A few weeks ago, Drue, my guitar teacher pitched an idea. He conducted an ‘Open Mic’ night at a bar in South London near his place where musicians popped by and sung a few songs. Would I like to try?
In an all honesty, I baulked at the idea. Regulars here know I bought my guitar around mid January and have been learning over the past 4 months. I’ve learnt a few songs but performing is a different cup of tea. So, I just muttered I’d be busy with work and would think about it once my current project was done.
I joked about the idea to my mom that evening and her response was ‘Do it when I’m in London. C’mon!’. So, before I knew it, I was at Gigalum waiting for my turn. Drue would sing and I would play and I could pick any 2 songs.
I picked the 2nd and 3rd songs I learnt – Way Back Into Love from Music and Lyrics and Fix You by Coldplay. Fix You is special because listening to Boyce Avenue and Tyler Ward play Fix You live in November was what inspired me to finally learn the guitar, something I’d always wanted to do.
I was very nervous and my fingers were shivering, sweaty and slipping off the guitar! I had never made so many mistakes in these songs (small ones here and there), I never dared to look up even once during the performance and I also went back to what I call ‘nervous strumming’ i.e. when my hand moves up and down robotically vs flicking the wrist.
But, what the hell.. it was my first time and it was one heck of an experience.
And here’s the video! (Due apologies for the sound quality! Just put together the video from the iPhone with no editing)
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And a photo when I dared to look up in the end..
I’ve learnt many things from the performance but probably the most important thing is the importance of taking the plunge and trying out something new every once a while. If we really put our heart and soul into what we do, there’s no limit to what we can learn and achieve. I generally put in 20 minutes of practice 5-6 days a week and absolutely love it. It’s teaching me so much and the journey has only begun.
It never ceases to amaze me how much a dash of dedication and persistence with a sizeable dose of deliberate practice can do for you.
A note of thanks to my teacher, Drue James for being an amazing teacher and vocalist. There’s no way I would have imagined doing something like this.. but it was great fun and made for a wonderful memory. If you are ever looking for a guitar lesson in London, check out Drue on his website and on his YouTube channel.
Around this time 4 years or so ago, I remember walking into Queensway Shopping Centre, the best place to buy sports shoes in Singapore. An older and wiser friend was looking to buy shoes for football on the grass. We were regulars on the hard court and decided to make the switch for a little while.
We had just had our first game the previous day. If you’ve ever played in the grass with flat shoes, then you’d probably know that you spend more time trying not to slip than you do trying to do something meaningful with the ball.
Anyway, he went ahead and got himself a shoe, (“Always get the cheap ones, they last longer.”) and asked me if I was buying. “Nope, I’m good.” I responded.
He, in turn, responded by asking the sales person to help find a good fit for me. We soon found a fit. He added it to his bag, made the payment and gave me the shoe.
I mustered a thank you and asked him why he was doing so. He said a close friend had shared a saying ‘When you are young and the feet are right, the shoes are almost always wrong. When you are old and can afford the right shoes, the shoes are right but the feet are wrong after having worn the wrong shoes for ever so long.’
I had no money to afford a shoe on that day and if it hadn’t been for those pair of shoes, I would have played with the wrong shoes and would have probably continued to do so.
If you walk into my place today, though, you will find a shoe for all sports and surfaces. Every time I walk into a sports shop wondering if I should buy a shoe for running/trekking/turf football or if I should just use an existing pair for these purposes, I remember that day and the learning. In the long run, the 30 odd dollar investment when I needed it is appreciated but probably not as much as time passes. The learning, however, is priceless.
I believe that one of the best things we can do with our lives is spend time with those younger than us and pass on what we have learnt along the way. Not only do we make a difference in them in the process, but we get better ourselves from the process. The positive pressure of living life as an example to those who look up to you is one that makes life very meaningful (just ask any parent..).
