. Twelve weeks of data beats twelve months of guessing. I’ve lived this.

Start Here: The Big Five Metrics

You don’t need to track 50 biomarkers. Start with these five — the ones that actually move the needle on longevity and performance, drawn from Dave Asprey’s biohacking research and Peter Attia’s longevity medicine work:

1. HbA1c (glucose control) — Target: below 5.5%. This measures your average blood sugar over three months. It’s the single best marker for metabolic health. Mine dropped from 5.6% to 5.3% in nine weeks.

2. hsCRP (inflammation) — Target: below 0.5 mg/L. Chronic inflammation is the silent killer — it’s linked to heart disease, cancer, cognitive decline, and accelerated aging. Peter Attia calls this non-negotiable for longevity. Mine dropped from 1.004 to 0.481, cut in half.

3. HDL / Triglycerides Ratio — Target: HDL above 80, Triglycerides below 100. This ratio tells you whether your cardiovascular system is genuinely healthy, or just “not broken yet.” Mine: HDL went from 74 to 87. Triglycerides from 124 to 72.

4. Vitamin D — Target: 40–60 ng/mL. Dave Asprey calls this the foundation layer. Most people in the Gulf are deficient despite all the sunshine, because they’re indoors. It affects mood, immunity, testosterone, and bone density.

5. Fasting Glucose — Target: below 100 mg/dL. Noisy day-to-day, but tracked over time it reveals how your body manages fuel. Pair it with HbA1c for the full picture.

The Tools Have Caught Up

AI tools — or a good functional medicine doctor, or a sharp nutritionist — can now give you a directional signal from your results fast. Not perfect clinical precision. Good enough to act on. Good enough to adjust your diet, your sleep, your supplementation, and watch the numbers move.

Claude made a few suggestions, including taking Vitamin D with Vitamin K after a fatty meal, consistent sun exposure, Vitamin B12, Psyllium Husk every morning on an empty stomach, and a few more. It has also requested a few additional tests to get a full picture of what’s going on inside.

I am not expecting six sigma accuracy here. But directional assistance is helpful enough and makes me feel in control today, rather than sitting helplessly in front of a doctor when I may be at a point of no return in later years.

The book worth reading: Outlive by Peter Attia is the bible for understanding which metrics predict lifespan, not just the absence of disease. The Bulletproof Diet by Dave Asprey is the practical biohacking companion. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker shows, with actual data, how sleep changes your blood chemistry overnight.

Go Quarterly, Not Annually

Annual testing is designed for people who are sick. Quarterly testing is designed for people who want to stay well.

The difference is the same as checking your portfolio once a year versus once a month. By the time the annual report shows a problem, you’ve already lost significant ground. Quarterly means you catch the trend while it’s still correctable — before it becomes a condition.

Quarterly testing + basic education + willingness to experiment = measurable results in 90 days. I’ve seen it in my own numbers.

Stop waiting for your doctor to tell you something is wrong. Start asking what you can make better.

Your blood is already keeping score. The question is whether you’re paying attention.

Look at these four creatures: the musk ox, the babirusa, the honey bee, and the Antechinus. Each has self-destructive behaviors coded into their DNA.

The babirusa’s tusks grow into its own skull. The musk ox can die from stress-induced toxins. The honey bee sacrifices itself with a single sting. The Antechinus male mates so intensely that its body shuts down.

Nature’s cautionary tale? We, humans, are not so different.

The Professional Self-Destruct Button

I’ve watched brilliant professionals destroy their own careers, not because they lacked talent, but because they mastered only one dimension of success.

Take the financial advisor who knows markets inside out but burns every relationship with arrogance. Or the talented executive who can’t regulate their emotions and torpedoes a crucial meeting with an outburst. The engineer with exceptional technical skills who refuses to learn communication, watching promotions pass them by.

They’re not being sabotaged. They’re self-destructing.

The One-Dimensional Trap

Here’s what I’ve learned: excellence in one area creates a dangerous blind spot. When you’re exceptional at market knowledge or closing deals, it’s easy to dismiss “soft skills” as secondary. But professional success isn’t one-dimensional—it’s holistic.

For sustained career growth, you need to excel across multiple domains:

• Core Competence – Your technical expertise and market knowledge

• Relationship Intelligence – Building and maintaining meaningful professional connections

• Self-Regulation – Managing emotions, impulses, and reactions under pressure

• Energy Management – Sustaining performance without burning out

• Communication – Articulating ideas clearly and persuasively

• Dependability – Creating a reputation others can count on

Neglect any one of these, and you’re programming your own failure. The tragedy? It happens slowly. You won’t see it coming. By the time the consequences arrive, the damage is done and often irreparable.

The 2-3 Decade Runway

If you’re building a career with a 20-30 year horizon, you can’t afford blind spots. Every weakness you ignore today becomes the ceiling you hit tomorrow.

So ask yourself daily: Where can I improve?

Not just where you’re comfortable improving. Where you’re uncomfortable. Where you’ve been avoiding growth because it feels awkward or unnecessary.

• Terrible at small talk? That’s relationship intelligence calling.

• Get defensive when criticized? Self-regulation needs work.

• Emails confusing? Communication skills matter more than you think.

• Exhausted by 2 pm? Energy management isn’t optional.

The Path Forward

Find someone who excels where you struggle. Not to judge you, but to guide you. Ask them: “How can I improve?”

Be specific. Be humble. Be consistent.

The musk ox doesn’t choose its fate. The babirusa can’t stop its tusks from growing.

But you? You have a choice.

You can keep hammering away at what you’re already good at, wondering why your career stalls. Or you can take an honest inventory, address the gaps, and build something that lasts decades.

Don’t be the babirusa. Don’t self-destruct.

Your career is too valuable to leave to genetic programming.

Sending you loads of luck and love 🧿

Manish

As I step into 2026, I’m reflecting on the lessons that shaped my 2025. These aren’t just insights—they’re commitments I’m making to myself going forward.

Focus on What’s in Front of You

The world will always be chaotic, noisy, and demanding of your attention. I learned to focus on the work on my desk and ignore what the world is up to. Creating an environment free of distractions isn’t about isolation—it’s about intentionality. When you control your inputs, you control your outputs. And that’s why all my notifications are muted - ALL.

Presence is Everything

Being 100% present in interactions with people changed my relationships entirely—no phones, no wandering thoughts, just genuine connection. People can feel when you’re truly there, and it’s one of the greatest gifts you can give.

Strength is Non-Negotiable

I committed to getting strong with five training sessions per week. Physical strength builds mental resilience, and the discipline required to show up consistently transfers to every area of life. This isn’t vanity—it’s longevity and vitality.

Clarity Through Journaling

Journaling in the early morning hours became my tool for clearing my head, thinking big-picture, and thinking meticulously. Writing forced me to organize chaos into clarity. And something was off every time I dropped the ball on this.

Movement Matters

Stand more, walk more. Our bodies weren’t designed for chairs. Simple changes in how much you move throughout the day compound into significant health dividends.

Nutrition as Foundation

I dialed in my nutrition: less than 50 grams of carbs per day and hitting 150 grams of protein daily. Food is fuel, and optimizing it optimizes everything else. Energy, focus, recovery—it all starts with what you eat.

Overconsumption is Overconsumption

Even good things become harmful in excess. This applies to information as much as food. Curate ruthlessly. Consume consciously. More isn’t always better.

Give Back Consistently

Helping others financially or with your time—allocating 5-10% of your resources for it—makes the world better and gives people a fighting chance. Generosity isn’t about grand gestures; it’s about consistent contribution.

Reach Out First

Talk to people you care for, even if they don’t reach out first—friends or family. Not everyone can always initiate, so be the one who does. Relationships require maintenance, and sometimes you have to carry the weight of a connection.

Cherish Your Parents

Pamper your parents because every minute past their 70s is bonus time with them and for you. Even if scientific advances have extended lifespans, old habits die hard for them. Be patient. Be present.

Travel to Stay Alive

Travel as frequently as you can to stay fresh and spirited. Explore new places, break routines, gain perspective. Travel isn’t an escape—it’s an expansion.

Diversify Against Ruin

Diversify in case you can’t bet your life on one specific asset class. Caution is better than risking ruin. Optimize for survival first, growth second. You can’t build wealth if you’re wiped out.

These lessons shaped my 2025, and I’m doubling down on all of them in 2026. Not as resolutions that fade by February, but as principles that guide my daily decisions.

Here’s to building a better version of ourselves—one intentional choice at a time.

Wishing you all a fantastic 2026 🧿

Sending you loads of love and luck in the new year 🤝

Manish

The Physics of Being Human in an AI World

We’re witnessing an unprecedented productivity revolution. AI has amplified our efficiency tenfold, automating tasks that once consumed our days. The four-day workweek isn’t a fantasy anymore—it’s becoming our reality. Everything happens faster, cheaper, online. But here’s the paradox: as our digital capabilities explode, we risk losing something irreplaceable—our physicality.

The danger is subtle. When work no longer demands we leave our homes, when meetings happen through screens, when AI handles the grunt work, we could easily slip into a purely virtual existence. Our bodies become mere vessels for minds that live entirely in the cloud.

This is where conscious resistance becomes necessary.

We must deliberately architect lives rich in physical experiences. Not because productivity demands it, but because our humanity does. The physics of people—those unscripted coffee conversations, the energy of a crowded workshop, the vulnerability of face-to-face connection—cannot be replicated by algorithms. The physics of places—hiking trails that challenge your legs, cities that assault your senses with unfamiliar sounds and smells, landscapes that remind you of your smallness—these shape us in ways pixels cannot.

