The Solitary Writer

When people said I talk too much, I went on mute and let my writing speak for me.

[ambikaranik]

Aftermath

[thepowerwithin]

You must remember to give yourself permission to rest and regenerate when ever you need to.

[ambikaranik]

True love never sails on smooth seas

It goes thru tempests every now and then

It all depends on how you want to take it ahead

Whether you want to leave the ship and run away

Or

Stay there and face the storm

True love never cares for distance, time, problems or any issue.

It only cares for the heart on the other side which is beating for it.

[thelovejournals]

“I am sorry someone loved you badly, and that they made you feel like you take up more space than you deserve. I am sorry they abandoned you when you need them the most and it has made you believe that love is an awful thing that hurts.”

— Nikita Gill  |  @thelovejournals

[thepowerwithin]

“You and your body are not meant to work against one another, but to work together in harmony. You’re both a team. A single unit.”

— Nicole Addison @thepowerwithin

[ambikaranik]

One of the best podcasts I listened today. Thank you @Timferris for the awesome interview.

[felasintumbld]

Here’s to the fanfic writers who can only write sporadically.

Here’s the writers who can’t output enough to keep up with the most popular writers.

Here’s to the writers writing even though they get no feedback.

Here’s to the writers who somehow manage to scrape together a little inspiration and a lot of hard work to write that story they know nearly no one will read.

Here’s to the creators who keep going even when it’ feels like screaming into an empty void.

You’re inspiration, and I don’t know how you do it.

[ambikaranik]

Why Should You Hang Around With Like-minded Folks?

Because they bring out the best out of you.

They will embrace your flaws and help to polish your skills.

They don't get tired of your non stop chatter and silly doubts. Because they know that the struggle is real as eff.

They leave you alone when you need to get some ME-TIME.

They put up with your mood swings and understand that you are not like that always.

[books-n-quotes]

“The only obsession everyone wants: ‘love.’ People think that in falling in love they make themselves whole? The Platonic union of souls? I think otherwise. I think you’re whole before you begin. And the love fractures you. You’re whole, and then you’re cracked open.”

— Philip Roth, The Dying Animal

[books-n-quotes]

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”

— William Shakespeare, The Tempest

[ambikaranik]

Very true!!

[ambikaranik]

Today's learning from Meditation

[ambikaranik]

Today's learning

[ambikaranik]

When in panic, don't forget to breathe!!

- Notes to self, #inspiration

[ambikaranik]

Today's lesson from meditation.

[ambikaranik]

I finished appreciating 500 awesome posts today on Tumblr! 

I must say, this is one such space where I keep returning again and again after taking long breaks from my writing.

The best part about writing on tumblr is that

1. Amitabh Bachchan Sir blogs here every day. And he was the first reason for me to explore tumblr in depth.

2. I don’t even have too many followers here unlike my wordpress blog. This makes it easy for me to write whatever I feel like writing.

3. This platform has some amazing writers who inspire me to write my heart out. Tumblr doesn’t have any restriction on content. There is no such thing as “you have run out of space”. You can just write a small one-liner update or finish writing an entire blog post in one go.

4. Following like-minded individuals is very simple.

5. Variety of themes (best collection of minimalistic themes)

7. Its dashboard is very simple and moreover, I am in love with the privacy settings given for each post.

Thanks @staff for keeping things this way!!

[ambikaranik]

Awkward Moments

“.... I just fucked up again”

“.... no issues. Mistakes do happen. What’s happened has happened. Let’s focus on what can be done right from now on”

Sounds too familiar? Yes. That’s how your typical weekly interactions happen in startups. You learn a ton of lessons in such short duration. You also commit so many blunders. Some moments are too awkward to face.

A lot of times, you may not find the right support from people around you. But in the end, you figure it out all by yourself. Necessity is definitely the mother of any startup environment.

The best things you learn in such kind of dynamic environment are as follows:

Mistakes do happen but that should not make you judge the other person as “useless”

Mistakes are nothing but an index of how much the other person is trying to attempt doing something in life.

When something wrong happens, always make sure you take the accountability. Accept, learn and move ahead. Judging others will never help you reach your goal. You must purely focus on your goals.

Showcase what you are working on to everyone, especially the founders. Do not isolate yourself and give a perception that you have lots of time at your dispense. Sometimes, these perceptions can make you a work-horse who will never be appreciated for the kind of work they do.

Always be world-class at whatever you do. Even if you are given a job of copy-pasting 1000 rows with some ridiculous data, please do it with great passion. Never ever discard any work as useless.

Always have a growth mindset and remain positive even when the product is not doing well.

Did you ever work in a startup environment? What is the #1 lesson you learned in such places?

[ambikaranik]

The 5AM Drama

“My grandma says if you wake up late, you will never be able to catch up with things,” said my senior colleague.

Today right from Fast Company to Forbes, if you read any magazine you will find a lot of people who swear on their 5AM routine. But on the other side, the world entirely has stopped focusing on people who wake up after 8 AM and still manage to catch up with all the things that matter to them.

It’s all up to how one manages his routine successfully. Take the example of my previous job role. The role had some crazy ass schedules. Since we were supporting global marketing function, we had to be up until 8pm in the evening and be up by next morning 8AM in the office. I had seen brilliant and happy individuals around me turning from happy-go-lucky to narcissistic bastards. All thanks to people who forced them around the 5AM routine.

I have nothing against people who wake up early. My only concern is that 5AM routine is not like one time that fits all. So stop expecting the whole world should be up before 5AM which is stupidity.  

There are individuals who work across all geos and need to stay late until midnight. Expecting them to have just 5 hours of sleep and grinding again would be slightly insensitive. A good 7-8 hours of sleep is definitely a must if you have to exhibit peak performance at your workplace. Lack of sleep not just makes one cranky but also shows up eventually on your health very soon.

By the way, the senior colleague who used to preach us the importance of waking up early eventually suffered from scanty periods, high blood pressure, sugar and what not. She even eventually got whiplashes from every sphere of life due to unrealistic goals she set for her own lifestyle. Expecting a routine of 5AM demands one to sleep as early as 9:30PM. Having calls until late night 2AM and then again resetting your alarm for 5AM will do more harm to your body than any good.

So, let’s all set some realistic goals in life and not get carried away by the 5AM drama. If you are still not convinced by this blog post, then I suggest you read this article from Entrepreneur.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292889

Cover photo by Christian Domingues from Pexels