It’s not just about lighting the spark in a younger person though. Any motivational speaker can do that. It’s about tending to that spark in times when the spark wonders if it adds any light to what already seems a very bright world and helping it along on it’s way to becoming a flame. A billion sparks are good. One steady flame is better.
This week’s book learning is from ‘Inside Apple’ by Adam Lashinsky.
An interesting insight about Apple’s organization was it’s focus on function/strengths. Let’s take a couple of examples –
– The head of Retail has control over matters like selection of the site, it’s design and in matters of real estate involving Apple’s retail shops but has no control over inventory or the products (unthinkable in any other company!) that are placed in the retail shops or for that matter on the products on display.
– Every Apple related image is controlled by one centralized graphic design team. That’s every image – be it one on the website, a bill board or an advertisement.
– Top design executive Jonny Ive focuses entirely on design and has no eye on the numbers. So, Ive is known to make unrealistic demands on manufacturing and operations teams in pursuit of his vision.
The principle here is that the notion of ‘general management’ is rubbished. Apple is organized purely by function with a view that you do best if left to focus on the area of your strengths. If Tim Cook, for example, is THE supply chain expert, he handles all supply chain across the company. Simple as that.
This is of course contrary to all general notions of business where massive businesses are organized into smaller business units which are run by managers who oversee everything from finance to design with some input from the centre.
Apple’s unique method of organization ensures a much greater degree of specialization as well as central control that allows for an enormous amount of consistency. Very unique and so far, very successful.
Here’s to observing how large companies organize themselves this week!
3 weeks ago, the audible app on my iPhone threw up an error resulting in me having to re-download the books I’d read.
This may sound like no big deal but is in fact a massive deal for me. I lost 20 bookmarks I’d marked from ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman. A bookmark is a big deal for me as every bookmark is a potential learning story, either to be used for this blog or for stories for a different weekly learning system I contribute towards. As a result, I read books with 2 questions in mind – Is there a learning here I can apply? and Is there a story here that I can share?
Now, Thinking Fast and Slow was an 18 hour book that I didn’t enjoy so much so there was no way I was going to get those bookmarks back. I was very upset. And here’s where I made an error in judgment – I just ignored it, downloaded the other books again and continued as if nothing happened.
Over the last 3 weeks, I’ve been marking out many fascinating stories from the book called ‘Talent is Overrated’ by Geoff Colvin and also from ‘Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek. I finished the former and am three quarters way through the latter.
But, just as I switched on the app an hour or so ago, the same error re-appeared.
I was aghast.
I immediately wrote to Audible’s customer support. I’ve had a wonderful experience with Audible in the past and they didn’t disappoint as I received a reply within minutes telling me that the latest version of the iOS just deletes content from third party apps when it runs out of space! They were working on updates to solve this issue but for now, I’d just have to watch out. Trust Apple to come up with such an update with no clear message/communication/ability to prioritize what should be deleted and what shouldn’t.
That’s when all the pieces came together. Both times I had recorded ‘Real Leader Interviews’ on my phone and that meant it ran out of space very quickly and responded by deleting my books (and hence, my bookmarks).
Could this have been avoided? Absolutely. Had I chosen to dig deep 3 weeks ago, I would have realized this and just removed some of the other space wasters. I could have taken a screenshot of the list of book marks as they include the timings as a back up even.
Choosing to skate over the problem has just caused a lot of heart ache and unnecessary pain. I have a very high tolerance for first time mistakes. They are very positive and are always learning experience. Mistakes such as these are just born out of stupidity, negligence and laziness. Mistakes like these are failures born out of errors of judgment and these never help. I’m pissed.. and there’s only one person to blame.
Anyway, it’s time to take a time out, freshen up again and get back to work on my book learning.
Never EVER skate around a problem. Lesson learned.
Why would you be reading this if there wasn’t any insight?
It’s fairly easy to just write every day. I’m not quite sure I might have agreed with that line 4 years ago. But things change. And I don’t struggle with the discipline of writing anymore.