The automation jackpot should buy us time for what makes us human: movement, exploration, and genuine presence. Attend that weekend trek. Sign up for the hands-on workshop. Travel to places that force you off Google Maps. Host dinners where phones stay pocketed.

The irony is beautiful: technology frees us from digital labor so we can reclaim our physical life. But it won’t happen accidentally. A sedentary, screen-bound existence is the path of least resistance.

Choose resistance.

Design a life where your body remembers what it means to be alive.

My 2026 Physical Manifesto

I’m putting intention into action. Here’s what I’m building into my plans for 2026:

Poland in winter—Wim Hof’s longevity event, trekking ice mountains in shorts. Terrifying? Absolutely. Worth it? I’ll find out.

South Korea for my anniversary—exploring cuisines, wandering streets, celebrating connection in a place that demands presence.

Austin, Texas—a dream destination for its food scene, longevity events, and biohacking cafes. Finally checking this off.

Hosting a longevity workshop in Dubai—taking what I’ve shared with colleagues and opening it to the broader community, whether as a collaboration or a paid event.

More stand-up comedy shows—I catch shows regularly in India, but Dubai needs more laughter in my calendar.

Sanjay Bakshi’s three-day workshop at Flame University, Pune—diving deep into behavioral biases. If you’re interested in finance and investing, explore Flame University’s courses.

Beyond these high-dopamine moments, the daily physics matters too.

• Four gym sessions weekly.

• Weekly padel games.

• Quarterly book clubs bringing readers together.

• More treks or game nights with the Navy Dubai community.

• Walking coaching sessions with my team instead of defaulting to video calls.

These aren’t New Year’s resolutions. They are architectural choices—building a life the algorithm can’t touch and living in a manner that still keeps me human in a world that’s getting automated away at jet speed.

How are you gonna plan your 2026 to explore the physicality of life?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sending you loads of love and luck 🧿

Manish

We grow up in a world that makes us financially sharp and adaptable to survive.

We learn to compare prices, negotiate salaries, optimize EMIs, and track our portfolios with discipline. Over time, this training builds strong “money intuitions,” i.e., we can feel when a deal is unfair, when a fee is hidden, or when a bet is too risky. Those instincts are not perfect, but they exist—and they often protect us from obvious financial harm.​

We also learn to sense fear, boredom, danger, or low energy in people we interact with or environments we work in. We adapt to these accordingly, and it’s intuitive at all times, e.g., we will find ways to end the call when we are out of words, we will avoid people we don’t feel safe with, we will look for ways to get out of toxic environments, and we will be creative with our attempts to do all of these.

But these same intuitions are mostly missing in the domain of wellness.

We clearly avoid what might kill us today, but we routinely accept what will quietly harm us over decades: poor sleep, ultra‑processed food, constant sitting, and chronic stress. For many people, these patterns drive the bulk of their long‑term disease risk, especially for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions linked to lifestyle. Yet in the moment, each choice feels harmless, even trivial.

• A donut now looks delicious and brings about feelings of YOLO, but it’s making a minor dent in our immune systems. It’s like a small cut that doesn’t kill today, but thousands of these will wreak havoc eventually.

• A late-night binge-eating session feels great, but it's slowing down our rest and recovery, and making us insulin resistant when it becomes a regular affair.

• Seated position all day long may seem harmless, but our backs are getting out of shape, and blood flow is affected, leading to slightly higher blood pressure without us realizing it.

The causal link between “tonight” and “20 years from now” is invisible to our senses. That is where the idea “the world is sensory rich but causally poor” lands with force.

Anna Lembke, author of Dopamine Nation, and others use this phrase to describe an environment overflowing with dopamine hits—food, apps, shopping, notifications—but clearly lacking in cause‑and‑effect feedback.

We love the things that provide us instant pleasure, but we do not viscerally grasp their impact 20 years down the line. Our tendency toward parabolic discounting doesn’t help either, i.e., we are genetically coded to prioritise the now over thinking about the distant and uncertain future, unless we train ourselves to guard against this mindset.

On top of that, our capitalist society and its systems are optimized for capital efficiency and engagement, not for healthspan, leaving most people delighted by the pursuit of pleasure but ignorant of the almost inevitable consequences.

Every day, we are making tiny tradeoffs between comfort now and capacity later—between dopamine today and healthspan tomorrow.

When you choose sleep over one more late-night episode, a walk over one more social media scroll, whole food over ultra‑processed convenience, you are effectively saying: “My future self matters more than this momentary hit.”

The challenge—and the opportunity—is to bring those trade‑offs into awareness, to see cause and effect more clearly, and to start making health-and-wellness-related decisions with the same seriousness, clarity, and intention that you already bring to your choices around money.

As for money, what do you think is the primary purpose of the money you're earning? Is it impressing strangers with your fancy car that they won’t even remember in a few hours? Is it about proving to others that you made it in life, while the very same ‘others’ don’t care if you did or not? Is it about chasing pleasures that you didn’t experience in your childhood?

The answer is a BIG NO !!!

According to many legendary entrepreneurs and athletes I follow, money should be seen as a tool to build yourself into a better, stronger version of yourself, so you can create more memories with your loved ones and impact the world the way you’d like. Money is to be used to create a longer runway for professional and personal success. And having a solid grasp of health and wellness is what makes this possible.

It’s time to make intelligent trade-offs instead of lousy ones. The best time was yesterday. Today is already late.

Wishing you a lovely weekend 🍹

Sending loads of love and luck🧿

Manish

I was asked recently, “When do you get time to read? Did you always read a lot? How do you do it consistently?” and a few more on these lines, and it got me thinking - what really shaped this habit of mine?

• What if I told you that my gyming habit shaped my reading consistency?

• What if I told you that willingness to look like a fool played a part, too, in this?

• What if I told you that having no money nudged me towards reading even more?

None of these has anything to do with reading, but they still shaped my reading habits because that’s how life works. You aim for something, and you end up building value systems, habits, and processes that impact a whole different area of your life.

Let’s expand on this idea -

📚When you’re reading for 30-60 minutes daily, you think you’re absorbing information. But you’re actually constructing something rare: the ability to resist the dopamine pull of notifications, to sit with discomfort when a paragraph gets dense, to train your mind to go deep rather than wide. These are superpowers in a world filled with terminally distracted individuals.

💪🏻When you’re working out consistently, it appears you’re chasing a beach body or burning side handles. But what’s really happening is that you’re developing the capacity to honor commitments to yourself when no one’s watching. You’re proving to your subconscious that you can endure discomfort voluntarily, that temporary pain doesn’t control you. You’re rewiring your relationship with resistance itself.

☀️When you’re waking up early, it’s not just about having more hours. You’re establishing control over your own time, making your first daily decision a victory rather than a defeat. You’re training yourself to act against impulse, to choose long-term identity over short-term comfort. Each morning becomes proof that you can override the default human mode of complacency and resistance.

🥁When you’re learning a new language or instrument, the obvious goal is the skill itself. What you don’t see is that you’re also building humility by being terrible at something again, developing comfort with the beginner’s awkwardness, and strengthening your tolerance for slow progress. You’re literally restructuring your brain’s plasticity, making yourself more adaptable to all future learning.

🤯When you’re having difficult conversations instead of avoiding them, you’re not just resolving that specific issue. You’re expanding your capacity to sit with social discomfort, to prioritize truth over temporary peace, to trust that relationships deepen through friction rather than fracture. You’re becoming someone who faces reality rather than manages it.

Reread these 5 points, and you will realize that every simple act today has ripple effects on how you shape up in times to come.

If you skip the gym today, you turn into someone in the future who hates discomfort and blows up at the slightest inconvenience or adversity. If you avoid being terrible at skill acquisition today, you will shape up into someone who doesn’t express themselves well in the future and hence won’t be selected for umpteen opportunities.

The pattern is clear: what looks like X is simultaneously building Y, Z, and qualities you never aimed for. The invisible transformations are often more valuable than the visible ones. You ought to decide what you choose to do today, and that choice will bear fruit tomorrow.

You chase the body; you gain discipline.

You pursue knowledge; you build focus.

You practice the skill; you forge character.

Start doing what needs to be done today and see the magic unfold slowly but surely someday soon.

Sending you all loads of love and luck 🧿

And wishing a lovely weekend to all.

Manish

Genuinely great writers about money are astoundingly rare. Most financial advice feels dry, technical, or one-dimensional—leaving readers bored, confused, or both. But every so often, a writer comes along who elevates the conversation, bringing clarity, warmth, and universal insight to the world’s most misunderstood subject.

In my view, Morgan Housel stands not just among the best—he’s at the pinnacle. His books aren’t just helpful; they make money feel more human, more navigable, and even enjoyable.

That’s why Housel’s books deserve to be mandatory reading for everyone pursuing success in any industry globally. No matter your professional path, understanding money—and your relationship with it—will shape your freedom, happiness, and choices.

Here are five crucial highlights from “The Art of Spending Money” by Morgan Housel to help you build your own mental framework for mastering spending and money management :

“The best use of money is as a tool to leverage who you are, but never to define who you are.”

The moment you treat money as your personality, e.g., “I’m Manish, and this is how big my savings account is”, you’re fooling yourself. You will only attract suckers whose primary goal will be to pocket a portion of what you have in that account.

Instead, learn to use money to empower your choices, not as the only interesting thing about you. If you want to make a difference, then fund programs to achieve your philanthropic goals. Fund someone’s dream business idea. Give the best life to your dear ones. Take time out to make someone’s day special. Contribute to your nation-building efforts.

