Author: alearningaday

Measure everything..

Sometimes we don’t really know when things go wrong, or the extent to which they go wrong..

I have a simple daily scorecard system during weekdays. 10 is the expected score and today was a ‘2’, the lowest ever.

I knew it was not a great day in terms of what I wanted to do.. but this bad, only this score would have told me so.

Measure everything.. realizing how vital it is now.. :)

2 ways to think about something..

It turned out to be one of ‘those’ days and I learnt so much about my reaction. Wonderful thing, when things don’t work..

It was set to be a nice afternoon at a friend’s place checking out her re-modelled new home with a cool new home theatre system etc..

-> We set out. 3 of us, 1 car and 1 bike and my bike owner friend didn’t want to take his bike (even though he had to as he had to get back early). I offered to do so, got pulled over by a cop for not wearing a helmet and had to let Rs.100 go.

-> Next up, we reached the cooool house with an even cooooler home theatre system only to realize that there was current only in 2 phases and hence, the AC wouldn’t work. We’re in Chennai, I think the room faced the sun and my jeans are meant for AC outings only.. so all in all, let’s just say it was pretty sweaty.

-> After this, I was beginning to look forward to a nice drive in my friend’s AC car (he would get the unenviable task of driving in the traffic) when he had to rush off to meet someone else and I was pushed on to the bike, again.

-> Today, thanks to the wedding of a politician’s kid, traffic was berserk. Anyway, my biker friend realized he had to be elsewhere as well. So, guess what.. I had to drive him, drop him and take his bike home in a perfectly roundabout route. But again.. what are friends for, eh?

Anyway, after this slew of incidents, I was driving back home still smiling and looking forward to a nice shower when I realized 3 things –

1) I want a really cool home theatre system for myself. It needs to be a place where I can absolutely blast music and a place which makes me feel like I’m at Old Trafford while watching United games..

2) Reflection comes so easily when things go wrong. If only I could remember to do it when things go right as well.. I do remember to de-brief, but only sometimes..

3) There are 2 ways to think about something. This could possibly have given me enough reason to scream at my friend who had to rush off to meet someone else, scream here, scream there, lament on it being a bad day.. but hey, it was actually fun. It’s one of those things that only happen at home..

And I’m glad I’m home.. :)

So, should I be choosing NUS or NTU or NIT or IIT? The ‘which university’ question..

It’s been 4 years now since my university journey began and I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked this question by prospective university students, their parents, friends of their parents, cousins of the friends of their parents.. among others.

Since this blog was meant to record learningsthoughts/opinions/, I thought I’d record a few and direct future questions to this page in the future-

1) I can’t understand the logic behind comparison questions. How would I know if any other universities are better than NUS.. after all I’ve studied only in this one.

‘But still, it would be good to understand your opinion’

Okay, so what if I say NUS offers a better experience than Harvard, would that work?

There’s a thinker..

2) If you dig deep, you generally know what you want. This one’s for all those who are actually going through the process of choosing.. and this is definitely not one for the parents.

I do believe that when faced with a choice, if we sat down alone – and just thought for ourselves, we would have a clear idea of what we really wanted. It is only the constant noise of the opinions of everyone around us that muddles our thinking.

3) A good university does not mean a good life. Doing well may land us a good job, but that is definitely not a guarantee that we will do well in that job, thrive in the working world and be good people. So, let’s just focus on going to a place which is aligned with our dreams..

We all have dreams.. Let’s dig deep again..

I had 2 close friends who had dreams.. their dreams were to be happy, contended, family men. One of them was very rooted and wanted to be near home while the other was open to the idea of going abroad for a short while but wanted to be back eventually.

Now, while these objectives change with time, these were their dreams then and while one of them did contemplate going abroad, he didn’t and both did very well in their colleges at home.

The funny part is that the one who was open to going abroad for a short while is indeed heading to the states for his masters. And had either of these joined me at NUS for example, I’m sure some part of them would have been unhappy..

There’s no one size fit all..

4) We all have our place. Getting into a good university is not the be-all or end-all, as much as it may seem.

Just because someone is a Harvard grad doesn’t ensure success(what is success anyway?). It does probably improve your chances but as Bill Gates put it in his speech at Harvard, it was said that guys in his hostel had higher chances of success at landing a girl friend thanks to the percentages, he learnt that improving chances definitely doesn’t guarantee success.

University life is among the best, if not the best phases of life. It is THAT time when we enjoy the benefits of adulthood (freedom being the primary benefit) without seeing the tough side (i.e. working hard to earn it). Sure, we do work hard to do our bit in university, but just ask any professional in the working world as to what they’d rather be doing.