But insight, boy.. I wrestle with this every day. I realize now that most posts show up in my head the previous night on a weekday and by the time I’m at my laptop in the morning, I’m ready to go. Preparation helps.
But, on a day like this, I’m reminded of the struggle. I’ve had a fun day – Mom is in town as of last evening and we had a lovely time meeting with a friend, walking around London and even catching a movie. There were many highlights in the day – really ‘seeing’ the city (you tend to not do that unless you have visitors), enjoying a really nice movie that doesn’t seem to be all that popular with the critics and rating websites (boo!) but the struggle of making sense of these experiences and piecing together what I’d really like to convey – that never fails to frustrate.
It’s easy to describe an event but bloody hard to describe an idea. It’s easy to tell you what happened, to narrate an experience but to tell you what that event meant or what that experience could teach us or how that could apply to us, that’s a whole different thing.
So, I typed out a topic. Backspace. Typed another. Backspace. And finally decided to just voice out my frustration at struggling with the concept of insight. It’s a fight that’s rages inside every single day.
A fight worth fighting.
I am always reminded of a quote from a Harry Potter book that I think of when I think of fights worth fighting.
But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him. It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew — and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents — that there was all the difference in the world.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over these years, the toughest fights are not out there somewhere. They are not tests of massive physical strength (unless you’re a professional athlete!). No, the tough fights are resisting that bar of chocolate when you’re on a diet, waking up at 6am to exercise on a rainy day, doing that extra hour of study after a long day at work, switching off your computer and not watching that extra episode – those are the fights that really wear us out.
Pick your fight. Walk in with your head held high.
3 years or so ago, I subscribed to Investopedia’s term of the day in an attempt to broaden my knowledge of the financial world. While I’ve never grown to love the service/feel any attachment from it, I do read it nearly every day.
Yesterday’s tip was the ‘Hot waitress Index’ – an index that measures the state of the economy based on the number of attractive people working as waiters/waitresses. Yeah, I know.. Crazy. There are quite a few such indices though – the big mac index being one of the more popular ones.
I don’t know how good the correlation is between these indices and what they are supposed to measure but finding correlation is always fun.
A couple of days ago, I walked into the barber shop for a haircut and I realized that, after 1 year, I was finally resigned to paying 10 pounds for a haircut. Before you conclude I’m some miserly cheapo, let me give you the history. (And then you will probably conclude I’m some miserly cheapo anyway.. but I’m all about the process as you might know by now)
I vividly remember the first 2-3 months I spent in Singapore for university. We were all converting singapore dollars to indian rupees. We’d walk into a shop and say ‘200 rupees for that?’ – What nonsense. And walk away. One activity that came in for easy scrutiny was haircuts. A haircut back home cost Rs.30 in those days and a haircut in Singapore cost $10 i.e. Rs.300 then. So, a few of us (me included) used to save a haircut for when we went home.
I still remember how ridiculous I looked at the end of my 1st semester as I refused to get a haircut and ended up getting told off on my first job. Even that didn’t convince me then. (Yes, I was nuts.. Some would say I still am, but that’s beside the point for now.)
The funny part here is that I actually love keeping my hair short. I used to throw many tantrums about this issue as a kid and as a teenager when I was taken to the barber shop. I seemingly always wanted longer hair but ever since I gained control over things as important as the length of my hair, I became a rebel without a cause. I have a funny feeling about haircuts – if I don’t get them often enough, I feel it hampers my thinking ability. I guess I just like the free flow of energy between my brain and the universe and somehow, I feel the hair adds friction to the process. (It does, doesn’t it?)
Anyway, I went broke a year or so after my first year and had to borrow money from my friends. After a very laissez faire attitude to money, I did end up becoming super stingy and by then, haircuts had become compulsory as I had developed my ‘haircuts are important for thinking’ theory. So, I used to plan my haircuts such that I needed a minimum number before my next trip home.
It was only after about 3-4 years in Singapore that I actually became comfortable with paying $10. I would like to say this was very rational and logical.. but I know better.