There is so much that money can do to make the world a much more beautiful place, rather than being used for hoarding more likes and affection from strangers worldwide.

“Utility being hijacked by the pursuit of status is so common in everyday life... Status devouring utility is one of the most common frustrations of modern spending.”

Ask yourself: Would I buy the same car, watch, shoes, or “impressive spreadsheet software” if I were stranded on a deserted island with zero people to impress? If not, congrats—you recognize the status trap. Let the world chase fancy-ness while you stay grounded and simple, letting your savings create that independence you so desire.

This doesn’t mean you don’t spend on anything. Spend liberally on things that matter, but be simple about stuff that doesn’t define you, e.g., I spend on quality food and never compromise on eating healthier, which does cost good money. But I don’t spend on Gucci & Armani because I don’t care about the logo on my t-shirt. My favorite outfit is a Uniqlo black/white t-shirt over Levi’s jeans, which together don’t cost more than $70.

“The best measure of wealth is what you have minus what you want.”

Your mind is never going to stop craving, especially for what you don’t have. If you already have 1000 unread books, the mind wants to buy more, just in case. If you already have enough clothes, the monkey mind wants to dress itself up in the newest collection. It’s just endless hunger, and it will never stop till you cease to exist.

Instead, focus energy on managing your expectations. Happiness blooms when there’s nothing significant missing—not when your wishlist rivals a billionaire’s Amazon cart.

I have low expectations, and I design my life by cutting out unnecessary desires that could blindside me. I do not follow a single account on IG that could create envy. I surround myself with people who are focused on their purpose and don’t give a dime about brands and shiny things. I have created a weekly routine that brings me a lot of joy through simple things like reading, workouts, snooker, and time out with friends or family.

I’d be happy to make USD 100,000,000 if I hit the jackpot with an investment or business idea, but I am not losing one minute of sleep over it today.

“The only good advice is ‘Minimize future regret.’”

Only two concerns are flashing in your mind when you spend money, i.e., “live for today” or “save for tomorrow”—it’s grappling with this trade-off between compounding wealth for your future self and living each day without feeling like a squirrel hoarding acorns.

And making the right choice every time will not be humanly possible. You will give in to temptations some days, and sometimes overdo the frugality part. You will make mistakes, splurge on stupid things sometimes, and compromise at other times, but you will get better at it. Even if you could tilt towards saving for tomorrow, that itself will do the trick.

Sound financial decisions are choices your future self will thank you for. But mastering the art of making these sound decisions will require a solid grasp of the concept of money and what it can do for you and your family in the time to come.

“Independence is wealth. Health is wealth. Aim to be a good ancestor. Love your family.”

Wealth isn’t just numbers in your brokerage statement. It’s freedom—doing what you want, with whom you want, minus a script. Spend less than you make, compound quietly, and remember: the best ROI is always family and health.

If you’re flaunting for strangers, you will soon realize it’s a bottomless pit with zero joy coming out of it, while it saps your finances away slowly, one cut at a time.

But if you’re investing in your health, it will boost your mood, energy, and productivity—which allows you to achieve more with grace and ease.

If you’re spending on creating memorable experiences with family & friends, you will have moments to cherish and talk about for life.

At 45, with 20+ years of experience, I have concluded that all the hustle is ultimately about reaching a place where you can have a good time with people you love, explore new things, learn, contribute, and make the world a better place. We don’t need a billion dollars to do all this. It can be done regardless of where you and I are in life today.

Ready for a change?

Re-read one of these highlights (or all five!), think hard for a bit, then resolve to make one change around your spending habits.

Drop the status hustle, raise the utility, and remember—the best money spent is often on what actually matters when no one’s watching.

Go forth and change how you think about money!

Wishing you a fantastic day ahead.

Sending loads of love & luck 🧿

Manish

Larry Ellison, the Oracle visionary, nailed it with a brutal truth: “The brain’s purpose is self-deception.” And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this statement.

Our minds aren’t villains—they’re evolutionary shortcuts, crafting comforting illusions to dodge pain and propel survival. And they work brilliantly most of the time, e.g., we would run at the slightest hint of grave danger, even if we had almost no battery reserves personally. Another example would be cutting the conversation short when you realize there is nothing left to discuss.

These are mental shortcuts, quick to resort to, and effective also. But in modern life, these tricks can sabotage our health, relationships, careers, and finances.

HEALTH

Health deceptions run deep. Your brain is best at minimizing threats, insisting “I’ll start tomorrow” on that gym membership or “one more donut won’t kill me,” or mistaking binge-watching Netflix as “rest.” It’s like the emperor’s new clothes: you see a fit self in the mirror, blind to creeping fatigue, weakening muscles, or expanding waistlines.

Our minds are experts at parabolic discounting, i.e., giving greater weight to short-term pleasures than to long-term rewards. This short-term bias ignores alarming stats—sedentary lifestyles spike heart disease by 147%—lulling you into a false sense of security and the grand illusion of lots of time left to take care of health.

This is a death trap, and the encouraging part is - it’s avoidable !!!

Protocol: Build a self-audit mechanism. Daily log everything via apps like MyFitnessPal: calories, steps, sleep. Schedule bi-weekly “reality checks” with a wearable’s data dashboard or a nutritionist/trainer’s input. Pair it with habit stacking, e.g., complete your workouts with a sweet-treat ritual: you treat yourself for overcoming your lazy self. There will come a time when you no longer need these treats. Till then, the protocol works like magic.

Over time, you get a solid grip on your personal data instead of living in denial, like ostriches do, with their heads buried in the sand when faced with a threat. As is often said, “God is in the details.” Once you get good at measuring stuff that you want to manage, there is no stopping you from becoming the best version of yourself.

RELATIONSHIPS

In relationships, the mind is quick to make judgments, feel disappointed due to people’s mistakes, or feel like a victim when things don’t go as planned. The mind acts as if the owner is perfect himself. No, he is not. So why would the world be !!!

People are flawed, people will make mistakes, people will disappoint you, and people will fall short of your expectations. You will have to pick up the pieces and keep moving. That is the gift of being human, i.e., you get another chance at the lucky draw.

You cannot behave like a gambler at a rigged slot machine, chasing dopamine hits from toxic highs while ignoring the fact that the house always wins. Similarly, expecting people to be perfect is a losing game, and the only outcome is misery.

Protocol: Deploy the “mirror squad.” Weekly, journal red flags without judgment, then share anonymized with an accountability buddy or therapist. A lot of clarity can be gained by conversations with someone you can share these moments/feelings with. Having someone to discuss these with is a blessing. And when you do find one, protect that relationship like a hawk.

Craft a core values list—and constantly review post-conflict. If someone isn’t aligned with your set of core values, you can choose not to invest in that specific relationship. Nothing wrong with the person; it’s just that you're seeking someone with an aligned set of values or mission.

MONEY

Money mirages are slyest: “Treat yourself—you deserve it!” morphs savings into splurges, like a leaky bucket disguised as a vault. Behavioral economics calls it present bias, which is related to the mathematical concept of parabolic discounting discussed earlier. But both lead to the same outcomes: seeking short-term pleasures and dopamine hits—no wonder the debt-fuelled retail sales keep inching towards the top right everywhere.

Protocol: Enforce “friction finance,” i.e., have a partner/friend to veto purchases above a certain limit. My wife has gained a PhD in declining 90% of my proposals. Thank God, she is tight-fisted with money. I sometimes wonder if I would have ever saved as much as I do today if not for her.

Impose a 72-hour to 1-week veto on non-essentials. You can think of buying these only if the temptation is as strong 72 hours later. 90% of the time, it won’t be. Try it out for a month and you will know.

Download your credit card statement for the last 3 months, and ask ChatGPT to break down your expenses and highlight the largest segment. You will be surprised at what comes up. Do this at the end of every quarter, and chances are you will keep getting better at cutting inessentials or unnecessary costs/subscriptions/lifestyle creep that is slowly and steadily draining your financial bucket.

Left on its own device, your mind is gonna play games with you that may cost you dearly. But when you consciously tame these tendencies, you could master this tool to your benefit, leading to an abundance of wealth, relationships, and vitality.

You choose !!!

On an ordinary Paris morning, the Louvre Museum was alive with its usual hum — tourists queuing, flashes clicking, conversations echoing under the glass pyramid. Yet amid the calm, a group of thieves executed a precision heist, lifting priceless jewels and vanishing before anyone realized what had happened. It wasn’t darkness or chaos that helped them — it was distraction.

The illusion of normalcy became their greatest ally.

That’s exactly how most of us lose our most valuable treasures — not to noise or crisis, but to the quiet thefts we never notice. Every day, our time, energy, and money are stolen in plain sight.

1. Temptations — The Thief of Money

Temptation doesn’t come wearing a mask — it arrives through “limited-time offers,” shiny new gadgets, indulgent meals, and lifestyle upgrades disguised as self-care. The problem isn’t one purchase; it’s the slow erosion of intent. Each impulsive “yes” chips away at your savings and discipline. Over months, those small leaks become floods. The world profits when you don’t pause.

If you did an audit of all your purchases in the last year, you would surely find a lot of unwanted stuff accumulating in your house. You will find a lot of clothes that you don’t wear anymore. You will discover many subscriptions you are no longer leveraging or reading. You will find gadgets that you haven’t used more than twice or thrice.

These were tempting when you didn’t own it. And once you own it, they are not exciting enough. That’s the irony of life, and it affects almost everyone that I have come across.