It’d be sad if this great period was purely defined by the end result i.e. what job or future university we land because that’s hardly what it is about. All these things happen as a result of how we do spend our time.. what we do remember is a totally different matter.

So, if you, out there are trying to pick a university, do the following –

1) Go to your room, shut the door, put on some music, take a blank sheet of paper and write out your options..

2) Imagine yourself in every one of these options(no, seriously..do it!) if you still are finding it hard to decide.. and I’m sure your heart’ll tell you which one to go to..

If it doesn’t, spend some more time, make friends with your heart.. and like any good friend, it will definitely help..

3) If you are having trouble deciding, in all likelihood, your choice is going to be different from where your parents would like you to go. So, go outside, draw out a pros and cons list, make sure the list has more pros favoring your decision (haha) and tell them..

It may or may not work (Unlike some gurus, I don’t guarantee success if you use my methods.. :P) but atleast you will have tried.. This is the adult approach.

And if the adult approach fails, try the child approach. Throw a fit, cry.. they’re parents, they love you and they’ll do all they can to make you happy.. :)

All the best!

The WIP folder solution..

The Situation:

-> 80 odd emails came into the inbox within a period of 10 hours and I was feeling overwhelmed!
-> Just looking at them was pretty stressful! :)

Background

I put all of them into my ‘WIP‘ or ‘Work in Progress‘ folder. This folder is generally for all the emails that I can’t attend to at the current moment. Emails that need me to get back on action in a week, for example, get in there. This folder says ‘Rohan, don’t worry about them.. nothing too important in here that needs action’

This flows with my philosophy of Inbox Zero (which came from tips on Lifehacker) or no emails in my inbox.

The Solution

Solution was really simple eventually.

1) Put all emails into the WIP folder.
2) Take just 3 emails at a time and work on it..
3) Chugged on this for about 50 minutes and voila! I’d acted on all of them.

But, getting to this did involve some thinking. I refused to jump in to clearing them without a process..

Good learning..

The a-connect journey begins..

Firstly, I have graduated! I am now officially an Engineer thanks to having passed my final semester at the National University of Singapore. :)

This is a relief given the fact that engineering is just NOT my thing. And more so because I don’t feel too much connection with my faculty as a result of which I have no interest what-so-ever to attend my own graduation ceremony. This non-interest was tested when I noticed that all of my friends have registered for theirs.. but no, still don’t feel strong enough for it..

Having said that, I do feel the connection with NUS as such, as it was the wonderfully free environment that enabled me to pursue my own interests and learn and grow as a result.

The next step is starting out at a-connect on the 1st of July. Having just got back from a wonderful 3 day company retreat, I already feel like I’ve started but that’s thanks to a very cool team who’ve made me feel at home already!

What is a-connect?
a-connect is an elite global talent machine that strengthens the execution capabilities of a firm through our network of 1,000 top tier strategy consultants with line management experience.

We deploy people into small and large projects typically where strategy meets
implementation and YOUR success is a measure of our impact! (assuming you = client) :)

What does this mean in more lay man terms?
Imagine you are the conductor of an orchestra and there’s something incomplete about the sound. a-connect would come in and help find a solution – for eg let you know that you are missing a violinist. (That’s the strategy part – which all top tier firms also provide) and then, we also help you find a violinist (this is from our network of 1000 odd independent professionals).

I hope that helps explain it..

What am I going to be doing?
I am joining as an Associate at the Singapore office. But, given the normal track record of past Associates, joining a particular office seems to indicate least time spent there. So, I’m not sure where would be the right answer.

As to what I am going to do, I have a basic idea thanks to the retreat. The main objective in the first few months would be like any other – get trained, learnt lots and hopefully add lots of value..

I have a GMAT challenge coming up on the 29th of June following which work beckons..

Looking forward to it! :)

Rohanrajiv.com and Subscriptions to quotes, book learnings..

And finally, Rohanrajiv.com is up!

Now, YOU can subscribe to –

1) The Good Morning quotes that appear every day from Monday to Friday on this blog. Subscribe right here

and

2) Weekly Book Learnings email that summarizes 3 learnings every weekend from books read during the week. Subscribe to this one right here

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All site feedback is welcome.. :)

‘Every time you are saying yes to something unimportant, you are saying no to something important.’

Love this quote! Simply love it..

I love the fact that it tells me that any time I spend on an activity that I don’t like doing because I feel I ‘have‘ to, and not because I ‘choose‘ to do it is a waste. After all, I could rather be spending time doing something I love, or spending time with people I love..

Brilliant.. The test is going to be the execution. Can I live this?

And a very early good morning.. Have a great day. Just came back from a 4 day trip (more on this tomorrow) that’s filled me with energy and I’m all set to get cracking again.. :)