So, when I came to London, I went through my haircut curve all over again. And one year later, I realize I’m finally over my visceral emotional reaction to haircuts. That’s saying something. I guess I finally feel like a Londoner.
At least that’s what the haircut index indicates..
How economists got away with the ‘humans are rational, logical beings who make informed choices’ line for so many decades I will never know..
I looked the time as I began writing this post. 6:39AM. Ten minutes late today. Deadline: 20 minutes. Need to say something sensible but yet need it to be concise and short. Look through blog ideas waiting for a new one to pop up as that’s what happens more often than not. A dose of desperation. Look back into the ideas list.
Argh. Bloody constraints, I almost say to myself. Wish I had unlimited time.
A few seconds later, I realize – thank god I don’t. It’s the stretch deadline that brings out the best in me. It’s been long established that the best goals are those that are in the stretch zone. And deadlines make us stretch. It would be dead boring if we had the money/time/energy to do what we want.
So, thank you god for all the constraints I do have – they make me learn, they make me better, they make me resourceful, creative and probably most importantly, they make me come back for more.
‘Creative thinking takes place neither inside the box nor outside the box, but at the edge of the box.’
For today, I thought I would list a few time savers that add a LOT of value to my life. I fully recognize that everyone working for larger corporations (or BigCo folks) has administrator blocks on stuff that can be installed and hopefully, these will cover those issues too.
I also recognize that this makes a few big assumptions (eg: around Outlook, scheduling conference calls etc). Even if it doesn’t directly apply to you, I trust you’ll find the principles useful. And if it really doesn’t apply at all, please accept my apologies and I hope to see you back tomorrow! :)
1. LastPass. The nicest thing about LastPass is that you should have no issues getting this on your work computer. Install Google Chrome (yes, shift required from your IE6 BigCo folks! :)) and then install the LastPass extension. Both these steps should work with no hassles.
LastPass can, of course, be synced with your personal laptop so you will have no needless passwords to be entered. Ever.
2. Text Replacements. Text replacements save me a LOT of time. There are 2 ways to do this – if you have no administrator issues on your computer, install Texter or any other such software.
For BigCo folks, go to Outlook Tools -> Options -> Spelling -> Spelling and Autocorrection -> Autocorrect Options and voila!
I use shortcuts for all phrases/sentences that I use in emails eg: Different kinds of greetings like ‘Thank you, and best regards’ or ‘thanks and best’ or ‘Looking forward to your feedback’, ‘Please let me know if I can help in any way.’
Extremely useful. Save my fingers pain and save a ton of time.
3. Outlook Macros. I have done a detailed post on macros. The folder sort macro is worth thousands of dollars of saved time, and hence, gained productivity.
4. Scheduling Calendar Events. A couple of small things that I find help greatly when scheduling calendar events –
a. Doodle or Google Docs. If you are looking to find a common time between people whose schedules you cannot see, either use a scheduling system like Doodle or simply a Google Spreadsheet to map out availabilities. (For Google Spreadsheets, set privacy settings as below
b. Enter Dial in Code in the Location field. If you are scheduling conference calls, ALWAYS put in the dial in code in the location field. For those who know the local dial in number by heart, this saves a LOT of pain as they don’t need to open the invite every instance.
c. Create a table of dial in numbers of participating countries in the invite. It’s very annoying when all you have is a US number with a message asking others to go to a link. If you know it’s participants from a few countries/locations, please take the extra effort of creating a table. You can use it in future invites as well!
5. Portable Apps. For BigCo folks, check out Portable Apps and find your favorite apps in exe versions that don’t need installation. There are many such great sites out there.
6. Luxury Item – Dropbox. I use dropbox extensively. And I love it. This is, of course, dependent on your usage.
7. For Windows XP users: Two links I always find useful if I find myself on a Windows XP laptop – Lifehackers top 10 awesome utilities and how to make a ’show desktop’ button for my quick launch section on my task bar.