2. Envy — The Thief of Energy

Envy disguises itself as inspiration. You see someone fitter, richer, or more admired — and instead of fueling growth, it drains you. You start living through comparison instead of creation. Envy steals joy and replaces it with quiet fatigue, because your energy goes to resenting instead of building.

I’ve met people who’ve spent their entire lives chasing the ghosts of someone else’s doubt — trying to prove a point to those who once dismissed them, mocked them, or made them feel small. That single moment of being underestimated carved a hole in their soul, and they’ve been trying to fill it ever since — with success, status, or endless striving.

I’ve also seen people bury themselves in debt, desperate to build a lifestyle that screams “I made it,” not because they wanted it, but because someone else had it. A richer neighbor, a more successful cousin, a friend who seemed a step ahead — the comparisons change, but the story doesn’t. I’ve seen it play out in India, Dubai, and everywhere in between. The faces differ, but the pattern remains the same — people living for validation instead of peace.

3. Distractions — The Thief of Time

Notifications, endless scrolling, multitasking — the modern Louvre of lost hours. Every swipe is a micro-heist. You don’t notice your day being stolen because it happens while you’re “busy.” Attention, once fragmented, is hard to reclaim — and what you don’t guard, the world will take.

I see people struggling to finish a book, struggling even to hold a conversation without glancing at their phones every thirty seconds. Our collective attention span has shrunk — not by accident, but by design. The world has trained itself to think, feel, and react in 30-second clips — TikToks, Reels, Shorts. The constant barrage of instant gratification has rewired how we consume information, interact, and even think.

I see people constantly multitasking, believing it makes them efficient, when in reality it’s fragmenting their focus. Their ability to sit still, to listen deeply, to stay immersed in one thing — whether it’s work, learning, or conversation — has eroded. They’ve become mere fractions of their potential selves, not because they lack intelligence or drive, but because distraction has quietly stolen their capacity to endure, to persevere, and to go deep. That is the most dangerous thief of all — the one that robs your time and attention without you ever noticing it’s gone.

Building Your Defenses

To protect yourself, install protocols as if your life were a vault. And this isn’t a suggestion, it’s a must-do because your intention alone isn’t enough against these thieves. Execution is the only thing that matters.

Protocols Against Temptation

1. The One-Week Rule: Wait seven days before any non-essential purchase. Most impulses fade once emotions cool.

2. Subscription Audit: Review all recurring payments monthly. If it doesn’t add value, cancel it.

3. Automate Savings: Route a fixed portion of your income to savings or investments before you spend a dirham.

4. Mindful Substitution: When tempted to buy for comfort, walk, stretch, journal, or hydrate — replace impulse with awareness.

5. Value Alignment: Ask, “Will this expense serve the person I want to become?” If not, walk away.

Protocols Against Envy

1. Gratitude Journaling: Start or end each day by listing three things you’re grateful for — it rewires focus from lack to abundance.

2. Solitude Hours: Spend at least an hour weekly disconnected — no screens, no noise — just reflection.

3. Unfollow to Unburden: Mute or unfollow accounts that trigger comparison rather than curiosity.

4. Transform Envy into Learning: When you feel envy, study how they did it — not why them.

5. Personal Progress Tracker: Record small wins weekly to remind yourself how far you’ve come.

Protocols Against Distraction

1. Focus Blocks: Create protected work periods with your phone in another room or on airplane mode.

2. Create Before You Consume: Begin your mornings producing — writing, training, thinking — before checking your phone.

3. Digital Curfew: Avoid screens for the first and last 30 minutes of your day.

4. Priority First: Attack your most important task early in the morning while your mind is sharp.

5. Deep Work Scheduling: Dedicate specific hours weekly for uninterrupted, single-task focus.

The Louvre heist reminds us that theft doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it’s silent, polite, and happens in broad daylight — while everyone’s watching. Guard your attention, your intention, and your energy.

The masterpiece of your life deserves tighter security starting today 🔐

“There are slavish souls who carry their appreciation for favors done for them so far that they strangle themselves with the rope of gratitude.”

—Friedrich Nietzsche

In 2014, I was struggling financially and based in India, while also struggling to run my business. I eventually decided to return to Dubai and restart my banking career, which required me to reach out to everyone I knew, as well as those I had lost touch with due to my move to India in 2011.

I sent out my CV to 100s of people, hoping and praying that someone would provide me with a new lease of life, and someone did show up as an angel. He wasn’t someone I was close to, someone dear to me, someone I had spent a lot of time with. He was an ex-client whom I had assisted on investment and banking matters.

I didn’t even realize that those engaging conversations around markets and general banter had left an impression on him that led him to set up an interview for me, and which eventually restarted my banking career in the UAE.

That turn of events and how my life shaped up post my return to Dubai has cemented the thought in my mind to “if you're good at what you do and if you're good to others, good shall be showered upon you in more ways than you can imagine.”

It’s like the universe telling you, “You scratch my back, and I scratch yours.”

Do you, too, have an incident where a simple, kind gesture boomeranged back to you, from the most unexpected directions?

This is no accident of luck. It’s deep psychology, a survival script etched into our DNA for thousands of years. Evolutionary biologists refer to it as “reciprocity bias,” and whether we recognize it or not, it is at play in nearly every relationship and decision we make.

Imagine our ancestors on the savannah. Food was scarce, trust was scarce, and yet, those who learned to cooperate—who traded arrows for firewood, meat for information—thrived. Society, at its core, is built on this invisible but powerful ledger of favors and obligations.

So today, when we feel compelled to repay even a small act of kindness, it is that primal wiring speaking up. There is no true escape from its grip.

The Bright Side: Always Add Value

Reciprocity, at its best, creates rich soil for relationships to flourish. As a corporate professional, I witness this daily: trust grows quickest not from words, but from actions freely offered.

Helping a client with an out-of-scope query, or supporting a colleague with no expectation, almost always returns to me, sometimes years down the line, occasionally multifold. Sometimes, these relationships turn into lifelong friendships, while others create opportunities, and all value-added exchanges help cement one’s credibility and reputation.

When a manager goes out of their way for their team and genuinely cares for the team, the team, in turn, rallies harder. You cannot fake it as a manager, no matter how hard you try. Humans can smell deceit and manipulation from miles away, unless you have hired yes men in your team who will tow the line to score brownie points with you. And if you have, you're not doing your job well in the first place.

When families extend themselves for neighbors, communities become more resilient. No wonder that many centenarians have repeatedly emphasized the importance of strong social bonds as one of the key factors contributing to their longevity. A society with high trust and camaraderie is great for your spirits and your biology, too.

It is reciprocity bias—anchored in give and take, seen and unseen—doing its quiet, potent work.

Be The Dog

I loved the speech Peter Kaufman gave on Reciprocity Bias, where he discussed a dog talking to another dog about how to live a life of abundance and freedom. All that is required of a dog is to give unconditional love to their owner for a few minutes, especially when they return home, and that ensures the dog gets to eat what they want, sleep when they want, and ask for a stroll when they want.

The message to the student dog was simple: “Give unconditional love, always go first, and keep at it for life, day after day, without a break. And life will be a magic carpet ride.”

When I shared this story with my colleagues, one of them got the point and stated out loud, “I have to be the dog” 😃

The Shadow: Don’t Let It Turn You Into a Slave

But this mental model isn’t always your friend. Reciprocity can trap you just like millions of voters get trapped by politicians to vote for them in return for favors like cash dole outs, promises of free electricity, stricter laws against capitalists, or free booze.

Many recent comments from Emmanuel Macron are a direct result of reciprocity bias, driven by the influx of money that has funded French real estate, businesses, or clubs, influencing him to make comments that may be unavoidable. This is a clear example of becoming a slave to favors, and that has been the downfall of many a credible man time and again.

How often have you accepted a coffee or an evening out just to “keep things even,” or felt a nagging obligation after a seemingly random favor?

Not all gifts are given in good will. However, all gifts will constantly tug at you to return the favor in some way or another. And it’s this tugging that could lead you to commit a mistake that has nothing to do with merit, but everything to do with “keeping things even.”

A better strategy would be to decline favors or privileged treatment at all times, unless it’s professionally unfeasible.

Wisdom lies in observing when the reciprocity ledger is being filled out for you, not by you.

Call To Action: Become Resourceful, Build Real Value

Since there is no uninstall button for reciprocity bias, why not harness it to maximum effect? It requires no hidden agenda or manipulative instincts. All it needs is for you to become someone who adds value, shares knowledge, and is dependable at all times.

The world is filled with people pursuing their agendas and focused solely on themselves. In this myopic, short-term, obsessed, and distracted mass of knowledge workers, you have a choice to become a resourceful and highly agency individual, and see how the world overcompensates this trait.

Give wisely, build relationships deliberately, and let your circle of positive reciprocity grow.

In a world where “You scratch my back, I scratch yours” is hardwired in us all, being resourceful isn’t just good karma. It’s an investment, compounding quietly behind the scenes—waiting to surprise you at precisely the right moment.

Go Positive. Go First. Always !!!

Wishing you all a fantastic day ahead.

Sending loads of love and luck from Dubai🧿

Manish

There you are, scrolling through your feed, reading a headline about climate change, politics, or the latest stock market dip, and boom—your opinion forms like lightning.

“This is nonsense,” you declare in the comments, or maybe to your friends over coffee. “They’re all wrong; here’s how it really works.” You feel that rush, that certainty surging through you like you’re a prophet, dispensing wisdom to the masses.

But hold on a second.

• Have you really peeled back all the layers?

• Can you debate in favor of the subject and also against it?

