Happy Friday Public 💪🏻
I can’t believe that we have been going strong for 30 weeks. Even with multiple breaks and restarts, the strike rate lies at 57%. And while 30 is a small number compared to the ideal 52, it still has 30 more strikes than 0.
I have been pondering over the quality vs quantity of this newsletter. I want to add value with every chatter that I share. I often didn’t send newsletters because I didn’t feel they did justice to your time.
The newsletters I consume add value not just with quality content, but also by sticking to one domain. For me, picking a domain feels like an uncooked recipe as I don’t consider myself an expert in any domain. To become a neurosurgeon, you start with general MBBS for 5 years; then general surgeon for 3 years; and then finally you start studying neurosurgery. Point is, even when you know where you are headed, you still have to spend time learning aspects of the foundational pillars & strengthening them before you can go ahead and talk about expertise.
As I articulate my dilemma, I disagree with the situation. With the advancement of technology & culture in general, you don’t have to learn everything else to do the thing that you really want to do. When you know, you know. Besides, it’s also about learning on the go. Even experts had to start somewhere.
Secondly, the real reason for not selecting a separate domain is that I want to be a polymath - coder, architect, coder, product manager, writer, entrepreneur & thought leader.
As I stepped away from the desk, I realised my problem is this: not fixating on the outcome but being focused on the journey. While that is a good way to live life, it is also a dangerous way - in the sense when you are alone you don’t really care and that’s fine, but when you are with a group of people, you have a responsibility to ensure that even they get a value out of this journey - and let’s be honest, the same journey can be different for different people. So, the trouble lies in creating a balance between fun for you and fun for others.
In the business context, this would be the balance between profits and perfection. Profits always come from perfection, but perfection takes time and you have to reach there sustainably.
The trouble that we are facing is the balance between profits & fun, doing the necessary grunt work vs work that feels like play, self-centred thinking vs greater-good thinking, and writing for self vs writing for others.
So, I decided that my organised chatter newsletter would be the organised chatter of my thoughts & emotions. It has always been a natural, unrestricted flow of thoughts which is sometimes wrong, sometimes cringe but always heart to heart.
How does that change our relationship? It actually does nothing. If you are reading this, that means you are as invested in this as I am. We will strive for building a community of like-directed individuals however long it takes. Creating a connection while organising the chatter of my brain in public is the payoff in itself for organised chatter.
What has changed is my commitment towards value addition. I will focus more on writing about questions that bother me - and share them when I do have something on it - either my take on the problem or an approach that might work.
Best Quotes 2022 ✨
As I was crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s, I realised that quotes from older authors connect with you on a deeper level as compared to the younger ones. It’s as if you can really feel the reality that the older author has sat with the thought for a time longer than the age of the younger author.
Can you tell which quotes are from older books?
Organised Chatter 🪄
You stop trying when you understand the truth. When you understand the truth, you don’t have to think, wonder, search, or work, → you just do it. It’s an explanation that cannot be wrapped into words. For those who understand even silly words can speak volumes. This is why the idea is about explaining to me like a 5-year-old. It’s not about words, it’s about understanding. it’s not about code, it’s about algorithms. It’s not about habits, it’s about a primed “sub-conscious”. When that happens, habits are automatically formed and corrected. The 5-year-old or a grandma can understand what you are saying. That’s the reason why love has no language.
The truth is what sets you free - from the incessant flow of mind. And many people aren’t searching for it. And that’s how it is.
Sometimes, what’s stopping you from the right action is the ego that says I already know what I need to know about myself or the situation or that I have an understanding or analysis of the situation - which is correct. (that is of course not true). If that was the case, you wouldn’t have made the mistake.
I failed the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional exam. Nope, I don’t want sympathy. It’s a silly exam and I should have cleared it.
I wrote this before getting my pass result - a simple yet profound performance of how thoughts can really take away your day from you and then also bring it back. It took almost 4 hours to come out of the negative state of failure and really mean the above line. All to realise that I had passed. Point is - thoughts are cheap. But the action it enables is potent.
What I want to highlight is that I had forgotten the truth about how I approached exams - with a little carelessness - which (I realised this later) allowed me to be calm under pressure. life.
Truth isn’t some object or a group of words or even water for that matter that you can lock up in the closet of your brain. You cannot really ever hold the truth.
It’s - for lack of a better word - energy. And what’s the thing about energy? It’s not something you own. It’s something you generate. Because I think we are but a filter - not just a way or medium - but a filter too. And a strong one at that. And if you aren’t able to create better content, you are not upgrading the filter.
Truth isn’t about chasing this energy either. It’s about being - in the flow state and grooving on the beer high in the clubs and eating chicken. But here’s the secret. It’s not the energies around you that are good, bad or mediocre. It’s the filter that makes them so. And paradoxically, to generate good content, you have to first let the good content inside.
Best Of Curiosity Stream 2022🧐
Best of Thoughtful Tweets & Ideas 2022 💭
Poetry & Performances 🎥
My Essays 📝
🦖 I love hearing from you; hit the comments to share any thoughts or say hello.
🤼♂️ If you are reminded of anyone who might enjoy this article, share it with them.
❤️🔥 Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!