If ever there was research done on situational human happiness, I’m sure one of the places where happiness would be lowest would be in queues.
An outcome of the ‘age of the instant’ is that we seem to have lost a bit of patience along the way. And, given reports of increased amounts of stress, there hardly is a better place to vent. You can almost picture it as I say it – you’re standing in a queue where all is well. All of a sudden, one man or woman joins and begins making a scene. Soon, others join in and the discontent spreads like wild fire.
One of the best pieces of advice I got from a video I watched was ‘Hustle while you wait.’ I had no idea what it meant but took it as ‘Do something while you wait.’ (And turns out, that is indeed what it means..)
I am restless and impatient by nature and this line has enabled me to make peace with the process of waiting, and even come to appreciate it.
I do spend time waiting over the course of a week and I have a variety of activities to choose from – listen to a book, read the news, make a call etc. If I decide I need a break from information, then I also take pleasure from staring into nothing-ness or from a spot of people watching.
It’s amazing how much control we have in situations where it seems like we have none. And aside from our time being too precious to be thrown away, our well being is too precious to be wasted away in needless discontent and unhappiness.
Hustle while you wait. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten.
Regulars here are well aware of the book – ‘The Geography of Bliss’. I’ve been very inspired by the ideas in the book – especially by the idea of 100% attention. So, you can imagine how excited I was when Eric responded to my interview request with a ‘yes’.
Interviewing with Eric was a wonderful experience. In true journalist style, he ended up asking me a couple of questions while I was interviewing him! It made for a very memorable conversation and I walked away with a deep admiration for the depth of his insights and his wonderful way with words.
About Eric: Eric Weiner was a longtime correspondent for National Public Radio. He spent a decade overseas for NPR, based in New Delhi, Jerusalem and Tokyo.
He is the author of Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine and the author of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World. In the book, Weiner travels to spots around the globe – including Iceland, Bhutan, Moldova and Qatar to search out how different countries define and pursue happiness.
Note: A word of apology for me regarding the video. I recognize Eric’s voice is soft compared to other videos (and especially soft compared to mine). We realized when editing this video that I need to make sure I do these Skype calls on full volume so the voice is well recorded. Apologies for the trouble!
Rohan: We would love to hear your story! We know you were a journalist with the NPR. What is the rest of it?
Eric: Well I grew up in Baltimore in the US. And I decided I was going to run away from home when I was 5. Maybe a lot of 5 year olds talk about running away from home, but I actually did! I ran a couple of miles before they picked me up. I guess you could say that I have been running ever since. Some would call it running away from something, but I would say running toward something!
I am a traveller and an amateur philosopher. An American writer Henry Miller can sum up my philosophy for life with this quote “When it comes to travel, ones destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things”. Long story short, I have been travelling in different capacities like a free spirit. I was with National Public Radio(NPR). I was stationed in Delhi, Tokyo and in about 30 or 40 other countries. These were not particularly happy places though.
One day I woke up and said, “This is kind of silly. Why am I travelling to these miserable places”. And so I decided to travel to the happy places on earth and see what they could teach us – about the art of happiness. I was trying to find someone to fund me for a year of travelling around the world to these happy places. A great publisher called Twelve Books did go for this and helped me. The result is the book The Geography of Bliss!
Rohan: How long ago was this?
Eric: I always had a way with words and I always wanted to travel. I was a journalist for a good 20 years with both NPR and New York Times for a while. At some point I realised the limitations of Journalism. For example, as a journalist, you can only report the facts and can never really say how you feel about something. I feel the liberation now that I get from writing books and magazine articles. For instance, I’m off to Kolkata over the next few weeks for research on my next book. I have the freedom for however long I want and for however long I can afford. So, if I feel like the India Coffee House in Kolkata is the place to be, I can spend days there whereas previously my editor would probably call me and say “Eric, you need to get out of this place and cover that war!”
I get the freedom to choose what I do and how I do it. And this freedom has made me realise that this is the true calling of my life! A bit late maybe, but ‘Better late then never’!