• Have you understood the subject matter from all angles possible?

If not, then you are just playing God with a half-empty toolkit !!

Let’s face it: the world is a tangled mess of complexity.

Economies don’t run on simple supply-and-demand charts anymore—they’re webs of geopolitics, AI disruptions, pandemics, and a million unseen variables. Human behavior? Forget it. Psychology, culture, history, and random chance all collide in ways no one can fully predict.

If the world behaved rationally, then you wouldn't have billions of dollars of revenue for a horrible-tasting Red Bull or an artificially induced waiting period for Birkin Bags and the anxiety it creates in uber-rich women.

Yet, here we are, mere mortals, strutting around with god-like confidence in our views.

Why?

Because our brains are wired for shortcuts, not marathons. We crave certainty in a chaotic universe, so we fill in the gaps with assumptions, biases, and a dash of ego. It’s easier to believe we’re right than to admit the world’s too vast for any one mind to conquer. It’s easier to say “I know” instead of admitting “I have no freaking clue.”

Think about it. You watch a 5-minute YouTube video on Bitcoin or a gold miner in Australia, and suddenly you’re ready to make a presentation on these topics or dish out advice to invest in these with utmost conviction.

But do you actually have the conviction or is it entirely borrowed?

This is the illusion of understanding—the sneaky trick where we mistake surface-level knowledge for deep insight. Psychologists call it the “illusion of explanatory depth.”

You think you can explain how stock prices move until someone asks you to explain the business model behind the company you invested in. Poof—your confidence crumbles. You assume you understand and may try to give a lame answer because admitting ignorance feels like weakness, while you hope you made the right decision investing in that specific company.

In a world bombarding us with info-bites, it’s tempting to nod along and pretend we’ve mastered the puzzle. But 90% of the time, we’re just echoing what we heard from a podcast or a tweet, without questioning the source or understanding the full context.

And then there’s the real kicker: acting decisively on that half-baked knowledge, convinced we’re spot on.

You’ve seen it—maybe even done it. A friend dives into a “sure-thing” diet after reading one article, ignoring the risks because “it makes total sense.” Or someone makes a judgment on another without digging into what really happened to cause the person to do what they did. There is always a story we ain’t privy to, until we dive deep and discover ourselves.

Why do we do this?

Overconfidence bias, plain and simple.

Studies show that the less we know, the more we overestimate our competence—it’s the Dunning-Kruger effect in action. With incomplete info, we don’t see the blind spots, so we charge ahead like bulls in a china shop, thinking our view is the divine truth.

The world’s complexity should humble us, but instead, it fuels our superiority complex or our delusions of competence. We act fast because hesitation feels like failure, and in our god complex, failure isn’t an option.

Remember your younger self? Back in school, you’d argue about history or science with rock-solid opinions pulled from a single textbook or TV show. “This is how it happened,” you’d insist, blind to the reality of what happened and oblivious to the nuances experts spend lifetimes uncovering.

Fast-forward to now: same brain, bigger stakes. In boardrooms, family dinners, or online forums, we double down on partial truths because backing off would shatter the illusion.

But here’s the wake-up call—the “thinker” in you jumps unconsciously on these grand narratives, while the “doer” crashes into reality’s walls. Wars have started, fortunes lost, and relationships ruined over this very hubris.

So, what’s the antidote?

Humility, my friend.

Pause before proclaiming your expert opinion. Ask: “What don’t I know? Who disagrees, and why?” Dive deeper—read opposing views, question your sources, and embrace the complexity of the issue.

The world isn’t a puzzle you solve alone; it’s a mosaic built by billions with enough room for error and randomness. Shed the god complex, and you’ll make better decisions, build stronger connections, and maybe even learn a thing or two.

After all, true wisdom isn’t knowing everything—it’s knowing how much you don’t.

Perhaps, it’s the humility to pause—and sometimes, to say “I don’t know”—that’s most divine.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend ahead !!

Sending loads of love and luck 🧿

Manish

We consider ourselves rational and intelligent, yet oblivious to the fact that our subconscious mind is committed to presenting itself in a favorable light and making a positive impression wherever we go.

We could be subtly aware that we still have miles to walk in earning trust and influence with people, but we want it now, so we may exert power and influence where none exists.

Similarly, we may trust someone based on our past experiences, but this trust can be broken by a single mistake, as people are often expected to be perfect, or else they don't belong in our circle.

We are at odds in our minds about so many things i.e., our preferences are at odds with rationality, our feelings are at odds with what's the right thing to do, our emotions are running wild while we need to show a straight face, and our fears and anxieties run many of our ambitions and desires while we are unaware of that in the moment.

It's all happening in our minds, it’s subtle, and it shows up in saying things or doing things that may be mistimed, inappropriate, or uncalled for.

I have been on the receiving end of this umpteen times to realize that acting rational at all times for everyone is almost impossible because of the games our minds play. I have made mistakes that have cost me a lot, but I can't go back in time, so I need to make peace with them. It is tough and still haunts me at times.

I have also learned that sustaining relationships is a damn difficult task - at work, at home, with friends or family, due to the same reason - our monkey minds.

I have dealt with this by being patient, having difficult conversations, giving a chance, and letting go. However, it's difficult because when things go south between people, the mind tends to project the other person in the worst light possible, making it hard to forgive that person.

I have to fight hard to resist that urge because it's the monkey mind operating in all of us that's playing games. We struggle to forgive others and even ourselves. We struggle to come to terms with the repercussions of a mistake. We struggle to move on.

It's tough, but we can improve only if we don't expect people to be perfect. We are all flawed and dealing with our demons. This is reality, and there is no escaping it.

The only way out is to build enough patience to deal with/accept people as they are at this moment, and give others another chance.

Everyone deserves another chance to improve. Let's be compassionate enough to allow that.

I have been away for too long, exploring new pathways, soul-searching, and working on myself; the process is still ongoing. However, I have concluded that my writing should and must continue before AI renders me completely incapable of generating my creative output.

So here I am, back to my writing desk, and beginning to express my thoughts about a question or stuff I am dealing with.

Thanks to all those who dropped a message asking about my writing and if I was still alive ;) I appreciate your concern, and I look forward to the writing journey ahead !

2024 is almost ending, and irrespective of how it’s been for you, it bodes well for you to look back and self-evaluate everything that’s been done or missed out, all lessons learned or mistakes made, moments shared, or opportunities fumbled upon.

This activity isn’t essential if you want 2025 to be a similar version of 2024. It is a waste of time if life is excellent and cannot get better for you. It is a naive thought process if your wisdom and inner peace are peaking and you see no end to their inflow.

If so, you belong to the 1% of 1% of all elite performers globally. Mortal souls like us are way down the value chain, hustling to build thriving careers and make things happen ;)

If you are like me, I have a few tips for making this self-evaluation exercise worth your time and energy.

There are three broad areas you can tap into, i.e., Think, Express Yourself, and Spread Joy. Let me elaborate on each -

Think

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” - Henry Ford.

Thinking isn’t a simple endeavor because we have slowly turned from human beings to human doings. We are working, scrolling, acting on instructions, firefighting, making ends meet, reacting, acting on impulse, giving into feelings - doing something at all times.

If you had allotted any time of your day for plain thinking, then you might already be using that time to assess every batch of 24 hours. You may be asking yourself questions like -

• What did I learn?

• What did I accomplish?

• What could I have done better?

• What did I do to meet my goals?

• What was a mistake I could have avoided?

• Am I happy/proud about the day gone by?

• What fears or emotions did I lose the battle to?

• How did I deal with these fears/emotions to succeed next time?

• Did I create systems/processes to become a 1% better version of myself today?

But life has found devious ways to keep us running from pillar to post daily, hence the need to take time out in December to think through these questions and answer them elaborately.

Don't half-ass it.

Go deep to explore every single question mentioned above before you even think of your goals in 2025.

If you’re the same person walking into 2025, then 2025 has no choice but to be a slightly better or worse version of 2024. And I hope you don’t want that. I hope you're aiming for a 2X - 10X of your 2024 accomplishments in 2025. It’s possible only if you think through the Operating System (OS) running your life daily.

Every OS needs a reboot from time to time. In December, it’s time to reboot and refresh your OS.

I will share Parts II and III in the next few days so that you have this three-part series to create a kick-ass 2025 that’s just around the corner. I will also share a few resources and tools that will help you think through and make changes that could be transformational for you in the future.

Till then, I wish you a fantastic day and a blissful weekend.

Sending you loads of love & luck 🧿

Manish

“Results are a consequence of doing things well and having high standards, improving the detail of how we play.” - Gareth Southgate

If you look at your whole life and create a list of all the things that have an impact on your performance, then it would most likely look like the following -

• Health

• Habits

• Fitness

• Systems

• Hobbies

• Coaching

• Nutrition

• Academics

• Profession

• Negotiations

• Relationships

• Communication

• Emotion Management 

Out of all the items listed above, which ones have you been formally trained on?

The most likely answer will be academics—only Academics—since that consumes our entire youth from childhood to the completion of professional qualifications. For example, I was mainly studying until I was 25, scraping through college, thriving in my MBA, and then scraping through my CFA, only to finish it on my third attempt.

Many brilliant minds taught me Finance, Marketing, Mathematics, Economics, International Business, Supply Chain Management, and all the topics that make up the curriculum for B. Com, MBA Finance, and CFA. 

But if I look at whatever little milestones I have achieved, 99% of the credit goes to all the subjects that were never taught to me formally.

