The year is 10,000 B.C., a forager stands face to face with a huge predator in the African savannas. Unarmed, he knows he doesn’t stand a chance against it. His heartbeat rises and begins to sweat—he feels fear. His body prepares for flight. He takes off and saves himself from being mauled by the predator.
Fast forward to the 21st century, a college-going teenager feels the same fear as the forager did. Not because he’s facing a predator, but because he’s in his maths exam looking at his question paper and knowing he’ll flunk for sure.
Fear saved the forager’s…
Reading non-fiction is hard. It is less imaginative, less interesting, and less exciting as fiction is. There are no plot twists, character development, and is less emotional. This is why people find it hard to read non-fiction, especially those who read fiction regularly.
But the problem is not with non-fiction, rather it’s how people read it. Though both fiction and non-fiction are words printed on paper, aka books, reading them should be approached in a completely different way.
Below are 3 techniques I’ve tried and tested that made non-fiction interesting. …
Learning through analogies is easy, fun, and effortless. They offer the quickest way to understand concepts, theories, and models for the first time through examples and metaphors we are familiar with.
But on the other hand, there are downsides in using them too—analogies and metaphors are not a shortcut to learn. It only helps understand concepts on a surface level, and not beyond.
Learnability is one of the key skills everyone should master—both in the present and in the future—so it is important to understand when to use them and when not to.
Take any 5th or 6th grader’s physics…
“I love this place, this is exactly the kind of place I would like to work,” I tell myself as I walk around Forge for the first time. I was quite enthraled by all the gadgets lying around, people glued to screens coding, and the entire buzzing atmosphere. I felt so excited that day and even spoke about what I saw at Forge to my friends.
I always had this fascination to work for a company that is ahead of others in time—Forge was one. A few months later I joined the company. As I write this, 9 months later…
Throughout my life I was trained how to speak—elocutions, public speaking, group discussions, debates, and so on. But I was never taught nor have I heard of someone learn “listening” formally.
One reason could be because speaking is tangible—unlike listening—it makes more noise, quite literally, thus attracts more attention as a skill.
But listening is as important as speaking is. It is an overlooked skill, both in personal and professional lives. As we shall see, it is one of the most important skills you need to master, and it also lays the foundation for other important skills too.
People are…
When I was a teenager I was happy most of the time. I didn’t have any philosophies to find happiness, my mere existence was all it took to keep me happy. But adulthood changed all that—whatever worked in teenage was absolutely useless in adulthood. And I’m sure this is the case for you as well—it’s universal.
As adults, we need to consciously put a lot of efforts to keep ourselves happy, or at least sane. It’s hard but is worth it. Because it’s the only way to lead a happy and peaceful life.
I’m gonna share 5 principles and realisations…
We were dependent on our parents while growing up. While in college, or school, we fell in love for the first time and experienced what romantic relationship felt like. Life was great when there were people always around us — parents, friends, and lover — to take care of and love us.
It’s not until we were adults and had to go through heartbreaks to realise we’ve not been loving the most important person. Someone who we should have loved long back — ourselves.
It may seem easy to love oneself, but most people struggle with it. Those who have…
We’ve all been there — sitting with a notebook or a computer to write, but the words don’t flow. You go blank. You hit a block, what is known as the “The Writer’s Block.”
The writer’s block is treated as a serious problem in the writer’s community, and there are numerous articles written about it. But is it worth all the attention? Is that the one stopping you from becoming a good writer? I don’t think so.
The writer’s block is only a mindset, it shouldn’t stop you from becoming a good writer. …
Creativity has always been one of the most important skills that someone can possess, and given the uncertainty future, it is even more significant.
Though important, creativity is difficult to hone.
The reason is that creativity is highly subjective & contextual and there is no yardstick to measure it. Hence achieving perfection in creativity is non-existent.
Though there isn’t a formal rule book to learn from, there are some techniques to help us be more creative.
Everyone has probably had a brilliant idea pop out of nowhere, a moment of epiphany or great insight. Ideas like these seem to materialise…
I was happy when I knew she was the one, the one I’m gonna marry. Everything was set, everything came together, I thought nothing would stop me from spending the rest of my life with the girl I loved. But one day she dropped it “I don’t wanna marry you right now, I’m sorry,” as tears rolled down her cheek. Failure hit me hard, again.
Things seemed fine for a few days after the breakup, so I assumed I was mature enough to handle it. …
I write about Self-Development, Skills, Learning, and Creativity.