Rohan: What was the defining moment that made you stop and say hey I am going to write my own book?
Eric: My problem was never coming up with ideas, rather narrowing them down. I had lots of ideas for my books. It was from all the travel in all sorts of places. Once I was in Kazakhstan for about 7 weeks. My wife and I were staying there to adopt our baby girl. Staying that long was a requirement of the process. There’s not much to do there for so long and I had a lot of time to think. That was when the idea to write this book came! When you have a right idea, something sort of clicks into place, you know just know and you don’t turn back! That is quite wonderful.
Rohan: You next book delves into religion and spirituality. Geography of bliss never touched this topic much. How did the second book come along?
Eric: I needed a subject bigger than happiness and what is a subject bigger than happiness except for God. I came across the fact that people who were religious are happier than people who are not. Why is that? Do the religious people know something that we don’t? I have never been a particularly religious person. You call me spiritually curious maybe, but that’s about me. And then something happened to me which I describe in the book ‘Man Seeks God’.
I finished my first book and about a week later I developed abdominal pains. I was worried and I went to the hospital. They took a couple of tests and I was waiting for a specialist to tell what was going on. The nurse in my room whispered this in my ears – ‘Have you found your God yet?’. Long story short, I was not dying. Though I thought so, for a short time. That question however, stuck. So, I travelled the world as I tend to do and tried on different faiths in a serious way but with a dose of humour as I don’t tend to take myself too seriously. So, the book is an exploration of these 8 faiths and what being spiritual and religious means in the year 2012.
Rohan: In the ending of ‘The Geography of Bliss’ that you call your thesis of happiness, you say you need money but not too much etc. How has this changed your life?
Eric: It did not change my life in any super dramatic way. I did not move to Iceland or Bhutan. Some people say you need to move for happiness, but they are whom I call hedonic refugees. They are happier when they move to a place different from where they are born. For most of us it does not work that way. We need to find a way right here. But we can incorporate these lessons, these other ways of seeing the world into our life
The Thais have wonderful sayings. One of them is ‘mai pen rai’ or ‘Never mind, just let it go’. It is a simple saying but one that we all find tough to accept. Another is that ‘You think too much’. This idea is actually alien to many of us. So I guess I picked up these lessons of happiness through this journey and I try to go through them everyday!
Rohan: So I am getting to an obvious question, but ‘Are you Happy?’!
Eric:I am less unhappy than I was before! Lets put it that way. You seem happy Rohan, are you happy?
Rohan: It’s funny but somebody the other day asked how my day was. I said it was very busy. She asked if it was good busy or bad busy. I said that I never think of things as bad busy. I just think of it as busy or good busy. She said that I was too young and not old yet!
Eric: Haha. I don’t buy that. What is the source of your happiness?
Rohan: I lost my dad and uncle when I was very young and it left my family in a tough place. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger I guess. I guess I just realized that ‘Life is a blessing’. I think it really is! I write down 5 blessings in my life/things I am grateful for, think about my bucketlist and make commitments on how I plan to live the day every morning..
Eric: I read in a paper that in Washington, there is a public bucket list wall. People write down ‘Before I die..’ things on it. And interestingly most of them are to do with travel and places people want to see! I think this travel impulse points to how people want to get out of the confines of their lives. One person from Ghana even wrote I want to swim in Buttermilk. That seemed odd but there was something very spontaneous about that.
I think it is important to remind ourselves of mortality. You lost two very important family members and I am sure that was very hard but it also probably reminded you about the fragility of life. I think people respond to crises like that in two ways. They either close down and shrink or they grow and expand. Seems like you have done the latter and I am really happy to hear that!
Rohan: I remember a quote that, At the end of the day, it’s your conception of death that decides our answers to life. I find that very deep. I was lucky with people in my case. I had my friends and family taking care of me. I think that’s the thing about India. How there is always family!