• My ability to close deals was learned by repeatedly failing to do so for my dad in his business and at my first few sales jobs with Videocon TV Distributor, Anand Rathi Securities, and SCB. At all these places, I was a disaster, or merely average, but I kept improving.

• My current friendships were formed after repeatedly losing friends due to drifting apart for no apparent reason besides no effort to keep in touch.

• My health had to deteriorate to absolute lows for me to wake up and start reading umpteen books to get my life back in order.

• My systems of productivity and performance were created only after I got burned out chasing audacious goals, which cost me peace of mind and many relationships.

• My communication skills were developed only after thrusting myself into places where I had to step up and enroll more and more people in the project e.g. volunteering at Landmark Education Corporation or Networking.

These were all learned from mistakes, misjudgments, accidents, or pure luck.

Though it all came to me from unexpected places, the common thread across these accumulations of lessons was one simple fact—every domain has someone operating at higher standards than me, and I need to learn from him, copy him, experiment with his protocols, see what works and what doesn't, and eventually end up with stuff that works for me.

• Vegetarianism didn’t work for me, so I tried a high-fat diet, which worked wonders. Dave Asprey and all his books singlehandedly transformed my health.

• Expecting the moon from others didn't work for me, so I turned stoic with low expectations and focused only on what was in my hands, leaving the rest to providence. This yielded terrific results for me without me chasing them. Seneca and Ryan Holiday were my captains on this journey.

• Being nice all the time didn't work for me, so I started communicating assertively and with humor, finally finding a style that worked for me. Rajiv at LEC, Sachin at Infiniti, Anurag at SCB, and many others imparted invaluable lessons on the way.

Come to think of it, There have always been people around me who had the smarts, skills, nerve, and chips on their shoulders that would put chips in their pockets. All I had to do was recognize their operating standards, guiding values, and life principles—and adopt some, adapt to some, edit some, build upon some—and make a toolkit from these that would catapult me way ahead than I could have imagined.

There is no other alternative unless you think everything should only be learned through accidents and misjudgments through your acts of commission.

Why not learn vicariously?

I have chosen to do that, and it's been a smoother journey than all my previous self-harming stunts.

Today, my thought process is different but very clear -

I meet everyone with an open mind, as he may have a skill, a system, a guiding value, or an operating principle that could make a tremendous difference to me and my family. I am just listening with my ears perked, looking for gold to add to my toolkit.

Every time I find a gem, I send myself a voice note, an email, or an addition to my to-do list—which eventually goes in my journal, where I can record it in a way that sticks with me for a long time.

I also have a system of spaced repetition that has turned many of these aspirational values into a part of who I am today. It’s been a slow grind to pound these into my psyche, but it’s been possible through patience and time. 

It’s simple.

Cut, copy, and paste aren't only for Excel. They work in real life, too, and I have been blessed by many people who have made them possible for me!

The only requirement is to keep looking for gold in everyone you meet. You might find truckloads of it in the person sitting next to you ;)  

And there is nothing to lose if you don’t. You keep moving on !!!

Wishing you a lovely day ahead🍹

Sending you loads of love and luck from Dubai 🧿

Manish

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “To attain knowledge, add things daily. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day.”

Let’s think about how this applies to our respective careers. The logical things that come to mind for rising the corporate ladder will most likely be as follows -

• Making CV stronger by adding Degrees / Diplomas

• Networking and building new connections

• Taking on more responsibilities

• Going for Bigger Targets

No wonder most professionals are burning themselves out trying to make the most of their days by adding more and more to their CVs and to-do Lists.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave much for many other domains that are equally or even more important than climbing the corporate ladder, such as family, health, friendships, peace of mind, personal development, etc.

Hence, it doesn’t surprise me that people on their deathbeds admit that it was a mistake to pursue more and more instead of enjoying the simple pleasures with loved ones.

However, the goal of rising the corporate ladder could be attained by subtraction, too. Let me explain -

• Taking less, giving more

• Speaking less, listening more

• Eliminating distractions that allow more work to be done

• Not stressing about personal accolades, and instead, going out of the way to congratulate or thank others in the most sincere manner possible e.g., handwritten cards

• Calling it an early night so you could have a quality sleep that would boost your cognition for the next day, aiding you in better executive decisions

• Staying away from toxic people or disempowering conversations since they aren’t forwarding you in your career, nor are they taking the company ahead

• Coming prepared for meetings and Keeping them short and to the point, making everyone contribute or have takeaways in that limited duration, which adds value to all involved

These could take you to the top, too, but the trade-off here is that you may not appear as smart or competent, sometimes to yourself, since there is no signaling happening here. I will elaborate -

• Even if you're avoiding distractions, no one knows. But if you were part of the gossip, you are part of the gang.

• If you're sleeping better, no one knows. But if you're socializing at every opportunity, then you are part of the gang.

• If you listen more, not many will be able to gauge the depth of your knowledge. But if you speak more, you will leave an impression on others since you can show your peacock feathers.

We are genetically predisposed to the tendency to add because more and more is equivalent to another feather in our cap, drawing attention and admiration, signaling to the world that we are competent and successful, which our psyche craves.

How else would you explain the entire spectrum of goods and services, i.e., necessities to Veblen goods? A simple dosa joint serves delicious meals, and so does a Michelin star in the Four Seasons Hotel. But chances are high you may be tempted to treat many in Four Seasons instead of Appa Kadai in Karama ;)

Your mind is constantly marching ahead to crave more, do more, show more, hoard more, and be more.

It has benefits, but with trade-offs, you may come to regret in times to come.

I’d invite you to consciously create systems/frameworks to assess your choices by asking the following questions -

• What could you do with less?

• Whether adding more is necessary?

• Whether loading yourself with more items is the only way, or is there a better way?

You do not need a fancy temperature-controlled mattress for good sleep. Just reduce your time in front of the TV or seated in a chair, and you will be surprised at the improvement in the quality of your sleep.

You don't need a beauty cream for glowing skin. Avoiding foods cooked with seed oils or packaged foods will give you 80% of the desired results.

You do not need an LV limited edition tote bag to show that you're successful. You just need to be clear about your goals and have the necessary feedback/measures to gauge whether you're moving toward those milestones or not?

Why does it matter what others think about your level of success?

As it is, no one cares since everyone is most likely thinking about their own lives and issues. They may see your LV bag; what you don't realize is that they may be seeing through it while they debate choices floating in their heads almost all the time.

“It’s not just that we accept objectively worse results because we subjectively like adding; it’s that we fail to even consider subtraction in the first place.” - Leidy Klotz, author of Subtract

Don't fall into this trap. It's a painful path, and this pursuit has no end.

Seek less to achieve more in the most effective way possible.

It feels good to be back to writing after a gap, and I'm looking forward to getting in the groove of publishing more.

Wishing you a fantastic weekend 🍹

Sending you loads of love and luck 🧿

Manish

Delays

Keeping a buffer appears unnecessary to many, and hence,  you may plan many things at the last minute, show up in a meeting precisely on time instead of earlier, not plan for delays or worse-case scenarios, or not have a plan B. 

Because challenges, delays, or bad luck are not factored in, they take you by surprise when they happen, making you uncomfortable dealing with them because they're unpleasant or nudging you into denial mode that they could ever happen to you.

But bad things happen to people all the time, which means it could happen to you and me, too, and it will.

Energy

Taking care of your energy levels is ignored because it does not bring in the dough, status, or success today. Hence, workouts are kept for later when the doctor orders it or a physio does, eating healthy is kept for later because you are operating fine inspite of all the junk you eat, and quitting smoking is kept for later when you are on the hospital bed being forced with a choice to quit or cut short your life.

 Slowing down is kept for later until running fast flames out your zest and zeal for life.

Mind

Meditation is kept for later until you're in your 60s, and you realize that the only way you can fight your battles against your monkey mind is by getting better at letting it be instead of reacting to it, and that needs the muscle to observe the chaotic wanderings of the mind without getting affected by it.

Relationships

 Building connections and long-lasting friendships are kept for later, as today isn't the time since you're in your prime and pursuing all your time and energy towards success and fame, not realizing that all the empty networking is only adding on to more shallow relationships that your Rolodex is already full of. 

Art

Pursuing hobbies that elevate your soul and make you the happiest is saved for when you have made all the money and secured yourself in society. But making all the money is a chimera; it’s an illusion. You will still feel unaccomplished, as your benchmarks would have elevated, too, changing your reference points to someone more successful than you.

For example, everything in your life today was once possibly a dream. The 20-year-old version of you can't believe the perks of life you're experiencing today, but does that excite you? Chances are no because it's become the norm for you, and your hedonic mind has already adjusted to it as the base level of existence for your level of success and experience, making you go for more, do more, and accomplish more. 

That’s life, and that’s how our mind works.

We keep many things for later, especially if society doesn’t reward them today. But it’s these things that contribute to -

• your wisdom 

• your strength

• your happiness

• your reputation

• your friendships

• your energy levels

• your experience of being alive  

Warren Buffett

If there is one person you ought to learn from about taking time out for things, it is the Oracle of Omaha.

Yesterday was his 94th birthday, and he is still playing long-term games, building massive cash (shown below) for any opportunity to acquire elephant-sized businesses.

He has been actively investing since he was 11, i.e., 83 years. Not a year has passed without the press, journalists, competitors, and investors misunderstanding him as old school, a relic of the past, or too cautious for the modern world.

But he has continued to do what contributes to his wisdom, happiness, reputation, friendships, energy levels, and experience of being alive.

He avoided Tech in the 1990s when the world blindly chased Tech. He is offloading Apple today when the world is going all in on AI. He invested in Goldman Sachs in 2008 when nobody wanted to touch financials or banking. He is investing heavily in Oil and gas today when the siren song of EVs and Renewable Energy keeps getting louder by the day.

He has zigged every time others have zagged. He has marched to his own beat and created a life that has been inspiring and enlightening for investors worldwide. He has done all of this by pursuing things that make him happy, such as reading, writing, teaching, learning, connecting, and playing his favorite musical instrument.

His company remains the only non-tech company to ever touch a valuation of a Trillion Dollars, and at 94, he still is the face of Berkshire and carries the weight on his able shoulders, even if he has given up most of his day-to-day responsibilities.

He didn’t aim for this achievement, but it eventually happened. He just kept compounding the joys and success in his life by letting time turn things in his favor.

He wasn’t in a hurry. He was okay with taking time to accumulate his gains and win the game of life.

Take time for all things. It may seem like a waste of time as it takes you away from the financial treasure chest you so desire, but getting away from the fast-paced life and the dash for more eventually brings its own rewards.

They will show up financially a little later if not today.

They always do !!!

“Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.” – Seth Godin

• Would you travel the world with Zimbabwe's currency with you?

• Would you give responsibility to someone who is easily distracted?

• Would you lend money to someone who has not kept his word before?

• Would you make friends with someone who risks ruin for quick gains?

• Would you like to work for someone who takes credit but doesn’t give credit?

If the answer is NO, then it’s time you realize that your gestures, words, or actions lead to an energy exchange between you and someone else. This exchange can be called a trust dividend or trust tax, as defined by Stephen Kovey in his book ‘Speed of Trust.’

Keeping your word, seeking advice, or admitting your mistake adds to your trust account. And every time you break your promise, fall short of expectations, or don't rise to the challenge, it taxes your trust account.

This constant debit and credit of trust accumulates into sizeable positive or negative balances in your trust account over time. It’s invisible, but it's subconsciously happening in people’s minds, which shapes their interactions with you. This very trust account of yours in people’s minds will eventually decide the mountains you get to climb and conquer in your journey.

How do you explain that multi-millionaires will sell their company to Warren Buffett on a mere handshake? In contrast, with others, sellers need to go through a 400-page contract with their lawyers to iron out every loophole that the acquirer can exploit.

He has built a seamless web of deserved trust with his investors, employees, peers, bankers, foundations, students, government, and every section of society. His principles, motives, words, and actions have also been consistent.

He is 93 now and hasn’t displayed inconsistency between his principles, motives, words, and actions. This clarity of thought and execution has earned him the reputation and glory he has achieved.

Is it easy?

Of course not.

Was it a slow journey?

Of course, yes.

But was it worth it?

You Bet !!!

The irony is that trust isn’t always at the top of your mind because you're busy playing me-win games instead of win-win games. It’s our genetic defect so I won’t blame you entirely. Let me share a few examples -

• How do I look good?

• How do I make more money?

• How can I leave an impression?

• How do I get bigger, better, faster?

It always begins with “How do I…… ?”

We are all genetically designed to do everything in our capacity to fit into a social crowd or go with the herd because we desperately want to fit into society and be accepted, validated, and appreciated.

Most will not care if it comes with shortcuts or ignoring one’s moral compass. 

It’s like playing Cricket while constantly watching your score. How will you make your team win if you're overly concerned about your score?

It reminds me of all the players who have played a slow inning for their half-century/century but at the expense of their team losing the game. KL Rahul comes to mind every time I think of selfish innings.

It takes courage to stand firm with your principles and values and let go of the temptations or seductions that come your way for personal trophies and accolades.

Whereas, if you were playing win-win games, your mind would always wonder, “How do we both win in this situation?” 

• You would keep your word for the smallest thing

• You would give credit every time you got an opportunity

• You would hear someone out completely before opinionating

• You would take time out from your busy schedule for your loved ones

• You would keep a portion of your income for charities or philanthropy

You would constantly add energy to the space you are in, contribute more than required, give more than expected, and respect first before commanding respect. That’s what win-win games look like. And it doesn’t cost you more than some time and attention.

When you execute your principles at all times, your motives can also be understood clearly; your words and actions are in sync with your motives.

When done consistently, you will first become a millionaire in your trust account held in people’s minds before you become a dollar millionaire in real life.

“It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” – Stephen R. Covey

Work on building trust first. Everything else you desire will be laid out at your feet, eventually !!!

Wishing you a fantastic weekend 🧉

Sending you loads of love and luck🧿

Manish

It’s my friend’s birthday, and I have been invited to a close group get-together. I got busy the whole day and didn’t get time to buy her a gift, so I improvised. I pick up a USD 10 odd trinket at Day to Day, get it packed, and reach the party with an elaborate story cooked for the gift I have in hand.

“It’s limited-edition jewelry with stones sourced from the Amazon forest, made by local tribes that go deep into the jungles for hunting”

The story had the desired effect on her, and she was thrilled to receive the gift and was very grateful for the entire night. I was happy to see her reaction, and others looked at me in awe. She was equally graceful when I eventually broke the news to her that it was from Day to Day. It still makes both of us laugh when we talk about it.

But if you think about it, the joy on her face was not due to receiving the gift alone; it came from the story that came along.

Our minds are transported into the world woven into the story, taking us along for the ride, smelling the air, and feeling the breeze in the deep parts of the Amazonian forest.

The same tendency makes us look for stories, patterns, and causes—that make the world seem less random and more in control. 

It’s this very tendency that makes us seek ‘precise’ answers to questions like -

• Why did the markets fall yesterday?

• Why did COVID happen in the first place?

• Why was that candidate selected for the role?

• Why did Donald Trump lose the elections in 2020?

• Why did Russia attack Ukraine, or Israel blow up buildings in Gaza?

‘Precise’ answers are not possible, but we can make answers sound precise, inspite the many variables, historical context, and uncertainties surrounding the events unfolding on the ground. 

The mind craves stories and patterns, and we know this subconsciously, which makes us dish out answers using the word “because” e.g.

• Markets went down because inflation was high

• Donald Trump lost because voters wanted change

• Russia attacked Ukraine because of threat from NATO

• COVID happened because of a lab leak in Wuhan, China

Walter R. Fisher, an academic, had even proposed ‘homo narrans’ (storytelling man) as an important addition to the list representing the nature of humankind. It includes homo sapiens (wise man), home economicus (rational man), and home faber (philosophical man). 

Nassim Taleb suggests the Andrey Nikolayevich Rule, which says that in real-world economic life, we are faced with a lot of information that is costly to obtain, store, manipulate, and retrieve. As a result, we simplify:

We reduce the dimensions of life through the use of stories.

Why would most fables begin with the statement “once upon a time…” These four words have a hypnotizing effect on readers, capturing their attention and taking them along the chapters that follow. Stories have been used to pass on messages, values, culture, history, religion, recipes, and much of what our society is made of today.

Some stories uplift and empower people, while others have tormented people and societies for generations. We cannot wish them away, but we can accept the effectiveness of stories and use them to our advantage as follows -

As a Listener

• Be aware that the world isn’t as predictable as it seems

• Don’t buy into clean-looking patterns or stories being served to you

• Understand the role of chance, luck, and probabilities in how events shape

• Get the message in the story instead of believing the story as absolute truth

As a Messenger 

• Pass on a message always in a narrative context or a story format 

• “Let me share with you what happened a few days back” is a good way to start

• Distinguish between the correlation of variables appearing as causative events

• Understand the historical context of situations before answering questions with “because” with precise-sounding answers

Gustave Le Bon once stated profoundly -

“The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim. An individual in a crowd is a grain of sand amid other grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will.”

Beware of stories, and at the same time communicate in stories.

It’s nuanced and, hence, sounds ironic, but stories hold our attention like nothing else does. Hence, use it to your advantage, and don’t let others take advantage of you.

Wishing you a fantastic weekend🍹

And sending you loads of love and luck🧿

Manish

“You can see the results of not learning from others' mistakes by simply looking around you. How little originality there is in the common disasters of mankind.” - Charlie Munger

You have dreams and think about them, too, like we all do. This daily excursion on Mount Think More would make you look at every possible milestone/step you need to take to make those dreams into reality, e.g.

• Hustle hard

• Study CFA/GARP/CA

• Get a good job

• Get a job in a growing industry

• Make friends in high places

• Play Golf with the high rollers

• Make the right moves diplomatically/politically 

• Suck it up even if you don’t like the company of some people or their habits

Do these, and your rise to the top is almost a given.

But then you meet people who haven't done any of these and still made it big, e.g., my friend Ritesh in Mumbai -

• He only interned with Hindustan Lever but joined his father’s stuttering textile business

• He risked all his money on a new business and lost it all

• Somehow, he survived and scraped his way back up from the mess

• He stuck to his principles and never compromised his integrity and conscience

• He was always surrounded by his closest buddies and family as a support system

• He is living the most simplistic life I have seen anyone live, inspite of the money he has amassed

•  And he is happy, just like a teen would be, full of zest and zeal for life 

People like Ritesh make me doubt the hustle-hard culture that has become the accepted norm for making it to the top. It’s not the truth, even if it looks like it is for most people. 

This resolves one thing for me: there are many paths to gold. And hence, I don’t want to pursue a path preferred by another since it may suit them but not me. I could create my own path, sticking to topics and interests that fascinate me, spending my free time creating content around human psychology and longevity while I pursue a career in Banking and Finance. 