Eric: Yes, there was this study done about homeless people in Kolkata and California. The homeless people in India were much happier! They have family connections and relations. And that is a part source of happiness.
Rohan: I think connectedness, right?
Eric: Its usually people. But you could be connected to your Labrador or your gold fish. To nature or universe. We tend to talk about happiness as if it was a personal thing here in the US. It’s a very telling phrase that ‘you sabotage happiness by treating it as something you hold for yourself’.
Rohan: I am sure you know Jonathan Haidt’s Happiness Hypothesis. I find it very interesting that he says it comes from the between.
Eric:Happiness is a by-product! Its never works like I am going to be happy today. I am going to be kind to others today or I am going to have fun today or I am going to be more appreciative today works. That will help your happiness.
Rohan: Eric, you get to decide how you spend your time. How do you discipline yourself?
Eric: When I go to a place I try and stay focussed. I try to answer one big question or a few big questions at a time. My travel is always designed to uncover answers to these questions. I think the day of just roaming around the streets of Kolkata in search of answers are over. The world is pretty well discovered by now! Technology has shrunk the world that way.
The kinds of travel books that still appeal to people are the ones where you travel with a purpose. My next book is based on the geography of genius. It is about how certain places make us feel more creative. And how certain places through history are very innovative. And about why that is. I am travelling to seven cities to discover what is in the air and what makes it work. So I want to ask you Rohan, where did you feel your most creative self?
Rohan: I have lived in Chennai, Singapore and London. In terms of places I think London is the place I feel most creative! Another place is the Silicon Valley or the bay area as they call it. I think there is a certain energy in the air. I think diversity helps when it comes to feeling energy. I also think history helps. For example the bay area has an history of innovation..
Eric: When you take Kolkata as an example, most people think of Mother Teresa and poverty. And then there are the great writers Tagore and Vivekananda and artists and Indian film makers. I am just wondering maybe the messiness of the city creates inspiration..
Rohan: I think Chaos helps, too! I feel very creative back home.
Eric: One of the great things about moving out of home and returning is that you see it with fresh eyes. Does that happen to you?
Rohan: I remember this quote that says ‘You travel around the world and come back to the place where you started and finally recognize it’ that is the essence of travel, I think!
Eric: I think TS Elliot said that. And I think we’ve butchered it. (haha)
(Original quote: And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time)
Rohan: I am exploring routines as a source of happiness. Do you have daily routines that help?
Eric: Oh boy. That’s a good question. When you are a free spirit you do not have a structure in your life. So you have to create a structure. So, I need to pay more attention to my schedule than you do because you have to be at a certain place for work. I don’t have to be anywhere except to pick up my daughter from school.
So I try to map out my day pretty tightly. I start the day with some Buddhist meditation or exercises. I find I need to get out of home to right as there are too many distractions. I go to a coffee shop or someplace like that. I catch up on e-mails and block out time to write. I use a program called Freedom that cuts me off the internet! I need that discipline. I try to block out the time and give myself the routine. I think it is important. We need structure in our lives, even if we are by ourselves.
Rohan: What is a message you would like to pass on to the motley bunch of readers on this blog – let’s say a bunch of youngsters like me?
Eric: You say youngsters and I am struck by how many young people from your age are so damn serious about everything! They feel like they are very behind in their lives. How can you be? You are 23! They have to take their tests go to graduate school and what not. If you look at great people like Einstein, they were terrible at school and would appear to be goofing off.
So, my message, if you Don’t take things so seriously.If you lose that sense of playfulness – what the Thais call ‘Sanuk’, you have lost everything. The moment work feels like work, you are not going to do anything great. When it feels like play. it doesn’t feel like a burden. So, Chill out and have some fun!
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Thank you Eric! That was fun, entertaining and profound all at once. Thank you so much for taking the time.
Hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did. As always, look forward to your feedback, thoughts and comments in the comments. :-)
Happy Monday all!
The Real Leader Team,
Dhanya, EB and your truly..
A Learning a Day 