Though the reasons for success could be different for all, the reasons for failure almost always converge on a few basic stupidities that are often repeated across societies and cultures. Let me share a few common booby traps #

1. Ego

2. Envy

3. Casual 

4. Leverage

5. Outworked 

6. Concentration

Almost every failure I have seen around me, the reasons for their fall from grace, had something to do with 6 of the traps mentioned above. 

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Ego

Your ego/overconfidence makes you look down on others and think highly about your capabilities, which can steer you into saying more than you should have, pushing your luck until it runs out, or doing things you shouldn't have. 

A lot of success in life is due to plain good luck, and a lot of failure is due to plain bad luck. Hence, taking 100% credit for all your success feeds into your ego, making you appear more skilled or talented than you actually are, and vice versa.  

Envy

Your jealousy of someone else having more than you or having something you don't have or crave makes you enjoy less of what you have in the present. It makes you discount the beauty of your current success and tempts you to chase more. 

The problem is that even if you reach that aspirational point, you still haven’t dealt with Envy. Hence, it will still make you feel miserable about the newly acquired milestone and steer your focus toward the next shiny thing. This habit could go on till you reach your grave. 

Casual

This is the dumbest mistake I have encountered often, and it has many versions. Every time you gossip, use curse words, delay responding, assume things, stay silent when you should have spoken up, or take things lightly, these are signs of your casual demeanor despite the situation calling for the best version of you to play out.

This casualness makes you feel that it's not a big deal, but sometimes, the consequences are fatal, leading to losses that are difficult to recover from. 

Leverage

I was surprised to learn yesterday that a friend of my colleague’s has his biggest position in a leveraged semiconductor ETF. I was shocked because he earns less than USD 100,000 a year and barely saves much due to his expenses in Dubai. 

His situation has tempted him to go for the jackpot by buying high-risk trades to multiply his money faster instead of being okay with the snail's pace of accumulating wealth slowly but steadily. I haven’t seen these stories end well for many investors. 

Every sad story of a failed business or career has leverage as the center stage of their struggle, making them carry the burden of this liability while dealing with the competitive forces to survive and thrive. Most can’t. 

It’s like running a 100-meter race with a sack of rice on your shoulders. You will lose the race! 

Outworked

In the professional world, where information is decentralized and tools and systems are democratized, i.e., available to all, there is hardly much difference between our peers' skill sets and knowledge base. Everyone reads the same stuff, knows the same things, and uses MS or Bloomberg. The only thing that can differentiate them would be their willingness to outwork the others, i.e., get things done, keep lines of communication open, not procrastinate because it's weekend, etc. 

I am not suggesting working seven days a week, but if a meeting can happen only on the weekend or at 8 p.m., I am game for it. That willingness shows in how you go about your work, giving you an advantage over others for whom weeks are divided into weekdays and weekends or days are divided into working time and “me” time. 

This is the most uncomplicated competitive advantage to build, but people often get blindsided into thinking they are being underpaid or taken advantage of. If you were playing the long-term game, you would know that your efforts would eventually be rewarded big time. 

They almost always do !!!

Concentration

I come from a family of businessmen, and I have seen many horror stories wherein the central character was exposing his entire networth to his business, betting more and more on it, inspite of the business not producing much in return. Some were in textiles, some in corporate gifting, some in packaging, and the list is endless. 

They needed to have diversified more or built a safety net to tap into when things got rough. And the ones with the safety net, when they did struggle, they used the entire safety net to plug it back into the business when it should have been used for buying time until they figured out an alternate way forward. Putting good money behind bad money never works!! 

When all was lost, they couldn't fathom getting a job and restarting their journey from the bottom of the pit since they couldn't accept that they had lost the match. They lived in denial and disbelief that this could happen to them. 

Ego and concentration are a ruinous combination, and the pattern repeats like a doomed loop in many lives. 

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This is the story of millions, and it need not be yours. 

I invite you to go through a thought exercise. Take a pen and paper, write down five names that come to your mind, wherein their lives were riches to rags or fall from grace stories, either entrepreneurial or in the corporate world. And then try to explain the cause of their downfall.

Chances are high that these six traps had a role to play. And if the answer is yes, then do ask yourself a very important question -

How do I protect myself from these booby traps?

I’d love to hear about the tools and hacks you have created. Based on your feedback, I might write a follow-up piece on them.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend ahead🥂

Sending you loads of love and luck🧿

Manish

Investors have been waiting for a recession since 2023, which never showed up. But a different one has definitely landed on all our shores and has detailed plans to conquer all territory: the 'Friendship Recession.' It's a painful but invisible disease that would adversely affect the quality of one's life and lifespan, too.

Let me share some startling facts that force me to make the previous statement:

• A 2010 meta-analysis of 148 studies involving 300,000 participants solidified the connection between relationships and health. People with the fewest social ties had a 50% higher mortality rate than people who had the most social ties—50%! So, strong social ties may literally prolong your life.

• According to the US Census Bureau’s American Time Use Survey, between 2010 and 2013, the average American spent about 6 1/2 hours a week with friends. That started to change in 2014 when we began spending less time with each other. As of 2021, we’re clocking in a little under three hours a week.

• 20 percent of single men now say they don’t have any close friends. It’s not just men, though. A 2019 survey found that 30 percent of millennials of both sexes said they are always or often lonely, and 27 percent said they have no close friends.

• In their book “The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups,” Oxford psychologist Robin Dunbar and his coauthors report that the number and quality of your friendships have a larger effect on your health than your weight, how much exercise you do, what you eat, and the quality of the air you breathe. They go on to write, “By far the biggest medical surprise of the past decade has been the extraordinary number of studies showing that the single best predictor of health and wellbeing is simply the number and quality of close friendships you have.”

• A 2023 meta-analysis of 90 studies confirmed that both loneliness (the subjective feeling of not having enough social connections) and social isolation (the objective reality of lacking social connections) negatively impact physical and mental health.

If friendships and social connections play a vital role in one's life, then they would naturally be on people's priority list. But it isn't because time constraints make friends drift away, especially when success and money become the top two priorities that occupy one's mind.

Who is to blame if capitalist society showers all respect and adulation mainly on those with the dough and a lifestyle to be envied?

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague yesterday. He mentioned that he ended up living in a plush neighborhood during his stay in London because everyone around him did so. He couldn't fathom staying anywhere else because it would be frowned upon.

Another friend of mine from DIFC mentioned once that many conversations revolve around displaying the number of trophies you have won, i.e., the houses you own, the cars in your garage, the next exotic destination on your cards, and so on.

In surroundings where success is being measured constantly, it is no wonder that every waking hour of yours will go into making moves that bring economic gains. But this pursuit has a painful tradeoff, i.e., spending time with friends or making new friends comes across as a waste of time.

Additionally, many have built an addiction to watching TV at home for hours under the narrative that they deserve some free time after a hard day's labor. But this story and this consequence are also a direct result of mental fatigue and burnout that comes from chasing money and success at all times.

Friendships almost always take a backseat.

Hence, Zurich Insurance found in one of its studies that 67% of people die in the first ten years after retirement. Was loneliness or social isolation to blame for this disastrous outcome for retirees?

I believe it was.

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The second-order consequence of spending less time on friendships has been weakening the muscles needed to converse with strangers, make connections, build relationships, and establish friendships.

A perverse thought has impregnated many minds today: "Making friends was easier in teens, but it's extremely difficult in adulthood."

The truth is that we have lost the muscles to build connections that we once had, e.g., my dear friend Ravi, who lives in Australia, was once just working out in the gym on the same machine for one hour; I didn't know him then. But I was concerned as he might have just burst his chest open on that machine on that day :)

So I approached him and suggested a few other exercises for building his chest, and he willingly listened. We met again a few times, went out for a snack post-workout, and repeated that a few more times until we realized that we had become best buddies. And we have been friends for over 25 years now.

I have been applying the same muscles even today. My friend Ayaz, who is a huge supporter of my content and my biggest well-wisher, used to be my line manager once. He loved playing snooker, and so did I. We went to Dubai Snooker Club once to play together and then went again. It became a habit until it became our most sought-after weekend activity.

Now, we meet at 10 a.m. every Saturday, and we don't even need to confirm with each other because we both know that the other will be there. Our common love for Snooker has turned into a beautiful friendship that I deeply cherish.

A widely cited study found that it takes about 50 hours of socializing to go from acquaintance to casual friendship and 200 hours to become close friends.

This underscores just how wasteful it is to let our friendships decay and be turned into nothing but a faint memory. It’s only wise to build upon our friendships and keep nurturing them, especially when all it takes is a simple message or a conversation every now and then.

Decades of research suggest that it is nearly impossible to be happy without close social ties. Friendship, in fact, accounts for about 60 percent of the difference in happiness between people, even for introverts.

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What can we do?

• Volunteer

• Take a walk

• Take up a new interest

• Join a faith community

• Attend community events

• Reconnect with old friends

• Extend and accept invitations

• Introducing yourself to neighbors

• Make time to connect with family members

• Say "hi" to strangers in the elevator (avoid the creepy ones ;)

• Stay in touch with people with whom you've worked or studied with

• Reach out to people you've enjoyed chatting with at social gatherings

• If anyone stands out in your memory as someone you'd like to know better, reach out

“Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.”

Beautiful friendships lurk in the recesses of your daily grind.

Pause to break bread with friends, slow down to catch up on people, or detour to engage with someone who energizes you.

You will be amazed at the long-term effects of doing so day after day. Not only will it add vitality and joy to your life, but it will also gift you a life surrounded by lovely souls at all times!

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend ahead🍹

Sending you loads of love and luck from Dubai 🧿

Manish